Autism in Australia, 2022

In 2022:

• There were 290,900 (1.1%) Autistic Australians, a 41.8% increase from the 205,200 (0.8%) Autistic Australians in 2018. 
• Autism prevalence was higher for males (1.6%) than females (0.7%).
• Autism prevalence was higher for people aged under 25 years (3.1%) than people aged 25 years and over (0.3%).
• Almost three quarters (73.0%) of Autistic people had a profound or severe disability.

Autism, also known as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a lifelong condition that can affect how people behave and interact with the world around them. Autistic people may experience difficulties with communication, social interaction and restricted or repetitive interests and behaviours. The term “spectrum” is used to highlight that autism affects each individual differently. (1)

This article uses results from the 2022 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) to present an updated analysis of the prevalence of autism in Australia, and the impact the condition has on the everyday lives of those affected by the condition.

We acknowledge that people use different words to talk about autism. In this article, we use ‘autism’ to refer to the autism spectrum. We also use identity-first language. This includes ‘Autistic person’ and ‘Autistic people’. 

In the Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC), autism prevalence has generally increased over time. There are several factors which may have contributed to this change. These include, but are not limited to, a growing awareness about autism and changes to diagnostic criteria. 

Autism prevalence varies by age, with a peak in the 10-14 year age group and a clear decline beginning in the late-teen years. Data is not presented in any detail for people aged 40 years and over because the identified prevalence rates are too low for reliable estimates to be produced.

There are several possible reasons for the variation in autism prevalence across the lifespan. These reasons are explored in the ‘Interpretation of results’ section of this article.

In 2022, there were 290,900 (1.1%) Autistic Australians, a 41.8% increase from the 205,200 (0.8%) Autistic Australians in 2018: 

• 4.3% of people aged 5–14 years were autistic, up from 3.2% in 2018 
• 3.0% of people aged 15-24 years were autistic, up from 2.0% in 2018 
• 0.6% of those aged 25-39 years were autistic, similar to 0.5% in 2018. 

Autism prevalence also varies by sex at birth. Several possible reasons for the variation in autism prevalence between males and females are explored in the ‘Interpretation of results’ section of this article. In 2022, males were over twice as likely to be autistic than females. This is a decrease from 2018, where males were over three times as likely to be autistic than females. 

In 2022: 

• 199,900 (1.6%) of males were autistic, a 24.2% increase from 161,000 (1.3%) in 2018
• 90,900 (0.7%) of females were autistic, a 95.5% increase from 46,500 (0.4%) in 2018 
• 3.2% of females aged 10-14 years were autistic, an increase from 1.2% in 2018, whereas there was no significant change in proportion of males aged 10-14 years (5.6% in 2022, similar to 5.1% in 2018) 
• 1.9% of females aged 15-24 years were autistic, an increase from 0.9% in 2018, whereas there was no significant change in proportion of males aged 15-24 years (4.0% in 2022, similar to 3.2% in 2018). 

The number of Autistic males and females varies across different age groups. In 2022, the largest difference in autism prevalence for males and females was for children aged 5-9 years (5.9% of males compared with 1.3% of females). However, the difference in autism prevalence for males and females generally decreased for older age groups. 

In 2022: 

• males aged 5-14 years were almost three times as likely to be autistic than females aged 5-14 years (6.1% for males compared with 2.3% for females) 
• males aged 15-24 years were more than twice as likely to be autistic than females aged 15-24 (4.0% for males compared with 1.9% for females)
• a similar proportion of males (0.8%) and females (0.5%) aged 25-39 years were autistic. 

Completing Year 12 or an equivalent qualification increases the likelihood of a person getting a job, completing further study, and being prepared for future challenges (2). Of Autistic persons, living in households: 

• 45.1% aged 15 years and over had completed Year 12, and this was similar for Autistic males (42.9%) and Autistic females (43.1%)
• 67.6% aged 20-24 years had completed Year 12 
• 60.2% aged 20 years and over had completed Year 12.

These rates are similar to 2018. 

Autistic people are less likely than others to complete an educational qualification beyond school and have needs for support that may differ from other people. Of Autistic persons, aged 15 years and over, living in households:

• 5.2% had a Bachelor degree or higher, compared with 19.7% of all persons with disability and 35.3% of persons without disability
• 17.3% had an Advanced Diploma, diploma, or certificate III/IV as their level of highest educational attainment, compared with 30.1% of all persons with disability and 27.0% of persons without disability
• Autistic females (32.9%) were more likely than Autistic males (13.8%) to have attained an educational qualification higher than Year 12 level.

Participation in the workforce is important for social inclusion and economic independence, but Autistic people may encounter barriers to entering the labour market (3).

The analysis presented here is restricted to the working age population, that is, people aged 15 to 64 years, living in households.

In 2022, 71,500 (50.2%) of Autistic people of working age were participating in the labour force. This is compared with 60.5% of all people with disability of working age, and 84.9% of people without disability of working age.

In 2022, of all Autistic people of working age:

• 42.2% were employed, an increase from 27.3% in 2018 
• 11.4% were employed full-time and 29.8% were employed part-time.

The unemployment rate for Autistic people of working age was 18.2%, more than double the rate for people with disability (7.5%) and almost six times the rate of people without disability (3.1%).

In SDAC, a person is considered to have disability if they have any limitation, restriction or impairment which restricts everyday activities and has lasted, or is likely to last, for six months or more.

In 2022, 8.9% of Autistic people did not have a reported disability, similar to 12.2% in 2018. This population is explored further in the ‘Interpretation of results’ section of this article.

Disability status is a measure of the severity of limitations experienced by people with disability. 

Of the 290,900 Autistic people in 2022: 

• 73.0% (212,400) had a profound or severe limitation, similar to 68.9% in 2018
• 9.9% had a moderate or mild limitation, similar to 11.2% in 2018.

In 2022, 239,800 (82.4%) Autistic people had a limitation with at least one core activity: 

• three in five (59.7%) Autistic people had a profound or severe communication restriction, an increase from 44.1% in 2018 
• three in five (60.4%) Autistic people had a profound or severe mobility restriction, similar to 50.9% in 2018
• almost half (47.7%) of all Autistic people had a profound or severe self-care limitation, an increase from 36.0% in 2018.

An appropriate school environment can provide opportunities to develop important social and life skills. However, school environments can pose challenges to Autistic people. Many Autistic children may need additional support throughout their education.(4)

In 2022, of Autistic people with disability, aged 5 to 20 years, living in households and who attended school or were not attending school due to disability: 

• 97.3% had an educational restriction, which was similar for both Autistic males and Autistic females
• 45.3% attended a special class in a mainstream school or a special school
• 4.4% were unable to attend school because of their disability.

Of Autistic people with disability, aged 5 to 20 years, living in households and who attended school or another educational institution, 68.9% experienced difficulty at their place of learning. Some of the main difficulties reported were:

• fitting in socially (53.4%)
• communication difficulties (51.0%)
• learning difficulties (44.1%).

Autistic children in both mainstream schools and special schools or special classes may need additional support to complete their education. In 2022, of Autistic people with disability, aged 5 to 20 years, living in households and who attended school or another education institution:

• over a third (35.4%) needed special tuition
• 34.3% needed help from a counsellor or disability support person 
• one in five (20.9%) did not receive any additional assistance. 

Three out of four Autistic people of working age, that is, people aged 15 to 64 years, living in households (74.9% or 106,700 people) had an employment restriction, compared to 62.5% of all people with disability of working age who had an employment restriction.

Of Autistic people with an employment restriction, some of the most common restrictions were: 

• restricted in type of job (63.3%)
• need for time off from work (43.8%)
• restricted in number of hours able to work (41.8%)
• need for ongoing supervision or assistance (38.1%). 

In 2022, 84.0% of all Autistic people needed assistance with at least one activity.

Autistic people commonly needed assistance with: 

• cognitive or emotional tasks (76.2%, similar to 73.3% in 2018) 
• mobility (60.9%, similar to 51.8% in 2018)
• communication (55.2%, up from 42.3% in 2018)
• self-care (47.7%, up from 36.0% in 2018). 

Of all Autistic people: 

• 172,300 (59.2%) needed assistance with at least one activity on a daily basis
• about two in five people (39.4%) needed assistance with cognitive and emotional tasks at least once a day
• almost one in three (32.2%) needed assistance with self-care at least once a day
• three in ten (29.7%) needed assistance with mobility at least once a day.

For a description of what tasks are included in each of these activities, please see Methodology.

Autistic people may receive assistance, both formal and informal, from a range of providers depending on their needs.

For Autistic people living in households, the majority was informal assistance provided by family or friends in the core activity areas of self-care, mobility and communication. 

In 2022, of all Autistic people living in households:

• 30.1% received informal assistance with self-care tasks, four times the proportion of those who received formal assistance (7.7%)
• 41.4% received informal assistance with mobility tasks, and 24.9% received formal assistance
• 39.0% received informal assistance with communication tasks, and 29.0% received formal assistance.

A person who needs assistance with an activity may or may not receive the help they require. This ‘unmet need’ applies to both formal and informal assistance.

In 2022, of the Autistic people, living in households, who required assistance (241,100 people):

• nearly two thirds (66.4%) indicated they needed more help with at least one activity, up from around half (51.7%) in 2018
• 105,800 needed more assistance with cognitive and emotional support
• 70,100 needed more assistance with mobility 
• 69,600 needed more assistance with communication.

This section examines factors which may have influenced the number of Autistic people identified in the 2022 SDAC, and the changes in estimated prevalence of autism across age groups and sex at birth.

In the SDAC, information about autism is captured by asking people whether they have any long-term health conditions (diseases or disorders) which have lasted or are expected to last for 6 months or more. Autism is one of the long-term health conditions people may report. People can report that they have more than one long-term health condition in the survey and if so, they are asked about the ‘main’ long-term health condition causing them the most problems. For Autistic people in 2022, three-quarters (75.0%) reported that autism was the main long-term health condition causing them the most problems and just over one-third (34.5%) reported autism as their only long-term health condition. The data collected is ‘self-reported’ rather than diagnosed. 

Disability is a difficult concept to measure because it depends on a person's perception of their ability to perform a range of day-to-day activities.  To capture information about disability, the SDAC asks people about whether they have a limitation, restriction or impairment which restricts everyday activities and has lasted, or is likely to last, for six months or more. These questions are used to determine whether a person has a disability.

In the 2022 SDAC, as well as previous cycles of SDAC, there were a small number of people who reported having autism who did not report having any limitations, restrictions or impairments (ie. did not have a reported disability). This was 8.9% of Autistic people without a reported disability in 2022, similar to 12.2% in 2018. 

For more information about the survey, see Methodology.

The 2022 SDAC estimated there were 290,900 Autistic people, 41.8% more than the number estimated in the 2018 SDAC (205,200), and higher autism prevalence rates among children and younger people (aged under 25 years), but much lower rates among older people. This pattern of autism prevalence declining with age was also recorded in previous SDACs, indicating that there were age-related factors influencing identification of people with these conditions.

The design of the SDAC may influence the observed drop in autism prevalence as people age. The first stage of the SDAC interview identifies whether there is a person with disability living in the household and any long-term health conditions members of a household may have. These questions are asked of the first responsible adult with whom the interviewer makes contact. In instances where a child is living at home with their parents, it is more common for a parent to provide the responses to questions that identify disability and long-term health conditions. 

There are other factors that may also be impacting on the change in prevalence with age. People may learn coping strategies as they mature and no longer feel they are restricted in any of the areas of limitation considered in the SDAC. Similarly, intervention therapies may effectively remediate the challenges of autism for some, allowing them to function without experiencing limitations in their everyday activities.

There is some evidence indicating there is another reason there are far fewer older Autistic people than young Autistic people. Research in a small number of countries, including Australia (5), suggests Autistic people have a substantially lower life expectancy than the rest of the population.

While each of these factors described above may have had an impact on the reported prevalence rates, it is not possible to quantify the size of the influence they may have had.

The 2022 SDAC estimated autism prevalence for males was over twice the rate of autism prevalence for females (1.6% for males and 0.7% for females). The 2018 SDAC estimated an even larger discrepancy between autism prevalence in males and females, where autism prevalence for males was over three times the rate of autism prevalence for females (1.3% for males and 0.4% for females). Whilst males continue to have higher rates of autism than females, the growth rate in autism prevalence between 2018 and 2022 was significantly larger for females than males. 

There are a range of genetic and diagnostic factors that may influence the difference in autism prevalence for males and females (6). 

However, a historical underdiagnosis of autism in females may contribute to the observed changes in prevalence rates (7). Autistic females may present differently to Autistic males. Autistic females are more likely to engage in camouflaging behaviours than Autistic males (8). Camouflaging behaviours imitate socially ‘typical’ behaviours and may be linked to delayed diagnosis (9).   

Assessment tools used to diagnose autism have historically been informed by an understanding of autism as it presents in males (10)(11). Additionally, a study of health professionals in Australia found that many reported receiving limited female-specific training for autism diagnosis during their university studies (11). As more research in this area is conducted and awareness of autism in females increases, it is expected that more accurate diagnosis can be made, which may influence reported prevalence rates. 

For this analysis, we use the population groups ‘Autistic persons’, ‘Autistic persons with disability’, ‘Non-Autistic persons with disability’, ‘Persons with disability’, and ‘Persons with no reported disability’. It should be noted that some of these groups may have overlapping populations, as follows:

• ‘Autistic persons’ includes a small proportion of Autistic people with no reported disability
• ‘Autistic persons with disability’, includes Autistic people with reported disability
• ‘Non-Autistic persons with disability’ includes persons with other long-term health conditions and reported disabilities, but not Autistic people with disability
• ‘Persons with disability’ refers to all persons with reported disability, including Autistic persons with disability 
• ‘Persons with no disability’ refers to all persons without reported disability and includes Autistic persons without disability.

1. World Health Organization, 'Autism', accessed 30 September 2024.
2. Department of Education, ‘School to work transitions’, accessed 30 September 2024.
3. Amaze, ‘Autism and employment’, accessed 30 September 2024.
4. Senate Select Committee on Autism, ‘Services, support and life outcomes for autistic Australians’ (2022). 
5. Hwang, Y.I., Srasuebkul, P., Foley, K., Arnold, S. and Trollor, J.N. (2019). 'Mortality and cause of death of Australians on the autism spectrum'. Autism Research, 12:806-815. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2086
6. Cruz, S., Zubizarreta, S.CP., Costa, A.D. et al. (2024). 'Is There a Bias Towards Males in the Diagnosis of Autism? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis'. Neuropsychol Rev. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11065-023-09630-2
7. Loomes R, Hull L, and William MLP (2017). ‘What is the male-to-female ratio in Autism Spectrum Disorder? A systematic review and meta-analysis’, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 56(6):466-474. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2017.03.013 
8.  Milner V, Will M, Happe F, and Colvert E (2023) ‘Sex differences in predictors and outcomes of camouflaging: Comparing diagnosed autistic, high autistic trait and low autistic trait young adults’, Autism, 00(0):1-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221098240 
9. Milner, V., McIntosh, H., Colvert, E. et al. (2019) ‘A Qualitative Exploration of the Female Experience of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)’. J Autism Dev Disord 49, 2389–2402. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-03906-4
10. Cook J, Hull L, and Mandy W. (2024) ‘Improving Diagnostic Procedures in Autism for Girls and Women: A Narrative Review’. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 20:505-514. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S372723
11. Freeman N and Grigoriadis A. (2023) ‘A survey of assessment practices among health professionals diagnosing females with autism’, Research in Developmental Disabilities, 135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2023.104445