Children and young people with disability, 2022

• In 2022, 12.1% of children and young people aged 0-24 years (946,300 people) had disability, up from 8.3% in 2018.
• The rate of disability was higher for males aged 0-24 years (13.7%) than females in the same age group (10.5%).
• 6.0% of children and young people aged 0-24 years had a profound or severe disability, up from 4.1% in 2018.
• Over two thirds (67.8%) of children and young people aged 0-24 years with disability needed some support with everyday activities.
• 37.5% of children aged 0-14 years with disability had a parent with disability.

This article is based on data from the 2022 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) and provides insights into disability for children and young people aged 0-24 years. This article includes children and young people living in households only. 

In the 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. 

Where possible, the survey directly asked a person questions regarding their perception of their ability to perform a range of day-to-day activities. However, in some cases information was provided by another person (a proxy). Proxy interviews were conducted for: 

• children under 15 years of age
• people between 15 and 17 years of age where their parent or guardian did not agree to them being interviewed
• people who were unable to answer for themselves due to illness, disability, language difficulties or being unavailable for the interview.

As a result, a large proportion of children and young people who were selected for personal interviews, completed the personal interview by proxy (100% of interviews for children aged 0-14 years and 37.9% of interviews for those aged 15-24 years). It has been noted in the analysis below when data presented is self-reported only. For more information see the Methodology.

In 2022, 946,300 children and young people aged 0-24 years had disability (12.1% of this age group), up from 649,100 (8.3%) in 2018 and 579,000 (7.8%) in 2015. 

Disability prevalence was higher in young people aged 15-24 years (13.9%) than children aged 0-14 years (11.0%).

Disability prevalence was higher for young males than young females. In 2022: 

• 13.7% of males aged 0-24 years had disability, up from 9.4% in 2018 and 9.1% in 2015
• 10.5% of females aged 0-24 years had disability, up from 7.1% in 2018 and 6.3% in 2015. 

Disability prevalence for males and females varied with age. In 2022:  

• 13.3% of males aged 0-14 years had disability, higher than the 8.5% of females aged 0-14 years
• 14.5% of males aged 15-24 years had disability, similar to 13.3% of females aged 15-24 years.

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

In 2022, as a proportion of all children and young people aged 0-24 years in Australia: 

• 6.0% had a profound or severe limitation, up from 4.1% in 2018 and 3.4% in 2015
• 2.8% had a moderate or mild limitation, up from 2.0% in 2018 and 2.0% in 2015
• 8.4% had a schooling or employment restriction, up from 5.9% in 2018 and 5.2% in 2015. 

Overall, males had a higher rate of profound or severe limitation than females. However, the rate of profound and severe disability varied with age and sex at birth. In 2022:

• 7.4% of males aged 0-24 years had a profound or severe limitation, up from 5.1% in 2018 and 4.3% in 2015
• 4.7% of females aged 0-24 years had a profound or severe limitation, up from 3.0% in 2018 and 2.4% in 2015
• for those aged 0-14 years, 8.5% of boys had a profound or severe limitation, almost twice the rate for girls (4.8%)
• for those aged 15-24 years, a similar proportion of males (5.5%) and females (4.5%) had a profound or severe limitation
• profound or severe limitations were most common in children aged 5-9 years (7.9%) and 10-14 years (8.2%).

The SDAC categorises people with disability into one or more disability groups (or types). Disabilities can be broadly grouped depending on whether they relate to functioning of the mind or the senses, or to anatomy or physiology. See the Methodology for more information on disability group definitions.

In 2022, as a proportion of all children and young people aged 0-24 years: 

• 6.6% had a learning and understanding disability, up from 4.2% in 2018
• 5.7% had a psychosocial disability, up from 3.5% in 2018
• 4.0% has a physical restriction, up from 2.5% in 2018
• 3.6% had a sensory and speech disability, up from 2.6% in 2018.

The proportion of children and young people in each disability group varied for males and females, as well as by age. In 2022: 

• males aged 0-24 years (8.3%) were more likely to have a learning and understanding disability than females aged 0-24 years (4.9%), with the highest rate for young males aged 10-14 years (11.3%)
• younger males aged 0-14 years (5.4%) were more likely to have a sensory and speech disability than younger females of the same age (3.4%) and those aged 15-24 years (2.6%)
• young people aged 15-24 years (7.2%) were more likely to have a psychosocial disability than children aged 0-14 years (4.7%)
• physical disabilities were more commonly reported by those aged 15-24 years (6.1%) than children aged 0-14 years (2.6%).

It is possible to have one or more impairments or restrictions, that is, to have multiple disabilities across different disability groups (for example, having both a learning and understanding disability and a sensory and speech disability).

Of children and young people aged 0-24 years with disability: 

• over half (51.6%) were in two or more disability groups, up from 43.1% in 2018
• over one quarter (27.7%) were in three or more disability groups, up from 21.8% in 2018
• children and young people with a profound or severe disability (70.8%) were more likely to be in multiple disability groups than children and young people with a moderate or mild disability (38.6%)
• 28.4% had both a learning and understanding disability and a psychosocial disability, up from 23.0% in 2018
• 21.9% of children aged 0-14 years with disability had both a learning and understanding disability and a sensory and speech disability, almost twice the rate of young people aged 15-24 years with disability (11.6%)
• 16.7% had a learning and understanding disability only, similar to 19.9% in 2018.

Of the 946,300 children and young people aged 0-24 years with disability in 2022: 

• 52.4% of children aged 0-14 years had one long-term health condition, compared with 35.6% of young people aged 15-24 years
• 27.3% of children aged 0-14 years had two long-term health conditions, compared with 26.0% of young people aged 15-24 years
• 20.3% of children aged 0-14 years had three or more long-term health conditions, compared with 37.7% of young people aged 15-24 years. 

318,000 children and young people aged 0-24 years with disability (33.6% of this age group) reported a physical condition as the main condition causing the most problems. The most common included:

• diseases of the respiratory system (5.1%), including asthma (4.7%)
• diseases of the nervous system (4.5%), including migraines (1.6%) and epilepsy (1.0%). 

Over two thirds (67.1%) of children and young people aged 0-24 years with disability reported a mental or behavioural disorder as the main condition causing the most problems. The most common included: 

• problems with psychological development (23.9%), including Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) (18.5%) and Dyslexia (4.9%)
• behavioural, cognitive and emotional problems with usual onset in childhood or adolescence (20.6%), including Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (17.3%, up from 7.2% in 2018)
• Anxiety disorders (13.1%), including Generalised Anxiety Disorder (11.5%). 

The main health condition causing the most problems differed for children aged 0-14 years and young people aged 15-24 years, as well as males and females. In 2022, of children and young people with disability: 

• young people aged 15-24 years (20.2%) reported Anxiety disorders at over twice the rate of children aged 0-14 years (7.6%)
• children aged 0-14 years (23.5%) reported ADHD at over twice the rate of young people aged 15-24 years (10.0%)
• children aged 0-14 years (21.5%) were more likely to report ASD than young people aged 15-24 years (15.2%)
• females (16.8%) were more likely to report anxiety disorders than males (10.9%)
• males (22.7%) were more likely to report ASD than females (12.6%)
• males (20.6%) were more likely to report ADHD than females (12.1%).

Children and young people with disability may need assistance with a range of everyday activities. Support may be provided by informal providers of assistance, including family and friends, and/or by formal providers such as government or private organisations. They may seek assistance from one or from many providers depending on their care needs.

In 2022, more than two-thirds of children and young people aged 0-24 years with disability needed assistance with at least one activity of daily life (67.8% or 641,400 people).

Common activities where help was needed included:

• cognitive or emotional tasks (52.8% or 499,600 children and young people)
• mobility (33.7% or 318,700 children and young people)
• oral communication (31.6% or 299,300 children and young people)
• self-care (27.2% or 257,300 children and young people)
• health care (24.6% or 232,700 children and young people).

Need for assistance was greater for children aged 0-14 years, with 70.9% (368,900) needing assistance with at least one activity of daily life, than for young people aged 15-24 years (63.0% or 272,000). This varied by sex at birth and age group. In 2022, of those with disability:

• 59.2% of children aged 0-14 years needed assistance with at least one core activity, compared with 35.0% of young people aged15-24 years
• males aged 0-24 years had a greater need for assistance with at least one activity than females (71.5% compared with 62.0%)
• males aged 0-14 years had the greatest need for assistance (75.2%), compared with females aged 15-24 years who had the least (59.6%)
• 60.5% of males aged 0-14 years needed assistance with cognitive and emotional tasks, compared with 50.5% of females of the same age.

Of the 641,400 children and young people aged 0-24 years with disability who needed assistance with at least one activity:

• most received some form of assistance (89.9% or 576,600)
• 61.7% reported needing more assistance with at least one activity
• 2.9% did not have their needs for assistance met at all.

In 2022, of the 576,600 children and young people who received assistance:

• 90.3% received support from informal providers, down from 2018 (96.0%)
• 71.1% received support from formal providers, up from 2018 (63.7%).

The SDAC collects data about schooling restrictions, types of difficulties experienced, and types of support received at school or educational institution. The analysis presented here is restricted to children and young people aged 5-20 years with disability.

In 2022, of children and young people aged 5-20 years with disability attending school or who were not attending school due to their disability:

• 57,800 (10.0%) attended a specialist school, this was similar for males (11.8%) and females (9.4%)
• 106,000 (18.3%) attended a special class in a mainstream school, with a higher proportion of males (21.4%) than females (12.8%) attending special classes
• 83.7% had an education restriction, this was similar for males (84.8%) and females (81.1%), and higher for those with a profound/severe disability (93.4%) than moderate/mild disability (76.6%)
• 5.5% could not attend school because of their disability.  

Of children and young people aged 5-20 years with disability who attended school or another educational institution, 59.9% experienced difficulty at their place of learning. Some of the main difficulties reported were:

• learning difficulties (36.4%)
• emotional difficulties (36.4%)
• difficulty concentrating (35.3%)
• fitting in socially (32.2%).

Around one in five (19.5%) children and young people aged 5-20 years with disability reported they had been excluded from school-based activities, such as excursions or camps, sitting NAPLAN tests, assemblies, or formals, due to their condition. This was higher for children and young people with a profound or severe disability (27.1%) than those with a moderate or mild disability (12.4%). 

In addition, 15.2% of children and young people aged 5-20 years with disability reported they had been suspended or expelled from school, which was higher for males (20.3%) than females (7.2%).

Of children and young people aged 5-20 years with disability who attended school or another educational institution, 58.9% received additional support. Some of the most common supports received were:

• special tuition (25.5%)
• counsellor / disability support person (21.0%)
• special assessment procedures (19.6%).

Of all children and young people with disability who were receiving support at their school or educational institution: 

• 40.3% needed more support at their school or educational institution
• 47.6% of those with a profound or severe disability needed more support, compared with 33.1% of those with a moderate or mild disability. 

Of all children and young people with disability who did not receive support: 

• 25.8% needed support at their school or educational institution
• 45.5% of those with a profound or severe disability needed support, compared with 17.6% of those with a moderate or mild disability.

The SDAC collects data about educational attainment, current study and participation in the labour force. The analysis presented here is restricted to young people aged 15-24 years.

Young people are commonly working and studying at the same time, either full-time or part-time or a combination of both. In 2022, of young people aged 15-24 years with disability: 

• 63.0% were fully engaged, that is either working full-time and/or studying full-time, or both working part-time and studying part-time
• 14.0% were partially engaged, that is working part-time only or studying part-time only
• 23.2% were not engaged in any study or employment. 

Young people with a profound or severe disability (43.0%) were more likely to not be engaged in any study or employment than young people with moderate, mild or other disability (13.1%).

In 2022, of young people aged 15-24 years with disability: 

• 251,900 (58.3%) were participating in the labour force, compared with 72.8% of young people without disability
• 46.6% were employed, up from 39.6% in 2018
• more females with disability (50.7%) were employed than males with disability (40.9%)
• the unemployment rate for young people with disability was 19.3%, over twice the unemployment rate for young people without disability (7.7%).

 In 2022, of young people aged 15-24 years with disability: 

• 52.7% of people aged 15-24 years with disability were studying, and this was similar for males (51.3%) and females (55.1%)
• almost three quarters (74.3%) of people aged 20-24 years with disability had completed year 12, compared with nearly nine in ten young people without disability (87.4%)
• 23.0% of people aged 20-24 years with disability were enrolled in university or other higher education
• 9.6% of people aged 20-24 years with disability were enrolled in Technical and Further Education (TAFE).

In 2022, of those with disability aged 15-24 years:

• seven in ten (70.3%) had seen family or friends who were living outside the same household at least once per week in the last 3 months
• 24.5% had seen family or friends who were living outside the same household less than once per week but at least once in the last 3 months
• 3.2% had not seen family or friends living outside of the same household in the last 3 months.

More than half (57.7%) of young people with disability, aged 15-24 years, had daily or multiple-daily non-visit contact with family or friends living outside of the same household in the last 3 months. The proportion for females (64.2%) was higher than for males (51.1%) for non-visit contact. 5.3% said they had no non-visit contact with family or friends living outside of the same household in the last 3 months.

In 2022, of children and young people with disability aged 15-24 years who answered for themselves:

• 60.2% reported they felt satisfied most or all of the time with their level of social and community participation in the last three months
• 5.0% reported they were not satisfied with their level of social and community participation in the last three months
• three-quarters (75.4%) reported they left home as often as they would like
• 43.5% said they wanted more contact with friends or family not living in the same household.

Around two-thirds (68.2%) of young people with disability, aged 15-24 years who answered for themselves, said they had experienced barriers to participating in social or community activities in the last 3 months. This was similar for males (67.0%) and females (72.0%). Of those who reported barriers, some of the commonly reported ones were: 

• cost (66.2%)
• fear or anxiety (56.8%)
• own disability / condition (38.5%).

In 2022, there were 697,100 families in Australia with at least one person aged 0-24 years with disability. This is an increase from 502,300 families in 2018. One in five families (21.1%) included multiple people aged 0-24 years with disability. 

In 2022, of children and young people aged 0-24 years with disability:

• 29.8% lived in a one-parent family
• 60.5% lived in a couple-parent family
• 22.7% of young people aged 15-24 years with disability lived in another type of family
• 37.5% of children aged 0-14 years with disability also lived with a parent with disability
• 41.1% of young people aged 15-24 years with disability also lived with a parent with disability
• 16.4% lived in a family in the lowest equivalised family income quintile, while 11.4% lived in a family in the highest quintile.

Primary carers are people aged 15 years and over who provide the most informal assistance with the core activities of mobility, self-care and communication.

In 2022, there were 314,300 primary carers who were caring for a child or young person aged 0-24 years with disability. Of these primary carers:

• 91.2% were a father or mother of their main recipient of care
• 84.3% were female, compared with 15.0% male
• 213,900 were caring for a child aged 0-14 years, almost double the number of those caring for a young person aged 15-24 years (119,300)
• 61.6% provided an average of 20 or more hours of care per week to all their recipients of care
• 36.0% had disability themselves.

Primary carers of children and young people with disability were asked about the impacts of the caring role on different aspects of their lives. These questions were voluntary and had a high proportion (about 27%) of non-response. Those who did not respond have been excluded from the analysis.

In 2022, of primary carers of children and young people aged 0-24 years with disability who answered these questions, when asked about the main effect of caring on their relationships:

• 22.1% reported that their relationship with their spouse or partner was unaffected, while 21.7% reported that their relationship was strained
• 27.0% reported that relationships with other family members within their household were unaffected, while 15.4% reported their relationships were strained
• 22.2% reported that their relationship with their spouse or partner lacked alone time together
• 6.6% reported that caring responsibilities had brought them closer together with their spouse or partner.

In 2022, of primary carers of children and young people aged 0-24 years with disability who answered these questions, when asked about the main effect of caring on their financial situation and weekly hours worked:

• 64.8% were employed
• 31.0% reported their weekly work hours were reduced since taking on their caring role, compared with 2.3% reporting their work hours had increased
• 33.2% were not in the labour force
• 31.7% said their income had decreased since taking on their caring role, compared with 28.7% who said their income was not affected.

Carers may receive help with their caring role. This help may be informal, from family and friends, or formal, from organised services. Assistance may be provided directly to the recipient of care or may be provided to the carer.

Primary carers were asked about their satisfaction with the quality of assistance received from organised services and range of organised services available. These questions were voluntary and had a high proportion (about 27%) of non-response. Those who did not respond have been excluded from the analysis.

Of primary carers of children and young people aged 0-24 years with disability who answered the satisfaction questions: 

• 32.9% said they were satisfied with the quality of assistance received from organised services, compared with 6.8% who said they were dissatisfied
• 47.7% had not received assistance from organised services in the last six months
• 30.3% reported they were satisfied with the range of organised services available, compared with 19.6% who were dissatisfied
• 22.3% did not know the range of organised services available.