What is true about employment of individuals with physical disabilities that impacts research?

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Social model of disability
About people with disabilities
Key issues for people with disabilities
Positive developments
Did you know?
Find out more

People with disability aren’t the problem – we’re the solution.

There have been many models used to understand disability over time. Here at PWDA, we use the Social Model of Disability to inform how we work to advance and protect the rights, health and wellbeing of people with disability.

According to the social model, ‘disability’ is socially constructed.

The social model of disability contrasts with what is called the medical model of disability.

According to the medical model, ‘disability’ is a health condition dealt with by medical professionals. People with disability are thought to be different to ‘what is normal’ or abnormal. ‘Disability’ is seen ‘to be a problem of the individual.

From the medical model, a person with disability is in need of being fixed or cured. From this point of view, disability is a tragedy and people with disability are to be pitied. The medical model of disability is all about what a person cannot do and cannot be.

The social model sees ‘disability’ is the result of the interaction between people living with impairments and an environment filled with physical, attitudinal, communication and social barriers. It therefore carries the implication that the physical, attitudinal, communication and social environment must change to enable people living with impairments to participate in society on an equal basis with others.

A social model perspective does not deny the reality of impairment nor its impact on the individual. However, it does challenge the physical, attitudinal, communication and social environment to accommodate impairment as an expected incident of human diversity.

The social model seeks to change society in order to accommodate people living with impairment. It does not seek to change persons with impairment to accommodate society. It supports the view that people with disability have a right to be fully participating citizens on an equal basis with others.

The social model of disability is now the internationally recognised way to view and address ‘disability’. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) marks the official paradigm shift in attitudes towards people with disability and approaches to disability concerns.

People with disability are not “objects” of charity, medical treatment and social protection but “subjects” with rights, capable of claiming those rights, able to make decisions for their own lives based on their free and informed consent and be active members of society.

In this context:

Impairment is a medical condition that leads to disability.
Disability is the result of the interaction between people living with impairments and barriers in the physical, attitudinal, communication and social environment.
For example – It is not the inability to walk that keeps a person from entering a building by themselves but the stairs that are inaccessible that keeps a wheelchair-user from entering that building.

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Many people will have a disability at some stage in their lives. For some, the disability will be temporary. Others may be affected for a lifetime.

Whatever the type or impact of a disability, everyone has the right to be an active member of their community and to have a say in the decisions that affect their lives.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Australia ratified in 2008, sets out the role of governments to make this a reality.

However, negative attitudes, physical barriers and difficulties accessing necessary supports still limit the opportunities of people with disabilities to find work, study, socialise and be included in community life.

In Australia, the Disability Discrimination Act protects people across Australia from unfair treatment in many areas of public life. It also promotes equal rights, equal opportunity and equal access for people with disabilities.

About people with disabilities

Around 6.8 million Australians (40 per cent) aged 18 years and over report having a disability or long-term health condition.[1]
Most people with disabilities (87 per cent) are restricted in carrying out at least one everyday activity, such as self-care, mobility or communication.[2]
The likelihood of having a disability increases as people age. For example, 7 per cent of children aged under 15 years, 15 per cent of people aged 15 to 64 years and over half (53 per cent) of people aged 65 years and over report having some form of disability.[3]
In 2009, 290,000 children aged 0 to 14 years reported having a disability. Over half (57 per cent) had a profound or severe disability and almost one in five (18 per cent) had a moderate or mild disability.[4]

Key issues for people with disabilities

People with disabilities are more likely to experience poverty, live in poor quality or insecure housing and have low levels of education. They are often socially isolated, with fewer opportunities to take part in community life.[5]
Mental health problems and mental illness are among the greatest causes of disability, diminished quality of life and reduced productivity.[6]
Australia ranks lowest among OECD countries for the relative income of people with disabilities.[7] Overall employment rates for people with disabilities remain low, with workforce participation at around 54 per cent compared to 83 per cent for people without disabilities.[8]
In NSW, young people with mental health disorders and/or cognitive impairment are at least six times more likely to be in prison compared with young people without disabilities.[9]
Despite progress towards making all public transport in Australia fully accessible by 2022, 1.2 million people with disabilities report difficulties using public transport.[10]
Research has shown that more than a quarter of people who report sexual assault have a disability.[11] 90 per cent of women with intellectual disabilities have been sexually abused.[12]

Positive developments

In 2009, children with disabilities had significantly higher rates of participation in school compared to children without disabilities (82 per cent and 77 per cent respectively). This reflects a growing number of children with disabilities staying in school for longer.[13]
Most people with disabilities (94 per cent) have the support they need to live in private residences; 74 per cent live with others and 20 per cent live alone. People with disabilities are also more likely to own their own home outright (24 per cent) compared with people who do not have disabilities (16 per cent).[14]
In July 2013, the National Disability Insurance Scheme was rolled out in Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria (Barwon area) and NSW (Hunter area). From July 2014, it will commence across the ACT and in the Northern Territory (Barkly region) and Western Australia (Perth Hills area). The full national scheme will commence progressively from July 2016.

Did you know?

The life expectancy of Australians born with Down Syndrome has more than tripled in the four decades to 2002, increasing from 18 years to 60 years. A contributing factor to this positive outcome is the shift in public attitudes towards Down Syndrome.[15]

Our role

The Commission helps people resolve complaints of unfair treatment under the Disability Discrimination Act. We also assess applications for temporary exemptions under the Act and provide advice on laws, policies and programs that affect people with disabilities.

The Disability Discrimination Commissioner works in partnership with others to help all Australians understand their rights and meet their legal responsibilities by conducting public inquiries and negotiating disability standards and guidelines.

Find out more about our work in this area.

Find out more

[1] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 4159.0-General Social Survey: Summary Results, Australia, 2010 (September 2011).
[2] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 4429.0-Profiles of Disability (Rates of Disability), Australia, 2009 (June 2012).
[3] Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth), Disability and health inequalities in Australia (2012), p 2. This prevalence data is based on a VicHealth analysis of the Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers 2009 and the current ABS disability classification system.
[4] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 4102.0-Australian Social Trends, June 2012 (June 2012)
[5] World Health Organization and World Bank Group, World report on disability (2011), p 263.
[6] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 4446.0 Disability (Main disabling condition), Australia, 2009 (May 2011).
[7] Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Sickness, disability and work: Keeping on track in the economic downturn – Background paper (2009), p 34.
[8] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 4446.0 Disability (Labour Force), Australia, 2009 (May 2011).
[9] University of New South Wales and PwC, People with mental health disorders and cognitive impairment in the criminal justice system: Cost-benefit analysis of early support and diversion (2013) p 4.
[10] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 4446.0 Disability (Transport), Australia, 2009 (May 2011).
[11] Statewide Steering Committee to Reduce Sexual Assault, Office of Women’s Policy, Department for Victorian Communities, Study of Reported Rapes in Victoria 2000–2003: Summary Research Report (2006), p 16.
[12] VicHealth, Disability and health inequalities in Australia (2012), p 8.
[13] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 4429.0-Profiles of Disability (Children at school with disability), Australia, 2009 (June 2012).
[14] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 4446.0 Disability (Living arrangements), Australia, 2009 (May 2011)
[15] A Bittles and E Glasson 2004, ‘Clinical, social, and ethical implications of changing life expectancy in Down syndrome’, Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, vol 46, no 4 (2004) p 282.