Report on Government Services 2026
PART F, SECTION 15: RELEASED ON 29 JANUARY 2026

15 Services for people with disability

This section reports on Australian, state and territory government assistance to people with disability and their carers. Performance reporting currently focuses on assistance provided by governments to people with disability via the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and through specialist disability services, as well as the broad social and economic outcomes of people with disability and their use of mainstream services.

The Indicator results tab uses data from the data tables to provide information on the performance for each indicator in the Indicator framework. The same data is also available in CSV format.

Data downloads

Refer to the corresponding table number in the data tables for detailed definitions, caveats, footnotes and data source(s).

Guide: How to find what you need in RoGS (PDF - 812.9 KB)

Context

Objectives for services for people with disability

Disability services aim to support people with disability and their carers to have an enhanced quality of life, enjoy choice and wellbeing, achieve independence, and experience social and economic participation and full inclusion in the community.

Under the NDIS, governments aim to achieve this objective through the provision of an NDIS that:

enables people with disability to exercise choice and control in the pursuit of their goals and the planning and delivery of their supports
provides reasonable and necessary supports including early intervention supports
promotes the provision of high quality and innovative supports
provides timely decisions on access to NDIS applicants.

For specialist disability services provided outside the NDIS, governments aim to achieve this objective by providing access to disability services:

that meet the needs of people with disability and their carers
that provide skills and support to people with disability to enable them to live as independently as possible
that meet a particular standard of quality
on the basis of relative need
that assist families and carers in their caring role.

Governments aim to meet these objectives in an equitable, efficient and sustainable manner.

Governments provide assistance to people with disability and their carers through the NDIS and specialist disability services.

The NDIS was established under the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013 (Cth). The NDIS adopts an insurance-based model of funding and delivering supports for people with disability. The scheme is not means tested and is uncapped (demand-driven). The NDIS provides reasonable and necessary supports to people with a permanent and significant disability who need assistance with everyday activities.

People applying to access the scheme are assessed according to a standard set of criteria. People who meet these criteria receive a package of funding to purchase the supports identified in their approved plan. The NDIS market-based approach is based on the premise that people with disability should be able to exercise choice and control in the supports they access.

Services and supports provided to NDIS participants are regulated by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (NQSC). The NQSC's role includes provider registration, complaints management and reportable incidents, behaviour support, and compliance with practice standards and the NDIS code of conduct. During 2024-25, the NQSC received 33,789 complaints, and 2,305,071 notified of incidents of unauthorised use of restrictive practices and 34,104 other reportable incidents (excluding unauthorised use of restrictive practices) (tables 15A.58–60). Of the 34,104 other reportable incidents notified during 2024-25, most concerned alleged abuse and neglect (43.6%), followed by serious injury, including accidents (33.4%). The NDIA also receives complaints about the Scheme (NDIA 2025a).

Complaints about state-funded specialist disability services outside the NDIS can be made to independent agencies across jurisdictions (such as ombudsmen and disability services commissioners).

With the transition of state and territory services to the NDIS, the number and range of specialist disability services provided have declined. Specialist disability services that continue to be provided include:

employment services, which the Australian Government delivers
Basic Community Care (BCC) services, which assist people with disability or a chronic health condition aged under 65 years (and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged under 50 years) to live independently and to actively participate and engage in their community.

People with disability have the same right of access to mainstream services as all Australians, consistent with the goals of Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021 - 2031 (the Strategy), which was launched on 3 December 2021. The Strategy sets out Australia's national disability policy framework. Its purpose is to:

provide national leadership towards greater inclusion of people with disability
guide activity across all areas of public policy to be inclusive and responsive to people with disability
drive mainstream services and systems to improve outcomes for people with disability
engage, inform and involve the whole community in achieving a more inclusive society.

All levels of government have committed to delivering more comprehensive and visible reporting under the Strategy through the Outcomes Framework. Governments will report annually on progress against seven outcome areas. Further information on the Strategy can be found at https://www.disabilitygateway.gov.au/ads, and the most recent data for the Outcomes Framework is available at https://www.aihw.gov.au/australias-disability-strategy.

Data on the participation of people with disability in mainstream government services can be found in other sections of this report (sections 3, 4, 5, 14, 18, 19 and sector overview G).

The Australian, state and territory governments have different but complementary roles and responsibilities:

all governments share responsibility for NDIS policy, funding and governance (NDIA 2025c)
state and territory governments are responsible for providing specialist disability services, except disability employment services
state and territory governments have full financial and operational responsibility for BCC services for people with disability aged under 65 years (and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged under 50 years)
the Australian Government is responsible for providing employment services for people with disability and income support.

In 2024-25, total expenditure on disability services was $51.1 billion, an increase of 5.5% compared to 2023-24 and an average annual growth rate since 2019 of 16.2% (table 15A.1).

In 2024-25, governments contributed $46.1 billion to the NDIS, with a further $1.9 billion in government expenditure on direct service delivery outside of the NDIS (table 15A.1). For all jurisdictions, contributions to the NDIS formed the bulk of funding for disability services (tables 15A.3 and 15A.4). Further information on funding sources, categories of expenditure and government expenditure in prior years are available in data tables 15A.1–4.

In addition to contributing to NDIS participant costs, the Australian government also funds the NDIA as an independent statutory agency to implement the NDIS and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission to oversee and regulate the NDIS. In 2024-25, operating expenses for the NDIA and the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission were $2.5 billion and $197.3 million, respectively (table 15A.1).

In 2024-25, the NDIS committed $61.0 billion in support to participants. This represents an increase of $6.5 billion (or 11.8%) in committed supports to participants compared to the previous financial year (table 15.1).

At 30 June 2025, $45.9 billion of support committed to participants during the 2024-25 financial year had been paid (table 15.1).

The ABS estimates that 5.5 million Australians, or 21.4% of the population, had disability in 2022 (3.2 million, or 15.0% of people aged under 65 years). This estimate increased from 2.4 million Australians, or 11.6%, in 2018 of people aged under 65 years. In 2022, an estimated 7.9% of the population had a profound or severe core activity limitation (5.1% of people aged under 65 years). These results are similar to 2018 and 2015. Males and females are similarly affected by disability (21.0% and 21.8% for all ages; 14.8% and 15.2% of people aged under 65 years) (ABS 2024, 2019, 2016).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience higher rates of disability than non-Indigenous people. In 2022, 11.6% of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in private dwellings (excluding those living in very remote areas and discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities) had a profound or severe core activity limitation, similar to 2018 (8.8%) and 2015 (7.3%) – around 1.6 times the proportion for non-Indigenous people (ABS 2024, 2021a).

Table 15A.5 contains additional information on disability prevalence.

National Disability Insurance Scheme participants

Nationally at 30 June 2025, there were 739,414 active NDIS participants with approved plans (table 15A.6), 60,529 of whom identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (around 8.2% of NDIS participants) (table 15A.8). Nationally at 30 June 2025, 73,596 participants had left the NDIS since 1 July 2013 (NDIA 2025b).

Nationally at 30 June 2025, autism was the most common form of disability for NDIS participants (39.9%), followed by intellectual disability (14.6%) (table 15A.6). Data on the characteristics of NDIS participants is available in tables 15A.6–9.

Additional information on NDIS participants’ access to mainstream services and satisfaction with the NDIS is available in tables 15A.12–13. Information on the characteristics of active NDIS providers is available in table 15A.14. An analysis of the characteristics of NDIS participants linked to the Multi-Agency Data Integration Project is contained in Characteristics of National Disability Insurance Scheme participants, 2019: Analysis of linked data (ABS 2021b).

Users of Commonwealth employment services

Nationally in 2024-25, 122,898 people aged 15–64 year used Disability Management Services (table 15A.43) and 206,109 used Employment Support Services (table 15A.42). The use of employment services as a ratio of the potential population has decreased since 2021-22; this result is due to an increase in the estimated number of people with an employment restriction and a decrease in the number of people using Commonwealth employment services.

Use of Basic Community Care

As service users have transitioned to the NDIS, only limited data is available on BCC. In 2024-25, for the three jurisdictions for which BCC service user data were available (Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania), there were a combined 72,240 service recipients (table 15A.10). For the two jurisdictions for which data on hours were available (Victoria and Tasmania), service recipients received around 1.7 million hours of service (table 15A.11). The majority of service hours were for nursing care and domestic assistance (20.2% and 18.8% respectively) (table 15A.11). The quality of BCC data varies across jurisdictions and comparisons should be made with caution.

Disability support workforce

The NDIS Worker Screening Check sets a minimum national standard that all workers engaged by a registered NDIS provider in a risk-assessed role must meet. NDIS Worker Screening Check clearances expire every five years. Since the NDIS Worker Screening Check began, 1.1 million applications have been submitted (NDIS Commission 2025).

In the NDIS Commission Quarterly Performance Report Q4 2024-25 (NDIS Commission 2025), 10,545 behaviour support practitioners were considered suitable to deliver behaviour support services.

The most recent National Disability Services (NDS) 2025 Workforce Census provides updated information on the disability sector workforce. Nationally at December 2024, the disability workforce was predominantly female (two-thirds or 63%) and aged 25–44 years (49%). Additionally, 58% of the disability support workforce were employed on a permanent basis, with 21% of permanent workers employed full time. Casual workers comprised 40% of the disability support workforce. The Census also showed that over the past 12 months, turnover rates have remained steady for permanent workers (at 16%) and increased for casuals (from 24% to 26%) (NDS 2025).

Informal carers

Family and friends provide most of the care and support that people with disability receive. Information on informal carers enables governments to plan for future service demand, both for carer support and for assistance to the people they care for (see the Explanatory material tab for definitions of informal carers across different collections).

In 2022, an estimated 1.2 million informal primary carers (of which 822,200 were aged under 65 years) provided the majority of assistance with self-care, mobility and communication for people with disability (ABS 2024).

Indicator Framework

The performance indicator framework provides information on equity, effectiveness and efficiency, and distinguishes the outputs and outcomes of services for people with disability.

The performance indicator framework shows which data is complete and comparable in this report. For data that is not considered directly comparable, text includes relevant caveats and supporting commentary. Section 1 discusses data comparability and completeness from a report-wide perspective. In addition to the contextual information for this service area (refer to Context tab), the report's statistical context (Section 2) contains data that may assist in interpreting the performance indicators presented in this section.

Improvements to performance reporting for services for people with disability are ongoing and include identifying data sources to fill gaps in reporting for performance indicators and measures, and improving the comparability and completeness of data.

Outputs

Outputs are the services delivered (while outcomes are the impact of these services on the status of an individual or group) (refer to section 1). Output information is also critical for equitable, efficient and effective management of government services.

Outcomes

Outcomes are the impact of services on the status of an individual or group (refer to section 1).

Performance indicator framework diagram showing equity, effectiveness and efficiency output indicators and outcome indicators, and shows comparability and completeness of indicators. Details described in text below.

Performance – linked to Objectives

Outputs

Equity – Access

Service use by selected equity groups – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

Effectiveness – Access

Unmet need – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
Use of funded disability supports – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
NDIS waiting times – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
Younger people with disability in residential aged care – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

Effectiveness – Appropriateness

Choice and control – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

Effectiveness – Quality

Client and carer satisfaction – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
Service quality and safety – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

Effectiveness – Sustainability

Workforce sustainability – no data reported and/or no measures yet developed

Efficiency – Cost per output unit

Average committed supports, per NDIS participant – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
Unit cost of employment services – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

Outcomes

Use of mainstream services by people with disability – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
Employment rates of primary carers of people with disability – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
Employment rates of people with disability – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
Carer health and wellbeing – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

A description of the comparability and completeness is provided under the Indicator results tab for each measure.

Indicator Results

This section presents an overview of Services for people with disability performance indicator results. Different delivery contexts, locations and types of clients can affect the equity, effectiveness and efficiency of services for people with disability.

Information to assist interpretation of this data can be found with the indicators below and all data (footnotes and data sources) are available for download above as an excel spreadsheet and as a CSV dataset. Data tables are identified by a ‘15A’ prefix (for example, table 15A.1).

Specific data used in figures can be downloaded by clicking in the figure area, navigating to the bottom of the visualisation to the grey toolbar, clicking on the 'Download' icon and selecting 'Data' from the menu. Selecting 'PDF' or 'Powerpoint' from the 'Download' menu will download a static view of the performance indicator results.

‘Service use by selected equity groups’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide disability services in an equitable manner.

‘Service use by selected equity groups’ is defined by three measures:

Proportion of service users per 1,000 people in the population in a selected equity group, compared with the proportion of service users per 1,000 people in the population outside the selected equity group.
Utilisation rate of active participants with approved NDIS plans in a selected equity group, compared to the utilisation rate of participants outside the selected equity group.
Proportion of service users per 1,000 people in the potential population who use Australian Government Disability Employment Support Services.

A service user is a person with disability who is an active NDIS participant (that is, has an approved NDIS plan) or a person with disability who received at least one funded specialist disability employment service.

The potential population estimates the number of people with the potential to require disability services at a point in time (typically as at 30 June). (Further information on potential populations is in the Explanatory material tab.)

Data is reported for three selected equity groups:

people from outer regional and remote/very remote areas
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds (defined as people born in a non‑English speaking country).

Data are also disaggregated by sex and age.

While a lower proportion within the selected equity group relative to those outside the selected equity group can indicate reduced access, it can also represent strong alternative informal support networks (and consequently a lower level of otherwise unmet need) or a lower tendency for people in a selected equity group choosing to access disability services. Similarly, a higher proportion can suggest poor service targeting, a lack of alternative informal support networks, or a greater tendency of people in a selected equity group choosing to access disability services, or a higher level of need within the selected equity group.

This indicator does not provide information on whether the services were appropriate for the needs of the people receiving them or correctly targeted on the basis of relative need.

Mesaure 1: Nationally at 30 June 2025, the proportion of the population who were participants in the NDIS was:

lower in remote and very remote areas than in major cities and inner and outer regional areas (figure 15.1a; table 15A.17)
higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people than non‑Indigenous people (table 15A.18)
lower for people from a CALD background than people from a non‑CALD background (table 15A.19)
higher for males than females aged 0–64 years (table 15A.20).

To assist in the interpretation of this data, information on average payments and average committed support per NDIS participant is included in tables 15A.30–37.

Measure 2: Nationally at 30 June 2025, plan utilisation was:

lower in remote and very remote and inner and outer regional areas than in major cities (figure 15.1b; table 15A.26)
lower for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people than for non-Indigenous people (table 15A.27)
higher for people from a CALD background than people from a non‑CALD background (table 15A.28)
similar for males and females (table 15A.29).

Measure 3: Nationally in 2024‑25, the proportion of the potential population who used Australian Government Disability Employment Support Services was:

lower in remote and very remote areas than in major cities and inner and outer regional areas (figure 15.1c; table 15A.21)
higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people than non‑Indigenous people (table 15A.22)
higher for people from a non-English speaking background than people from an English-speaking background (table 15A.25)
higher for males than females aged 15–64 years (table 15A.42).

‘Unmet need’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide services that meet the individual needs of people with disability and their carers.

‘Unmet need’ is defined by five measures:

Proportion of people (aged 0–64 years) living in households who need more formal assistance than they are currently receiving.
Proportion of carers (of people aged 0–64 years) who report a need for further assistance in their caring roles.
Proportion of carers who report that they and the person or people they care for had poor access to adequate levels of formal support to ensure their wellbeing.
Proportion of carers who report high barriers when trying to access services such as in-home support, respite care, and cleaning services on behalf of a care recipient.
Average number of days between an NDIS participant being medically ready for discharge and their hospital discharge.

A low or decreasing proportion of people reporting a need for further assistance and a low or decreasing number of days between NDIS participants being medically ready for discharge and their subsequent discharge is desirable.

The ABS Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) does not include people living in discrete Indigenous communities, which affects the representativeness of results for the Northern Territory. Approximately 20% of the resident population of the Northern Territory live in discrete Indigenous communities (ABS 2024).

Measure 1: Nationally in 2022, 39.4% of people aged 0–64 years reported a need for more formal assistance than they are currently receiving (figure 15.2a). The proportion was similar for females and males (40.2% compared to 39.8%), but higher for people in major cities compared to people in regional and remote areas (42.6% compared to 34.6%). Nationally the need for more formal assistance has increased over the available time series (37.5% in 2018 and 35.3% in 2015) (table 15A.38).

Measure 2: Nationally in 2022, 35.0% of primary carers of people aged 0–64 years reported a need for further assistance in their caring roles. Nationally the need for more formal assistance has increased over the available time series (32.0% in 2018 and 24.6% in 2015) (table 15A.39).

Measure 3: Nationally in 2024-25, 58.5% of carers of people aged 0–64 years reported poor access to support from a formal service for in-home care and assistance with specific needs, higher than in 2023-24 (56.7%) and 2022-23 (51.4%) (table 15A.40).

Measure 4: Nationally in 2024-25, over 30% of carers of people aged 0–64 years reported barriers to accessing services, ranging from 32.3% for poor coordination between different services to 50.0% for long waiting times to access services in their local area. This result has been consistent over the past four years (table 15A.40).

Measure 5: Nationally in 2024-25, NDIS participants who were medically ready for discharge waited, on average, 19 days to be discharged from hospital, a decrease from 22 days in 2023-24. This measure captures NDIS participants' waiting times on discharge and does not include people who remain in hospital (figure 15.2b).

‘Use of funded disability supports’ is a proxy indicator of governments’ objective to provide access to disability services on the basis of relative need. ‘Use of funded disability supports’ is defined as the proportion of people with an employment restriction accessing employment services.

The measure is calculated as the number of people with disability and an employment restriction accessing employment services (numerator), divided by the estimated number of people with disability and an employment restriction (denominator), expressed as a percentage. Data are reported for two Australian Government employment service types: (1) Disability Management Services, and (2) Employment Support Services.

The number of people with disability and an employment restriction who are accessing employment services is provided by the Department of Social Services. The AIHW derives the estimated number of people with disability and an employment restriction. Further information on the potential population, employment services and employment restrictions is in the Explanatory material tab.

A high or increasing proportion of the estimated potential population accessing employment services is desirable as it indicates greater access to that service.

Nationally in 2024‑25, for people aged 15–64 years with disability and with an employment restriction:

10.7% were using Australian Government funded employment services, Employment Support Services in 2024‑25 – similar to 2023-24 at 10.9% (table 15A.42)
6.4% were using Australian Government funded Disability Management Services (figure 15.3) – the lowest value over the past ten years (table 15A.43).

‘NDIS waiting times’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide timely decisions on access to applicants of the NDIS and is defined by four measures:

Timeliness of NDIS eligibility decision, the time taken (in days) to determine a person’s eligibility for the NDIS, measured from the time a person submits an access request to the NDIS to the NDIA’s decision on the access request or a request for further information following an application at the 50th (median) and 90th percentile.
Timeliness of first plan approval, the time taken (in days) to complete approval of a participant’s first plan in the NDIS, measured from the time the NDIA approved a person’s access to the NDIS to the point of first plan approval by the NDIA at the 50th (median) and 90th percentile.
Timeliness of home and living decisions, the time taken (in days) from receipt of home and living application to plan implementation at the 50th (median) percentile.
Timeliness of NDIA contact when an NDIS participant is admitted to hospital, the average time taken (in days) for the NDIA to make contact with an NDIS participant after the NDIA has been notified of a participant’s admission to hospital.

Short or decreasing waiting times are desirable.

Measure 1: Nationally in 2024-25, 50% of applicants to the NDIS received a decision on their application or a request for further information within 71 days of submitting an access request (increasing to 117 days at the 90th percentile). Of all the people who applied to the NDIS 80% obtained access, decreasing to 54% for people aged 19 years or over (figure 15.4a; table 15A.44).

Measure 2: Nationally in 2024-25, 50% of NDIS participants had their first plan approved within 19 days (increasing to 58 days at the 90th percentile), part of a downward trend on elapsed times since 2021-22 (37 days at the 50th percentile and 78 days at the 90th percentile). There is variation in the number of days waited across age ranges, with people aged 0–8 years approved within 10 days at the 50th percentile and 22 days at the 90th percentile, compared to 39 and 75 days for people aged 9 years or older (table 15A.45).

Measure 3: Nationally in 2024-25, it took 20 days from receipt of a home and living application forms to plan implementation at the 50th percentile for NDIS participants, down from 33 days in 2023-24 (15A.46).

In 2023-24, the age range used in measure 2 changed to reflect the increased age for NDIS entry. Data for previous years with different age ranges is available in table 15A.45.

Measure 4: Nationally in 2024-25, it took an average of 2.6 days for the NDIA to contact an NDIS participant after the NDIA was notified of a participant's hospital admission, similar to 2023-24 at 2.7 days (figure 15.4b).

‘Younger people with disability in residential aged care’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide access to disability services on the basis of relative need; and through the NDIS, to provide reasonable and necessary supports, including early intervention supports.

‘Younger people with disability in residential aged care’ is defined as the rate of non‑Indigenous people aged 0–64 years and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 0–49 years admitted to permanent residential aged care per 10,000 people in the potential population. (Further information on the potential population is in the Explanatory material tab.)

These data should be interpreted with care, as some younger people choose to remain in residential aged care for a variety of reasons, such as:

their physical and nursing needs can be best met in residential aged care
they are satisfied with their current living situation (that is, it is their preferred home)
the facility is located close to family and friends, or they have family living in the same facility
they are nearing the age of 65 years and wish to remain.

Nationally in 2024‑25, the rate of younger people with disability admitted to permanent residential aged care was 1.8 per 10,000 people in the potential population, similar to 2023-24 (1.7 per 10,000 people) but a decrease from 2015-16 (32.2 per 10,000 people) (figure 15.5). Of younger people admitted to permanent residential aged care in 2024-25, 96.3% were aged 50 years or over (table 15A.48).

Data on the number of younger people receiving and separating from residential aged care to return to home or family are available in tables 15A.49–50. Nationally at 30 June 2025, there were 1,098 permanent aged care residents aged under 65 years. Of these, 96.9% were aged 50 years or over (table 15A.49).

Data on the number of younger people receiving residential aged care by Indigenous status is available in table 15A.50. Data on state and territory government expenditure for younger people with disability in residential aged care is reported in table 14A.4 of section 14 in this report.

Although data on the disability status of younger people entering, receiving, or exiting residential aged care is not available, table 15A.51 contains information on the subset of younger people in residential aged care who are NDIS participants and as a proportion of NDIS participants.

‘Choice and control’ is an indicator of governments’ objective under the NDIS to enable people with disability to exercise choice and control in pursuing their goals and planning delivery of their supports.

‘Choice and control’ is defined as the proportion of NDIS participants who have been in the scheme for at least two years and who experience independence, choice and control over their care.

‘Choice and control’ is defined by two measures:

The proportion of active NDIS participants (aged 15 years or over) who report that they get to choose who supports them.
The proportion of families and carers of active NDIS participants (aged 15 years or over) who report that they feel in control when selecting services.

Data is sourced from the NDIS Outcome Framework longitudinal survey. NDIS participants are invited to complete this survey when their plans are reviewed, and only active participants as at 30 June are included. Active participants are eligible participants with an approved plan, but this might also include cases where a participant's plan has expired and a new plan has not formally commenced, but the participant has not exited the scheme.

High or increasing proportions of NDIS participants and families and carers of NDIS participants who report experiencing choice and control is desirable.

Nationally at 30 June 2025, 55% of NDIS participants aged 15 years or over reported that they get to choose who supports them, continuing an upward trend from 2019 (48%). Additionally, 43% of families and carers of NDIS participants aged 15 years or over reported that they feel in control when selecting services, a result that has not changed over time. Results varied across jurisdictions (figure 15.6; table 15A.52).

‘Client and carer satisfaction’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide access to disability services that meet a particular standard of quality; and under the NDIS, to promote the provision of high quality and innovative supports.

‘Client and carer satisfaction’ is defined by five measures:

Proportion of people with disability aged 15–64 years who are satisfied with the range of formal service options available from formal services in the last six months.
Proportion of people with disability aged 15–64 years who are satisfied with the quality of assistance received from formal services in the last six months.
Proportion of carers satisfied with their access to support (respite care services).
Proportion of primary carers (of people with disability aged 0–64 years), who are satisfied with the range of formal service options available to help them in their caring role from formal services in the last six months.
Proportion of primary carers (of people with disability aged 0–64 years) who are satisfied with the quality of assistance received from formal services, by the person with disability and by the carer in the last six months.

Care should be taken in interpreting results as the data does not distinguish between disability and mainstream services.

A high or increasing proportion of clients and carers who are satisfied is desirable as it suggests that the service received was of a higher quality.

Measures 1–2: Nationally in 2022, 48.1% of people aged 15–64 years with disability who received formal services in the previous six months were satisfied with the range of services they received (figure 15.7a; table 15A.55), and 76.8% were satisfied with the quality of assistance they received (table 15A.53).

Measure 3: Nationally in 2024-25, 31.9% of carers were satisfied with their access to respite care services. This is broadly consistent with proportions in previous years (figure 15.7b; table 15A.57).

Measures 4–5: Nationally in 2022, 27.8% of primary carers were satisfied with the range of services they received compared to 29.6% in 2018 and 32.5% in 2015 (table 15A.56). Nationally in 2022, 64.5% of primary carers were satisfied with the quality of services received, compared to 66.6% in 2018 and 73.4% in 2015 (table 15A.54).

'Service quality and safety' is an indicator of governments' objective to provide access to disability services that meet a particular standard of safety and quality; and, under the NDIS, to promote the provision of high-quality and innovative supports.

'Service quality and safety' refers to the right of individuals to receive safe and high-quality disability services, free from abuse and neglect and is defined by two measures:

Complaints, as a rate per 1,000 active NDIS participants.
Reportable incidents, comprising:
- the number of participants who experienced unauthorised use of restrictive practices, as a rate per 1,000 active NDIS participants. Restrictive practices include seclusion and chemical, physical, mechanical and environmental restraint.
- the number of other reportable incidents, as a rate per 1,000 active NDIS participants. Other reportable incidents include death, serious injury, abuse or neglect, unlawful sexual or physical contact, and sexual misconduct.

The number of reportable incidents does not necessarily correlate with the number of instances of harm to a person with disability. Reports might include multiple notifications of the same matter, allegations of incidents, and situations where incidents occurred but injury was avoided.

High service quality and safety levels are desirable, as evidenced by low and decreasing rates of complaints and reportable incidents. However, high or increasing rates might reflect more effective incident reporting mechanisms and organisational cultural change.

Complaints

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission receives complaints about NDIS providers and their workers. Complaints are classified into four categories: provider practice, provider policies and procedures, worker conduct or capability, and alleged abuse and neglect. When the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission receives a complaint, it can take a range of actions depending on the nature of the complaint, including holding conciliation meetings and undertaking investigations.

Measure 1: Nationally in 2024-25, there were 27.8 complaints per 1,000 active NDIS participants for complaints with a known type, similar to prior years (29.3 complaints per 1,000 active NDIS participants in 2023-24 and 26.7 in 2022-23) (table 15A.58). The most common complaint type concerned provider practice with 11.9 complaints per 1,000 active NDIS participants (figure 15.8a). Nationally in 2024-25, there were 45.7 total complaints per 1,000 active NDIS participants, similar to 45.0 in 2023-24. The total number of complaints received by the NDIS Commission was 33,789, an increase from 29,761 complaints in 2023-24 (table 15A.58).

Reportable incidents

Registered providers must report specific 'reportable incidents' to the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission when connected with providing NDIS supports and services. Reportable incidents include death, serious injury, abuse or neglect, unlawful sexual or physical contact, sexual misconduct, and unauthorised use of restrictive practices.

Measure 2a: Nationally in 2024-25, there were 46.1 other reportable incidents (excluding unauthorised use of restrictive practices) per 1,000 NDIS participants, an increase from 39.8 other reportable incidents per 1,000 active NDIS participants in 2023-24 (figure 15.8b). The rate per 1,000 NDIS participants varied across category types from 1.1 for alleged sexual misconduct to 20.1 for alleged abuse and neglect (table 15A.59). For reportable incidents by gender, refer to table 15A.59, and for incidents by age, refer to table 15A.61.

Measure 2b: Nationally in 2024-25, there were 16.8 NDIS participants subject to unauthorised restrictive practices per 1,000 NDIS participants (including seclusion and chemical, physical, mechanical and environmental restraint), similar to 17.2 in 2023-24 (figure 15.8c and table 15A.60). The number of NDIS participants who were subject to unauthorised restrictive practices per 1,000 NDIS participants varied across category types from 0.9 for seclusion to 8.8 for environmental restraint (table 15A.60). Nationally, the number of participants who experience unauthorised use of restricitive practices was 12,439, an increase from 11,358 in 2023-24.

‘Workforce sustainability’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide sustainable services for people with disability.

Services for people with disability workforce sustainability relates to the capacity of the disability workforce to meet current and projected future service demand. These measures are not a substitute for a full workforce analysis that allows for training, migration, changing patterns of work and expected future demand. They can, however, indicate that further attention should be given to workforce planning for services for people with disability.

This indicator is currently under development for reporting in the future.

‘Average committed supports, per NDIS participant’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide access to disability services in an efficient manner.

‘Average committed supports, per NDIS participant’ is measured at 30 June each year and concerns participants’ most recent plans at that date.

To reflect cost differences in the intensity of support required by participants with different personal characteristics, this data is disaggregated by disability type, level of functional capacity, age, and sex, and reported separately for participants with and without supported independent living (SIL).

Supported independent living is for people with higher support needs, who always require some level of help at home. This can include significant help throughout the day, seven days a week and overnight support.

Although high or increasing expenditure per unit of output can reflect deteriorating efficiency, it can also reflect improvements in the quality or other attributes of the services provided, or an increase in users' service needs. Similarly, low or declining expenditure per unit of output can reflect improving efficiency, or lower quality and less effective services.

To assist interpretation of this data, information on average payments, per NDIS participant and service utilisation are included in tables 15A.65–70.

Nationally at 30 June 2025, average committed supports, per NDIS participant, was $83,000, similar to $79,000 in 2019 (table 15A.62). The need for supported independent living has a material impact on NDIS package costs. For participants without supported independent living, average committed supports, per NDIS participant was $62,000, similar to $58,000 in 2019. Whereas average committed supports, per NDIS participant in need of supported independent living was $474,000, an increase from $350,000 in 2019. Data by participant characteristics (disability type, level of functional capacity and age) and jurisdiction are reported in tables 15A.62–64.

'Unit cost of employment services' is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide access to disability services in an efficient manner.

'Unit cost of employment services' is defined as the net Australian government expenditure divided by the number of users of non‑government provided employment services.

Assuming all other factors remain constant (such as service quality and accessibility), low or decreasing government expenditure per service user reflects a more efficient provision of this service.

Although high or increasing expenditure per unit of output can reflect deteriorating efficiency, it can also reflect improvements in the quality or other attributes of the services provided, or an increase in the service needs of users. Similarly, low or declining expenditure per unit of output can reflect improving efficiency, or lower quality and less effective services.

Nationally for all employment services, the estimated Australian Government contribution per service user assisted (non‑government provided employment services) was $4,257 in 2024‑25 (figure 15.10) – $4,248 per user of open services (employed or seeking employment in the open labour market) and $17,202 per user of supported services (employed by the service provider) (table 15A.71). Australian Government funding per user of non-government provided employment services was higher in 2019-20 ($4,944) (table 15A.72).

‘Use of mainstream services by people with disability’ is an indicator of governments’ objective that people with disability and their carers have an enhanced quality of life and enjoy choice and wellbeing.

‘Use of mainstream services by people with disability’ is defined as the proportion of people with disability who sought to access mainstream services and were able to do so confidently (that is without experiencing difficulty or discrimination). Data are reported for the following proxy measures:

Proportion of people aged 15–64 years who had difficulty accessing government buildings in the last 12 months.
Proportion of people with disability aged 15–64 years (living in households) who could not use or use only some public transport.

Data on respondents’ ability to use public transport includes people with disability aged 15–64 years only. Data excludes people not living in households and people who reported they do not leave home. When interpreting these data, users should be aware that respondents were asked to report their ability to use public transport regardless of whether it was available in their area. Therefore, these data cannot provide insight into public transport availability for people with disability or barriers within specific transport services.

Low or decreasing proportions of people with disability experiencing difficulty with public transport or difficulty accessing government buildings are desirable.

The ABS SDAC does not include people living in discrete Indigenous communities, which affects the representativeness of results for the Northern Territory. Approximately 20% of the resident population of the Northern Territory live in discrete Indigenous communities (ABS 2024).

Contextual information on the proportion of active NDIS participants with approved plans accessing mainstream supports is available in table 15A.12.

Nationally in 2022, for people with disability aged 15–64 years:

19.1% reported they could not use or could use only some, public transport, an increase from 15.6% in 2018 (figure 15.11; table 15A.73).
6.4% reported that they had difficulty accessing government buildings in the last 12 months (table 15A.74).

‘Employment rates of primary carers of people with disability’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to help primary carers of people with disability achieve economic participation. ‘Employment rates of primary carers of people with disability’ is measured as the rate of employment of primary carers compared to the rate of employment of the general population.

This measure reports on the employment outcomes of primary carers aged 15–64 years who care for a person with disability aged 0–64 years.

Similar employment rates between carers of people with disability and the general population are desirable. This indicator does not assess whether employment opportunities are appropriate or fulfilling.

Nationally in 2022, the employment rate of primary carers of people with disability aged 15–64 years was 62.6%, while the employment rate for the general population aged 15–64 years was 77.4%. The employment rate of primary carers has increased over the available time series (53.2% in 2018 and 51.4% in 2015) (figure 15.12; table 15A.75).

‘Employment rates of people with disability’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to help people with disability achieve economic participation.

‘Employment rates of people with disability’ are defined by two measures:

Employment rates of people with disability.
Employment rates of NDIS participants.

Due to differences in employment outcomes for different age ranges, NDIS employment data are reported for two age cohorts: people aged 15–24 years and people aged 25–64 years.

Tables 15A.76–77 present data on the employment rate of the general population aged 15–64 years to track broader market trends over time (rather than to compare employment rates across cohorts).

Data for this indicator are sourced from the NDIS Outcome Framework longitudinal survey. NDIS participants are invited to complete this survey when their plans are reviewed, and only active participants as at 30 June are included. Active participants are eligible participants with an approved plan, but this might also include cases where a participant's plan has expired and a new plan has not formally commenced, but the participant has not exited the scheme.

Increasing rates of employment for people with disability is desirable. This indicator does not assess whether employment opportunities are appropriate or fulfilling. The employment rates only focus on people aged 15–64 years.

Nationally in 2022, the employment rate for people with disability aged 15–64 years was 56.1%, while the employment rate for the general population aged 15–64 years was 77.4% (figure 15.13a).

Nationally in 2025, 23.0% of NDIA participants in both age groups (aged 15–24 years and aged 25–64 years) reported that they were employed. The employment rate for the same age cohort in the general population was 63.6% for people aged 15–24 years and 80.7% for people aged 25–64 years (figure 15.13b; table 15A.77).

‘Carer health and wellbeing’ is an indicator of governments’ objective that people with disability and their carers have an enhanced quality of life and enjoy choice and wellbeing. ‘Carer health and wellbeing’ is defined by five measures:

The proportion of primary carers of people with disability who feel satisfied with their caring role.
The proportion of primary carers of people with disability who do not experience negative impacts on their wellbeing due to their caring role.
The difference in self-reported personal wellbeing between carers and the general population.
The difference in self-reported loneliness ('often' or 'always' experience loneliness) between carers and the general population.
The difference in self-reported health ('fair' or 'poor' health) between carers and the general population.

A high or increasing rate of carers who feel satisfied with their caring role and who do not experience negative impacts on their wellbeing due to caring is desirable. Similar levels of self-reported wellbeing between carers and the general population is desirable.

Measure 1: Nationally in 2022, 18.9% of primary carers of people with disabilities were satisfied with their caring role, a decrease from 22.1% in 2018 and 22.9% in 2015 (figure 15.14a).

Measure 2: Nationally in 2022, 40.5% of primary carers did not experience negative impacts on their wellbeing due to their caring role, a decrease from 43.7% in 2018 and 44.4% in 2015 (tables 15A.79).

The proportion of primary carers who were satisfied with their caring role and who did not experience negative impacts on their wellbeing due to their caring role were higher for male than female carers (tables 15A.78–79).

Measure 3: Nationally in 2024-25, 68.1% of carers reported low levels of wellbeing on the Personal Wellbeing Index compared to the general population (33.6%), an increase from 2021-22 (60.7%) (figure 15.14b; table 15A.80).

Measure 4: Nationally in 2024-25, 49.2% of carers responded that they are often/always lonely compared to the general population (18.0%), an increase from 2021-22 (45.1%) (table 15A.80).

Measure 5: Nationally in 2024-25, 59.9% of carers responded that they have either fair or poor health compared to the general population (22.4%), an increase from 2021-22 (55.1%) (table 15A.80).

All results for carers and the general population indicate a lower level of wellbeing compared to 2023-24.

Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Data

Data for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in this section are available in the data tables listed below. Further supporting information can be found in the 'Indicator results' tab and data tables.

Disability services data disaggregated for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
Table number	Table title
Context data
Table 15A.8	NDIS participants, by primary disability type, by Indigenous status, 30 June
Table 15A.10	Users of basic community care services by selected groups and ages
Performance indicator data
Table 15A.18	Proportion of the potential population who are participants in the NDIS, by Indigenous status, 30 June
Table 15A.22	Users of Employment Support Services aged 15–64 years, by Indigenous status
Table 15A.23	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander users of Employment Support Services aged 15–64 years, by age
Table 15A.24	Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander users of Disability Management Services aged 15–64 years, by age
Table 15A.27	Utilisation of NDIS committed supports, by Indigenous status, measured at 30 June
Table 15A.31	Average annualised NDIS payments by Indigenous status, payments for the previous 12 months, at 30 June
Table 15A.35	Average annualised NDIS committed supports by Indigenous status, active participant plan at 30 June
Table 15A.48	Rate of younger people admitted to permanent residential aged care per 10,000 potential population, by Indigenous status, by age
Table 15A.50	Younger people who separated from permanent residential aged care to return to home/family

Explanatory Material

This report includes 2024‑25 expenditure data provided by Australian, state and territory governments. Expenditure data in this report may differ from information reported elsewhere.

**Table 15.3 Comparability of expenditure estimates for government provided specialist disability services, by items included, 2023-24**
		NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aust
Superannuation	Included
Superannuation	Basis of estimate	Accrual	Accrual	Accrual	Accrual	Accrual	Accrual	Accrual	Accrual	Accrual
Workers compensation	Included
Actual payroll tax	Included
Basis of apportioning umbrella department costs	Included
	Departmental formula
	% of FTE employees
Long service leave	Entitlements
	Basis of estimate	Accrual	Accrual	Accrual	Accrual	Accrual	Accrual	Accrual	Accrual	Accrual
	Depreciation

FTE = full time equivalent. Not applicable. Not included. Included.

Source: Australian, state and territory governments unpublished.

Terms	Definition
Core activities	Communication, mobility and self‑care as per the 2018 ABS Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC).
Disability	The United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by Australia on 17 July 2008, defines ‘persons with disabilities’ as those who have long term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. The World Health Organisation defines ‘disabilities’ as impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions: an impairment is a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action; and a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations. Disability is a complex phenomenon, reflecting an interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives (WHO 2008). In the ABS SDAC 2018, a person has disability if they ‘report they have a limitation, restriction or impairment, which has lasted, or is likely to last, for at least six months and restricts everyday activities. This includes: loss of sight (not corrected by glasses or contact lenses) loss of hearing where communication is restricted, or an aid to assist with, or substitute for, hearing is used speech difficulties shortness of breath or breathing difficulties causing restriction chronic or recurrent pain or discomfort causing restriction blackouts, seizures, or loss of consciousness difficulty learning or understanding incomplete use of arms or fingers difficulty gripping or holding things incomplete use of feet or legs nervous or emotional condition causing restriction restriction in physical activities or in doing physical work disfigurement or deformity mental illness or condition requiring help or supervision memory problems or periods of confusion causing restriction social or behavioural difficulties causing restriction long term effects of head injury, stroke or other brain damage causing restriction receiving treatment or medication for any other long term conditions or ailments and still being restricted any other long term conditions resulting in a restriction. The third Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA) (2003, p. 9) defined ‘people with disabilities’ as those whose disability manifests itself before the age of 65 years and for which they require significant ongoing and/or long term episodic support. For these people, the disability will be attributable to an intellectual, psychiatric, sensory, physical or neurological impairment or acquired brain injury (or some combination of these) which is likely to be permanent and results in substantially reduced capacity in at least one of the following: self‑care/management, mobility and communication.
Employment services	Employment services comprise open employment services and supported employment services. Where users of employment services are described without further qualification, this includes people who use either or both open and supported employment services. All open employment services are now included in the Disability Employment Services (DES) program administered by the Department of Social Services. Disability Employment Services has two parts: Disability Management Services is for job seekers with disability, injury or health condition who need assistance to find a job and occasional support to keep a job; and Employment Support Services provides assistance to people with permanent disability and who need regular, ongoing support to keep a job. DES are intended for all people with disability who require assistance in obtaining or maintaining mainstream employment. They are distinct from Australian Disability Enterprises, which provides employment for people with disability that restricts them from engaging in mainstream employment. As DES are available for all people with disability, the SDAC extract for this type of service is information on all people with disability in SDAC with an employment restriction, regardless of the criteria used in generating the more restricted potential population.
Employment restriction	An employment restriction is determined for people (aged 15 years and over and living in a private household) with one or more disabilities if, because of their disability, they: are permanently unable to work are restricted in the type of work they can or could do need or would need at least one day a week off work on average are restricted in the number of hours they can or could work require or would require an employer to provide special equipment, modify the work environment or make special arrangements require assistance from disability job placement program or agency need or would need to be given ongoing assistance or supervision would find it difficult to change jobs or get a better job.
Geographic location	Geographic location is based on the Australian Statistical Geography Standard of Remoteness Areas, which categorises areas as ‘major cities’, ‘inner regional’, ‘outer regional’, ‘remote’ and ‘very remote’. The criteria for Remoteness Areas are based on the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia, which measures the remoteness of a point based on the physical road distance to the nearest urban centre in each of the five remoteness classes (ABS 2011).
Government and non‑government provided services	Government provision means that a service is both funded and directly provided by a government department, agency or local government. Non‑government provision is a service purchased or part‑funded by a government department or agency, but provided by a non‑government organisation. Non‑government service providers may receive funds from the private sector and the general public in addition to funding, grants and input tax concessions (such as payroll tax exemptions) from governments. Data on funds that non‑government service providers receive from the private sector and the general public are outside the scope of this report.
Informal carer	ABS informal assistance/providers: unpaid help or supervision that is provided to persons with disability or persons aged 65 years and over. It only includes assistance that is provided because of a person’s disability or because they are older. Informal assistance may be provided by family, friends, or neighbours. For the Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, any assistance received from family or friends is considered to be informal regardless of whether or not the provider was paid, such as through the Carer Payment or other allowances. It does not include providers whose care is privately organised (ABS 2019). Section 5 of the Carer Recognition Act (Cth) 2010 defines the term ‘carer’ for the purposes applying to that legislation. Also refer to primary carer.
Labour force participation rate for people with a profound or severe core activity limitation	The total number of people with a profound or severe core activity limitation in the labour force (where the labour force includes employed and unemployed people), divided by the total number of people with a profound or severe core activity limitation who are aged 15–64 years, multiplied by 100. An employed person is a person who, in their main job during the remuneration period (reference week): worked one hour or more for pay, profit, commission or payment in kind in a job or business, or on a farm (including employees, employers and self‑employed people) worked one hour or more without pay in a family business, or on a farm (excluding people undertaking other unpaid voluntary work), or was an employer, employee or self‑employed person or unpaid family helper with a job, business or farm, but was not at work. An unemployed person is aged 15–64 years who was not employed during the remuneration period but was looking for work. Labour force participation data is collected in the SDAC using the ABS standard 'minimum set' of questions to produce estimates of the current economically active population.
Mild core activity limitation	The person needs no help and has no difficulty with any of the core activity tasks, but: uses aids or equipment, or has one or more of the following limitations cannot easily walk 200 metres cannot walk up and down stairs without a handrail cannot easily bend to pick up an object from the floor cannot use public transport can use public transport, but needs help or supervision needs no help or supervision, but has difficulty using public transport (as per the 2018 SDAC).
Moderate core activity limitation	The person needs no help, but has difficulty with a core activity task (as per the 2018 SDAC).
NDA potential population	Under the NDA reporting in RoGS, the potential population has been defined as all those people: under the age of 65 years and Australian citizens or permanent residents (or aged 0–49 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people); and who are most appropriately supported by disability services; and require ongoing and/or long term episodic support or would benefit from early intervention; and with a permanent/chronic impairment; and with a substantially reduced capacity in one or more core activities. In a given reporting period, the potential population has been calculated using a subset of the number of people with disability identified in the SDAC, defined according to several criteria as follows: Have a Longer-term health condition that: most appropriately supported by disability services would benefit from early intervention requires ongoing and/or long term episodic support Children: all children under 10 years with disability and an included condition who had any need for assistance, including only schooling restrictions, are included in the potential population. Impairment groups and core activity limitations: with a permanent/chronic impairment with a substantially reduced capacity in one or more core activities: to determine this, core activities in SDAC were identified as communication, mobility, and self-care. Reduced capacity was considered in the context of four levels of core activity limitation: profound: the person is unable to do, or always needs help with, a core activity task severe: the person sometimes needs help with a core activity or task moderate: the person needs no help, but has difficulty with a core activity or task mild: the person needs no help and has no difficulty with any of the core activity tasks, but uses aids and equipment (for example). The level of core activity limitation used to include people in the SDAC potential population (along with other criteria) varied according to their impairment group Use of inferred data The household component was benchmarked to the estimated in-scope population at a point in time. Information used to benchmark include: age sex usual place of residence household composition the Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) index of relative socio-economic disadvantage national decile. Previous iterations of SDAC were not weighted using SEIFA benchmarks. Using benchmarks means the estimates in SDAC match the composition of the whole population in the scope of the survey. They do not match estimates for the total Australian population from other sources. These may include people living in non-private dwellings, very remote parts of Australia and discrete Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander communities. Very remote parts of Australia and discrete Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander communities are outside the scope of the survey population. Other data sources are used to impute the State/Territory distribution of the potential population and the potential Indigenous population. ABS Estimated Resident Population data are used to derive State/Territory distributions of the potential population. In conjunction with Census data, they are also used to derive estimates of the Indigenous potential population. A similar technique to that used for estimating the Indigenous potential population is used to derive estimates of the potential population by remoteness area and country of birth. For more information on calculating the potential population, refer to appendix A of SCRGSP (2013).
NDIS potential population	The NDIA has advised that they will no longer provide potential population estimates. The potential population reflects the projected number of participants in the Scheme when it matures. Historically, this has been a valuable way to understand the unmet needs during the Scheme's rollout and the growth in NDIS participant numbers. However, this concept is becoming less relevant since the Scheme is now nearing maturity. This population includes those with significant and enduring support needs who are eligible for individualised support under the NDIS. It is derived by the NDIA, based on the method used in the Productivity Commission report Disability Care and Support, released in 2011. To estimate the number of people with significant and enduring support needs who would be eligible for individualised support, in Disability Care and Support the Productivity Commission: calculated the number of participants (excluding those with psychiatric disability) based on a combination of functional support and main disabling condition – this comprised persons who i) had significantly reduced functioning in self‑care, communication, mobility, or self‑management and would require significant ongoing support and/or ii) were in an early intervention group, consisting of those for whom there was a reasonable potential for early interventions that would improve their level of functioning, or those with newly diagnosed degenerative diseases made allowance for participants with psychiatric disability through extensive modelling undertaken by the Australian Government – these included persons who; had a severe and enduring mental illness (usually psychosis), had significant impairments in social, personal, and occupational functioning requiring intensive, ongoing support, and persons who required extensive health and community supports to maintain their lives outside of institutional care. On an annual basis, the emerging experience of the NDIS is compared to the initial estimates of the Productivity Commission, to determine whether an adjustment to the potential population is necessary. In 2018, the NDIA further developed experience‑based modelling for this purpose. Historically ABS population growth rates were used to arrive at the total potential population at a point in time. For special needs groups, the NDIA uses ABS Census to obtain information on the number of individuals with ‘need for assistance’, which is available by CALD and Indigenous status, and also allows for regional variation. The total potential population is then allocated by LGA, sex, Indigenous and CALD status using the ‘need for assistance’ variable distribution. In the 2021-22 Annual Financial Sustainability Report (AFSR), the NDIA projected a higher future steady state potential population for the NDIS than in the previous 2020-21 AFSR, resulting in an increase in the estimated NDIS potential population between June 2021 and June 2022.
Payroll tax	A tax levied on employers based on the value of wages and certain supplements paid or payable to, or on behalf of, their employees (SCRCSSP 1999). Payroll tax arrangements for government funded and delivered services differ across jurisdictions. Differences in the treatment of payroll tax can affect the comparability of unit costs across jurisdictions and services. These differences include payroll tax exemptions, marginal tax rates, tax free thresholds and clawback arrangements (SCRCSSP 1999). There are two forms of payroll tax reported: actual – payroll tax actually paid by non‑exempt services imputed – a hypothetical payroll tax amount estimated for exempt services. A jurisdiction’s estimate is based on the cost of salaries and salary related expenses, the payroll tax threshold and the tax rate.
Primary carer	ABS SDAC primary carer: A primary carer is a person who provides the most informal assistance to a person with one or more disabilities, with one or more of the core activities of mobility, self‑care, or communication (ABS 2019). Refer also to informal carer.
Primary disability group	Disability group that most clearly expresses the experience of disability by a person. The primary disability group can also be considered as the disability group causing the most difficulty to the person (overall difficulty in daily life, not just within the context of the support offered by a particular service).
Profound core activity limitation	The person is unable to do, or always needs help with, a core activity task (as per the 2018 SDAC).
Real expenditure	Actual expenditure (accrual) adjusted for changes in prices, using the General Government Final Consumption Expenditure (GGFCE) deflator, and expressed in terms of current year dollars.
Seclusion	Seclusion is the confinement of a person with disability to a room or physical space to restrict movement and prevent a person from voluntarily leaving.
Schooling	Schooling restriction: as a result of disability, being Unable to attend school, attends a special school, attends special classes at an ordinary school, needs at least one day a week off school on average, has difficulty at school.
Service	A service is a support activity provided to a service user, in accord with the NDA. Services within the scope of the collection are those for which funding has been provided during the specified period by a government organisation operating under the NDA.
Service user	A service user is a person with disability who receives a specialist disability service. A service user may receive more than one service over a period of time or on a single day.
Severe core activity limitation	The person sometimes needs help with a core activity task, and/or has difficulty understanding or being understood by family or friends or can communicate more easily using sign language or other non‑spoken forms of communication (as per the SDAC 2018).
Supported independent living (SIL)	Supported independent living helps people with disability remain in their homes. It includes help or supervision with daily tasks, like personal care or cooking meals. Supported independent living is for people with higher support needs, who need some level of help at home all the time.
Restraint	Mechanical restraint The application of devices (including belts, harnesses, manacles, sheets and straps) on a person’s body to restrict his or her movement. It does not include the use of furniture (including beds with cot sides and chairs with tables fitted on their arms) except where these devices are used solely for the purpose of restraining a person’s freedom of movement. The use of a medical or surgical appliance for the proper treatment of physical disorder or injury is not considered mechanical restraint. Physical restraint The application of hands‑on immobilisation by health care staff to restrict or subdue movement of a person’s body for the primary purpose of influencing behaviour. Physical restraint does not include the use of a hands-on technique in a reflexive way to guide or redirect a person away from potential harm/injury, consistent with what could reasonably be considered the exercise of care towards a person. Environmental restraint Restricting a person’s free access to all parts of their environment, including items or activities (for example, locking doors and cupboards, restricting access to items such as television or games). Chemical restraint Medication given primarily to control a person’s movements or behaviour, rather than to treat a mental illness or physical condition. Chemical restraint may involve the administration of higher than usual doses of a person’s regular medication; or the administration of psychotropic medication (alone or in combination) to a person who does not have a diagnosed mental illness. Appropriate use of medications to reduce or manage symptoms of diagnosed anxiety, depression or psychosis is not chemical restraint. Some medications that are used to reduce symptoms of physical conditions or medically identified major mental illnesses have side effects. This may include sedating the person to whom they are given.
Underemployment	Underemployed people are defined as persons with disability aged 15–64 years who are employed and usually work less than 35 hours per week, who wanted to work more hours and would be able to start work with more hours in the next 4 weeks.

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NDIS Commission (NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission) 2025, Quarterly Performance Report, Corporate reports | NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission (accessed 14 October 2025).

NDS (National Disability Services) 2025, NDS Workforce Census 2025, Workforce Census Key Findings Report (accessed 15 October 2025).

SCRCSSP (Steering Committee for the Review of Commonwealth/State Service Provision) 1999, Payroll Tax in the Costing of Government Services, AusInfo.

SCRGSP (Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision) 2013, National Agreement performance information 2012‑13 – National Disability Agreement, Productivity Commission.

WHO (World Health Organization) 2008, Disabilities, Health topics,Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities | OHCHR (accessed 12 December 2025).

A PDF of Part F Community services can be downloaded from the Part F sector overview page.

Report on Government Services 2026PART F, SECTION 15: RELEASED ON 29 JANUARY 2026

15 Services for people with disability

Data downloads

Context

Objectives for services for people with disability

Service overview

Roles and responsibilities

Funding

Size and scope

National Disability Insurance Scheme participants

Users of Commonwealth employment services

Use of Basic Community Care

Disability support workforce

Informal carers

Use of inferred data

Mechanical restraint

Physical restraint

Environmental restraint

Chemical restraint

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Report on Government Services 2026
PART F, SECTION 15: RELEASED ON 29 JANUARY 2026