13 Services for people with a disability

Labour force participation and employment of people with a disability

‘Labour force participation and employment of people with a disability’ is an indicator of outcomes for specialist disability services (box 13.17). Detailed definitions and calculations of labour force participation and employment rates are provided in section 13.6.

Box 13.17 Labour force participation and employment of people with a disability

‘Labour force participation and employment of people with a disability’ is an outcome indicator of governments’ objective of assisting people with a disability to participate fully in the community. Participation in the labour force and employment is important to the overall well being of people with a disability, particularly in terms of the opportunity for self development and interaction with people outside the home. This indicator is defined as the labour force participation and employment rates of people aged 15–64 years with a disability (by level of core activity limitation). Labour force participation rates and employment rates of people aged 15–64 years without a disability are also reported. A higher labour force participation or employment rate for people with a disability is likely to increase the quality of life of people by providing greater opportunities for self development and interaction with people outside the home. This indicator does not provide information on why people choose not to participate in the labour force and why people are not employed. Finally, it does not provide information on whether the jobs that people find are appropriate or fulfilling.

Labour force participation

Nationally, the estimated labour force participation rate of people aged 15–64 years with a profound or severe core activity limitation in 2005 (32.7 ± 3.3 per cent) was below the rate for other people with a disability, excluding those with a profound or severe core activity limitation (65.0 ± 1.4 per cent) and the rate for people without a disability (81.4 ± 0.5 per cent) (figure 13.35).

Figure 13.35 Estimated labour force participation rates of people aged
15–64 years, by disability status, 2005<sup>a, b, c, d

a</sup> Due to differences in collection methodology, the data collected by the ABS Disability Module (used in the Survey of Education and Training Experience) relate to a broader 'disability and long-term health condition' population than the 'disability' population obtained from the much more detailed SDAC — however, the characteristics of the populations are similar. The data are suitable for population comparisons, but not for prevalence updates between SDAC surveys. ^b Profound or severe core activity limitation refers to always or sometimes needing assistance with one or more of the core activities. Core activities comprise communication, mobility and self-care. ^c Error bars represent the 95 per cent confidence interval associated with each point estimate. ^d Data with relative standard errors (RSEs) over 50 per cent are not published. This is the case for the labour participation rate for people in the NT with a profound or severe core activity limitation.

Source: ABS Survey of Education and Training Experience (unpublished); table 13A.37.

The labour force participation rates of people aged 15–64 years with a profound or severe core activity limitation by geographic location, country of birth and Indigenous status, in 2005 are reported in table 13A.39. Nationally, the estimated labour force participation rate of people with a profound or severe core activity limitation was:

• 
  30.1 ± 7.0 per cent for those living in outer regional and remote areas, no different to the rate for those living in major cities and inner regional areas (33.1 ± 3.6 per cent)
  
• 
  23.6 ± 7.1 per cent for those born in a non-English speaking country, below the rate for those born in an English speaking country (34.5 ± 3.5 per cent)
  
• 
  23.0 ± 16.5 per cent for Indigenous people, no different to the rate for non Indigenous people (33.0 ± 3.4 per cent) (table 13A.39).
  

Additional labour force participation data for 2003 from the ABS’s SDAC are shown in tables 13A.38 and 13A.40.

Employment

Nationally, the estimated employment rate of people aged 15–64 years with a profound or severe core activity limitation in 2005 (86.7 ± 4.4 per cent) was below the rate for other people with a disability, excluding those with a profound or severe core activity limitation (92.5 ± 0.7 per cent) and below the proportion for people without a disability (95.9 ± 0.2 per cent) (figure 13.36).

Figure 13.36 Estimated employment rates of people aged 15–64 years, by disability status, 2005<sup>a, b, c

a</sup> Due to differences in collection methodology, the data collected by the ABS Disability Module (used in the Survey of Education and Training Experience) relate to a broader 'disability and long-term health condition' population than the 'disability' population obtained from the much more detailed SDAC — however, the characteristics of the populations are similar. The data are suitable for population comparisons, but not for prevalence updates between SDAC surveys. ^b Profound or severe core activity limitation refers to always or sometimes needing assistance with one or more of the core activities. Core activities comprise communication, mobility and self-care. ^c Error bars represent the 95 per cent confidence interval associated with each point estimate.

Source: ABS Survey of Education and Training Experience (unpublished); table 13A.37.

The employment rates of people aged 15–64 years with a profound or severe core activity limitation by geographic location, country of birth and Indigenous status, in 2005 are reported in table 13A.39. Nationally, the estimated employment rate of people with a profound or severe core activity limitation was:

• 
  96.9 ± 6.3 per cent for those living in outer regional and remote areas, above the rate for those living in major cities and inner regional areas
  (85.3 ± 5.2 per cent)
  
• 
  81.9 ± 23.8 per cent for those born in a non-English speaking country, no different to the rate for those born in an English speaking country
  (87.3 ± 9.2 per cent)
  
• 
  96.0 ± 9.0 per cent for Indigenous people, no different to the rate for non Indigenous people (86.5 ± 4.7 per cent) (table 13A.39).
  

Additional employment rate data for 2003 from the ABS’s SDAC are shown in tables 13A.38 and 13A.40.