People with disability are twice as likely to be living in poverty, face much tougher odds to find a job and are paid far less than the rest of the population, research by the Actuaries Institute has found.
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As the federal government moves to set up a taskforce to coordinate its response to the 220 recommendations made by the exhaustive disability royal commission, the institute's study highlights the scale of disadvantage experienced by people with disability.
The research, based on Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey data, found people with disability were three times as likely to be unemployed as the general population and four times more reliant on welfare for income.
Reflecting this, they were twice as likely to be living in poverty, rates of home ownership rates were far lower, the struggle to meet rent or mortgage repayments was much greater and levels of psychological stress and death by suicide much higher.
Even when they secure a job, people with disability are likely to receive much less pay. The study's authors, Hugh Miller and Laura Dixie, found their average disposable income was $24,000 less than those with no disability.
"This inequality is compounded by the fact that, on average, people with disability need an estimated 50 per cent additional income to achieve the same standard of living as people without disability," the authors said.
They found of those who had a job, 41 per cent fell into bottom 20 per cent earnings bracket and they comprised just 9 per cent of those in the top income range.
Dr Dixie said the findings were particularly stark given the tight labour market and skills shortages being faced by many employers. The jobless rate among those with disability is 12 per cent.
She said the employment gap between those with a disability and without had persisted for the past 20 years.
Given one-in-five Australians have a disability, Dr Dixie said this represented a big pool of labour not being adequately tapped.
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The royal commission found the underutilisation of people with disability was hurting the nation, with poorer employment outcomes for this group costing $21.5 billion a year.
Dr Dixie said the findings showed while there needed to be better government policies, the change required went further.
"We need community attitudes to evolve to reduce discrimination and stigma, and for companies to build disability awareness to create more inclusive workplaces that will help reduce barriers to employment," she said, welcoming attention garnered by the royal commission and the NDIS review.
Adrian Rollins
Adrian Rollins is economics correspondent for the Canberra Times
Adrian Rollins is economics correspondent for the Canberra Times
