Conditions remain 'unchanged' for young people with disability, data reveal Sadie Harley Scientific Editor Andrew Zinin Chief Editor The level of inequity experienced by young people with disability has remained largely unchanged since the turn of the century, according to new research led by Flinders University. Using data from the Household, Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia Survey (HILDA), researchers examined the extent of social inequity experienced by young people ages 15–29 with disability, compared with those without disability, between 2001 and 2023. "Our findings indicate that things haven't improved to any major degree—despite ongoing policy initiatives over recent decades aimed at reducing inequity for people with disability," says Flinders research associate Dr.

Asha Parkinson, first author of the study in the Australian Journal of Social Issues. "We found that despite increased funding and major reforms over the last two decades, as of 2023, the inequity gap between young people with and without disability has not meaningfully narrowed for any of the 29 indicators since 2001. "Some outcomes for young people with disability have improved in isolation, such as year 12 completion rates.

However, as these increases have been matched by comparable or even greater improvement for young people without disability, the inequity gap remains." As well, the percentage of young people with disability in the HILDA sample who reported receiving NDIS peaked at 11% in 2023, suggesting that many young people with disability may not be benefiting from the scheme's current structure. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2024 data estimates that approximately 9% of Australians ages 15–29 are living with disability. The new study is one of the first evaluations tracking the inequity gap between young people with and without disability over the full 23 years of the HILDA study, using nationally representative data for 29 indicators spanning mental and physical health, employment, education and community engagement.

The 29 indicators align with seven articles of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which correspond to specific priority areas for improvement identified in Australia's Disability Strategy. Following Australia's ratification of the U.N.

convention in 2008, the first National Disability Strategy 2010–2020 was established, along with the provision of individualized disability support through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) from 2013. The four-year Disability Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability delivered its final report in 2023. Co-author Matthew Flinders Professor Sally Robinson says the aim of the study was to assess Australia's progress in promoting the rights of young people with disability over this period.

"Our findings raise questions about how Australia measures its own progress toward achieving disability rights," Robinson says. "Most government reporting tracks whether people with disability are better off now than in the past, rather than whether they are catching up to their peers.