Trends in employment inequalities for people with disability, Australia 2003 to 2023

People with disability are less likely to participate in the labour force and be employed compared with people without disability. However, it is not known whether these inequalities have changed over time. We therefore assessed whether disability-related inequalities in employment have changed over time among adults aged 20-64 years in Australia.

We analysed 21 years of data (2003-2023) from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey. Trends were investigated to describe changes in inequalities in employment, unemployment and not in the labour force (NILF) between people with and without disability. Analyses were further disaggregated for age group, sex and disability subgroups.

From 2003 to 2023, people with disabilities experienced persistent and substantial inequalities in employment outcomes. Neither absolute nor relative inequalities in employment outcomes changed and relative inequalities for NILF widened over time. People with disability were 30% to 40% less likely to be employed, 1.4 to 2.7 times more likely to be unemployed and 2.0 to 2.8 times more likely to be NILF compared with people without disability. The greatest relative inequalities in employment were experienced by older working-age people with disability, people with intellectual or learning disability, brain injury or stroke and psychological disability.

This descriptive study adds to previous findings showing employment inequalities by demonstrating that disability-related inequalities in employment have been sustained for two decades in Australia without improvement. As a key social determinant of health, the findings are a critical public health concern.