Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

1 Executive summary

1.1 Background
1.2 Outline of the Report
1.3 Main counts and definitions

1.4 Summary of main findings
1.4.1 Disability service outlet profille
1.4.2 Number of consumers assisted
1.4.3 Characteristics of disability employment service consumers
1.4.4 Employment outcomes

1.5 Data summary of all disability service outlets, 2006-07
1.5a Data summary of disability employment services, 2006-07
1.5b Data summary of open employment services, 2006-07
1.5c Data summary of supported employment services, 2006-07
1.5d Data summary of advocacy services, 2006-07
1.5e Data summary of respite services, 2006-07
1.5f Data summary of print disability services, 2006-07
1.5g Data summary of information services, 2006-07

2 History of the Disability Services Census

2.1 Overview of key developments

3 Disability service outlet profile

3.1 Introduction
3.2 Description of disability service types
3.3 Number of disability service outlets

3.4 State distribution of disability service outlets
3.4.1 State distribution of disability service outlets across Australia
3.4.2 State distribution of disability service outlet types across Australia
3.4.3 Disability service outlet type within each state

3.5 Geographic location of disability service outlets
3.5.1 Geographic distribution of disability service outlets
3.5.2 Geographic distribution of disability service outlet types

3.6 Period of operation
3.6.1 Hours per day
3.6.2 Days per week
3.6.3 Weeks per year

3.7 National staff profile
3.7.1 Hours worked by paid staff
3.7.2 Role of paid staff - direct and indirect support staff
3.7.3 Volunteers

3.8 Number of consumers assisted

4 National disability employment services consumer profile

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Disability employment services population
4.2.1 Number of consumers assisted
4.2.2 Demographics
4.2.3 Disability profile
4.2.4 Informal carer arrangements
4.2.5 Income
4.2.6 Employment outcomes

4.3 Open employment services population
4.3.1 What are open employment services?
4.3.2 Number of consumers assisted
4.3.3 Demographics
4.3.4 Disability profile
4.3.5 Informal carer arrangements
4.3.6 Income
4.3.7 Employment outcomes

4.4 Supported employment services population
4.4.1 What are supported employment services
4.4.2 Number of consumers assisted
4.4.3 Demographics
4.4.4 Disability profile
4.4.5 Informal carer arrangements
4.4.6 Income
4.4.7 Employment outcomes
4.4.8 Employment characteristics
4.4.9 Industrial relations arrangements

4.5 Comparison between open and supported employment service consumers

5 Trend series - Disability employment service consumers

5.1 Trend series - All disability employment service consumers assisted

5.2 Trend series - Equity groups
5.2.1 Female consumers
5.2.2 Indigenous consumers
5.2.3 Consumers from non-English speaking backgrounds

5.3 Trend series - Primary disability profile
5.3.1 Consumers accessing disability employment services
5.3.2 Consumers accessing open employment services
5.3.3 Consumers accessing supported employment services

6 State and territory summary statistics

6.1 New South Wales
6.1.1 Disability service outlet operations
6.1.2 Disability employment service consumer information
6.1.3 Employment outcomes
6.1.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

6.2 Victoria
6.2.1 Disability service outlet operations
6.2.2 Disability employment service consumer information
6.2.3 Employment outcomes
6.2.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

6.3 Queensland
6.3.1 Disability service outlet operations
6.3.2 Disability employment service consumer information
6.3.3 Employment outcomes
6.3.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

6.4 Western Australia
6.4.1 Disability service outlet operations
6.4.2 Disability employment service consumer information
6.4.3 Employment outcomes
6.4.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

6.5 South Australia
6.5.1 Disability service outlet operations
6.5.2 Disability employment service consumer information
6.5.3 Employment outcomes
6.5.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

6.6 Tasmania
6.6.1 Disability service outlet operations
6.6.2 Disability employment service consumer information
6.6.3 Employment outcomes
6.6.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

6.7 Australian Capital Territory
6.7.1 Disability service outlet operations
6.7.2 Disability employment service consumer information
6.7.3 Employment outcomes
6.7.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

6.8 Northern Territory
6.8.1 Disability service outlet operations
6.8.2 Disability employment service consumer information
6.8.3 Employment outcomes
6.8.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

7 Appendices

7.1 Disability Services Census - Explanatory Notes
7.1.1 Introduction
7.1.2 Geographic location
7.1.3 Census collection and collation
7.1.4 Main counts and definitions
7.1.5 Statistical linkage key
7.1.6 Reliability of data

7.2 Detailed data tables

8 Glossary of terms

9 References

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Acknowledgements

The Disability Policy and Coordination Branch in the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) had overall responsibility for the 2007 Disability Services Census. The collection of the disability services census data was shared between FaHCSIA and the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) in line with their management and funding responsibilities. FaHCSIA collected information on all disability service types except for open employment services and DEEWR collected open employment service outlet and consumer data.

FaHCSIA acknowledges that this report would not have been possible without the valued cooperation and effort of disability service providers. The contribution of the following DEEWR work areas to the successful completion of the open employment services data collection is gratefully acknowledged:

• Performance and Quality Section, Disability Employment Services Branch
• Program Performance Section, Evaluation and Programme Performance Branch
• Income Support Information Section, Income Support Programme Branch.

The detailed comments provided by the Performance and Quality Section, Disability Employment Services Branch, DEEWR, on various drafts of this report is also gratefully acknowledged.

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Executive Summary

1.1 Background

The Commonwealth State Territory Disability Agreement (CSTDA) provides a national framework to guide the provision of specialist disability services across Australia, and a means for measuring and publicising the progress of Governments towards achieving the national framework. Through this Agreement, Governments strive to enhance the quality of life experienced by people with disability through assisting them to live as valued and participating members of the community.

Under the three agreements so far (the first signed in 1991), the Australian Government is responsible for the planning, policy setting and management of specialist disability employment assistance. Specialist disability employment assistance is delivered through disability employment services in both open and supported employment services. The Australian Government also shares similar responsibilities with State and Territory Governments for advocacy, respite, print disability and information services. The Disability Services Act 1986 (Cth) provides the legislative framework for the funding and delivery of Australian Government funded CSTDA services.

To inform national CSTDA reporting processes, the Australian Government conducts an annual disability services census. The 2007 Disability Services Census covers all CSTDA services funded by the Australian Government in 2006-07. Information was collected on Australian Government funded CSTDA service operations, and separate information was collected on the characteristics of consumers accessing disability employment services.

The data collected through the 2007 Disability Services Census provides a comprehensive national picture of Australian Government funded CSTDA services in 2006-07, and is published for disability ministers, policy makers, the disability service sector, people with disability, their families, carers and advocates, and the general community.

1.2 Outline of the Report

This report comprises seven chapters. Chapter one includes the executive summary, which outlines the purpose of the report and summarises the main findings from the 2007 disability services census collection. Summary statistics are also provided at the end of the chapter. Chapter two provides a brief history of the Disability Services Census. Chapter three provides a profile of the operations of Australian Government funded CSTDA services. Chapter four provides a profile of the characteristics of consumers accessing disability employment services. Separate commentary is also provided on the characteristics of consumers accessing open and supported employment services. Chapter five provides trends series data and commentary on changes in the profile of disability employment service consumers over time. Chapter six presents state and territory summary statistics on disability service outlets and disability employment service consumers. Chapter seven contains the appendices, which includes explanatory notes on the 2007 disability services census collection, more detailed data tables and a glossary of terms.

1.3 Main counts and definitions

The main counts in the 2007 disability services census collection are disability service outlet, disability service type and consumer:

• A disability service outlet is an administrative business or unit of an organisation that is funded to provide a CSTDA service type at a particular site. The organisation may be a single disability service outlet or an aggregation of two or more disability service outlets of the same or different disability service type. The 2007 Disability Services Census collected data on each disability service outlet that operated during 2006-07.

• Disability service type is the type of service the disability service outlet has been funded to provide under the CSTDA. Under the CSTDA, the Australian Government funds disability service outlets to provide open employment, supported employment, advocacy, respite, print disability and information services. Section 3.2 provides a description of each of these disability service types.

• A consumer is a person who accesses an Australian Government funded CSTDA service outlet. The 2007 Disability Services Census collected data on the aggregate number of consumers assisted in all disability service types in 2006-07. Separate data was collected for each consumer assisted by open and supported employment service outlets in 2006-07. This group is referred to as 'All consumers'. Data was also collected for each consumer who were registered as receiving assistance from open and supported service outlets on Census Day, 29 June 2007. This group is referred to as 'Consumers on the books'.

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1.4 Summary of main findings

1.4.1 Disability service outlet profille
1.4.2 Number of consumers assisted
1.4.3 Characteristics of disability employment service consumers
1.4.4 Employment outcomes

1.4.1 Disability service outlet profile

In 2006-07, a total of 1,210 disability service outlets received funding from the Australia Government under the CSTDA, an increase of 342 (39.4%) disability service outlets on 2005-06. The introduction of initiatives related to Welfare to Work reforms from July 2006 were the major source of this growth.

The vast majority (1,072 or 88.6%) of disability service outlets provided specialist disability employment assistance, with 657 (54.3%) providing open employment assistance and 415 (34.3%) supported employment assistance. A further 72 (6.0%) disability service outlets provided advocacy services, 51 (4.2%) respite services, 13 (1.1%) print disability services and two (0.2%) information services.

Importantly, based on the major city/non-major city breakdown of the general Australian population, there was a good balance of disability service outlets located in regional and remote areas (45.0%). Disability service outlets providing open employment, supported employment, advocacy and respite services operated in all geographic locations.

Most disability service outlets operated 7-8 hours a day (81.2%), five days a week (85.2%), for 48 or more weeks in the year (93.7%), with 56.9% (689) operating the full 52 weeks in 2006-07.

A total of 342,688 paid staff hours in the reference week were spent on disability service outlet operations in 2006-07. Based on a 38-hour working week, a total of 9,018 FTE paid staff worked in disability service outlets across Australia in 2006-07. This equates to an average of 7.5 FTE paid staff in each disability service outlet. There were 1,437 (19.0%) more FTE paid staff working in disability service outlets in 2006-07 than were in 2005-06, up from 7,581. Most FTE paid staff worked in the supported employment sector, some 5,595 (62.0%).

Disability service outlets also reported 4,826 hours of volunteer support in a typical week in 2006-07, or an equivalent of another 127 FTE staff. This represents 1.4% of paid staff hours. Advocacy services were most likely to use the support of volunteers to supplement day-to-day service outlet operations, with volunteer support hours representing 17.7% of paid staff hours.

1.4.2 Number of consumers assisted

In 2006-07, a total of 164,336 consumers were assisted through Australian Government funded CSTDA services. This represents 228 per 1,000 (22.8%) of the potential population aged 0-65 years who may at some time require access to CSTDA services funded by the Australian Government.

Just over half (82,767 or 50.4%) of all consumers accessed specialist disability employment assistance, of whom 60,774 (37.0%) used open employment services and 21,993 (13.4%) used supported employment services. A further 30,284 (18.4%) consumers used print disability services, 22,593 (13.7%) used information services, 20,409 (12.4%) used advocacy services and 8,283 (5.0%) used respite services.

1.4.3 Characteristics of disability employment service consumers

Among the 82,767 disability employment service consumers in 2006-07, the majority were male (63.0%). Their median age was 35 years. Disability employment services assisted a total of 1,922 (2.3%) Indigenous consumers, 7,294 (8.8%) consumers born in non-English speaking countries and 30,456 (36.8%) consumers living in regional and remote areas.

Consumers were most likely to have an intellectual disability (32.1%), followed by a psychiatric disability (25.1%) and physical disability (17.7%). Some 46.6% of consumers had a profound or severe core activity limitation. The main life areas in which consumers always or sometimes needed support were learning and applying knowledge (56.1%), interpersonal interactions and relationships (53.4%) and working (51.6%). Nearly one-fifth (19.8%) of consumers had an informal carer, and 6.3% were living in settings where supported accommodation or formal care is provided.

A government pension or allowance was the main source of income for nearly three-quarters (74.4%) of consumers, with the majority (54.1%) receiving a disability support pension. Paid employment was the main source of income for 6.8% of consumers.

There were clear and significant differences in the characteristics of open and supported employment service consumers in 2006-07. For instance:

• Open employment service consumers were younger on average, with 51.7% under the age of 35 years, compared with 38.5% of supported employment service consumers.

• The representation of Indigenous consumers was higher in open than in supported employment services (2.4% compared with 2.1%).

• The representation of consumers from non-English-speaking backgrounds was higher in open than in supported employment services (10.5% compared with 4.2%).

• A slightly higher percentage of open than supported employment service consumers were living in regional and remote areas (38.2% compared with 33.0%).

• Consumers with a psychiatric disability were the largest group using open employment services (29.9%), whereas consumers with an intellectual disability were the largest group using supported employment services (70.1%).

• A considerably higher percentage of supported than open employment service consumers had multiple or other significant disabilities (29.5% compared with 17.7%).

• The percentage of consumers with a profound or severe core activity limitation was much higher among supported than open employment service consumers (73.8% compared with 36.7%).

• Open employment service consumers were most likely to need support with interpersonal interactions and relationships (43.5%), whereas supported employment service consumers were most likely to need support with working (96.9%).

• Supported employment service consumers were much more likely to have in place formal and informal care arrangements than open employment service consumers.
  - Some 23.1% of supported employment service consumers were living in settings where supported accommodation or formal care is provided, compared with 0.3% of open employment service consumers.
  - Supported employment service consumers were more than five times as likely as open employment service consumers to have an informal carer (49.8% compared with 8.9%).

• Supported employment service consumers were much more likely than open employment service consumers to receive a government pension or allowance as their main source of income (93.9% compared with 68.2%).

1.4.4 Employment outcomes

The provision of specialist disability employment assistance continues to provide invaluable support to people with disability to enter and remain in the workforce. Throughout 2006-07, disability employment services delivered strong employment outcomes overall for consumers.

'Employment outcomes' refers to those consumers in disability employment services who were employed for some or all of the time during 2006-07. It differs from, and should not be confused with, the employment outcome measure applying to the cased based funding model for disability employment services, which uses an hours and duration in employment measure.

In 2006-07, employment outcomes were achieved for a total of 50,529 people with disability. This equates to a national employment outcome rate of 61.0%. Of these, 59.0% (29,794) were open employment service consumers and 41.0% (20,735) supported employment service consumers.

The highest employment outcome was attained by consumers with an intellectual disability (84.1%). Marginally higher employment outcomes than the national average were attained by consumers with an acquired brain injury (65.0%), autism (63.8%) and hearing disability (63.1%). The employment outcome attained by consumers with a vision disability was in line with the national average, whereas marginally lower employment outcomes were attained by consumers with a speech disability (58.6%), neurological disability (58.3%) and specific learning disability/attention deficit disorder (ADD) (57.4%).

Notably, consumers with a physical disability and those with a psychiatric disability faced the greatest challenges in obtaining employment. The much lower employment outcome attained by consumers with a physical disability (40.4%) is related to their older age profile and the discernible lower employment outcomes among older consumers generally. As a group, they accounted for a third (7,852) of all consumers aged 45-64, yet made up only 17.7% of all disability employment service consumers.

The much lower employment outcome attained by consumers with a psychiatric disability (46.6%) is related to the episodic nature of this disability, which limits employment options, can affect work behaviour and performance, and can lead to employer reluctance to hire a person with this disability (Mental Health Council of Australia 2007).

Many consumers from equity groups also faced challenges in obtaining employment. For instance:

• Even though female consumers attained a marginally lower employment outcome than their male counterparts (59.7% compared with 61.9%), as a group they remain significantly under-represented in disability employment services, accounting for only 37.0% of all consumers.

• Indigenous consumers represented 2.3% of all consumers and attained an employment outcome of 45.8%, which is 15.2 percentage points lower than the national average.

• Consumers born in non-English speaking countries represented 8.8% of all consumers and attained an employment outcome of 40.9%, which is 20.1 percentage points lower than the national average.

• Consumers living in regional and remote areas were well-represented in disability employment services (36.8%) and attained a marginally lower employment outcome than their major city counterparts (59.6% compared with 61.9%).

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1.5 Data summary of all disability service outlets, 2006-07

1.5a Data summary of disability employment services, 2006-07
1.5b Data summary of open employment services, 2006-07
1.5c Data summary of supported employment services, 2006-07
1.5d Data summary of advocacy services, 2006-07
1.5e Data summary of respite services, 2006-07
1.5f Data summary of print disability services, 2006-07
1.5g Data summary of information services, 2006-07

 

No. of service outlets funded in the year

• 1,210 CSTDA service outlets were funded by the Australian Government in 2006-07
  - 342 (39.4%) more CSTDA disability service outlets operated in 2006-07 than in 2005-06

Service outlet type

• 1,072 (88.6%) disability employment services
  - 657 (54.3%) open employment services
  - 415 (34.3%) supported employment services
• 72 (6.0%) advocacy services
• 51 (4.2%) respite services
• 13 (1.1%) print disability services
• 2 (0.2%) information services

State distribution of service outlets

• 429 (35.5%) in New South Wales
• 276 (22.8%) in Victoria
• 198 (16.4%) in Queensland
• 125 (10.3%) in South Australia
• 95 (7.9%) in Western Australia
• 45 (3.7%) in Tasmania
• 22 (1.8%) in the ACT
• 20 (1.7%) in the Northern Territory

Geographic location of service outlets

• 55.0% (665) in major cities
• 41.7% (507) in regional areas
• 3.2% (39) in remote areas

Service outlet period of operation

• 81.2% (983) operated 7-8 hours a day
• 85.2% (1,031) operated 5 days a week
• 93.7% (1,134) operated 48-52 weeks in the year

No. of FTE paid staff in the reference week (Based on a 38-hour working week)

• 9,018 FTE staff worked in Australian Government funded CSTDA services
  - 1,437 (19.0%) more FTE staff worked in 2006-07 than in 2005-06

No. of FTE paid staff in each service type (Based on a 38-hour working week)

• 8,264 (91.6%) FTE staff worked in disability employment services
  - 2,669 (29.6%) FTE staff worked in open employment services
  - 5,595 (62.0%) FTE staff worked in supported employment services
• 226 (2.5%) FTE staff worked in advocacy services
• 382 (4.2%) FTE staff worked in respite services
• 138 (1.5%) FTE staff worked in print disability services
• 8 (0.1%) FTE staff worked in information services

No. of volunteers in a typical week

• 127 FTE volunteers supported disability service outlet operations

No. of consumers assisted in the year

• 164,336 consumers were assisted by Australian Government funded CSTDA services
  - Represents 228 per 1,000 of the 'potential' population aged 0 - 65 years

No. of consumers assisted in each service type in the year

• 82,767 (50.4%) used disability employment services
  - 60,774 (37.0%) used open employment services
  - 21,993 (13.4%) used supported employment services
• 20,409 (12.4%) used advocacy services
• 8,283 (5.0%) used respite services
• 30,284 (18.4%) used print disability services
• 22,593 (13.7%) used information services

1.5a Data summary of disability employment services, 2006-07

No. of service outlets funded in the year

• 1,072 disability employment service outlets
  - 88.6% of all disability service outlets
  - 341 (46.6%) more disability employment service outlets operated in 2006-07 than in 2005-06

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State distribution of service outlets

• 389 (36.3%) in New South Wales
• 242 (22.5%) in Victoria
• 182 (17.0%) in Queensland
• 114 (10.6%) in South Australia
• 77 (7.2%) in Western Australia
• 38 (3.5%) in Tasmania
• 17 (1.6%) in the ACT
• 14 (1.3%) in the Northern Territory

Geographic location of service outlets

• 53.9% (578) in major cities
• 463 (43.2%) in regional areas
• 3.1% (31) in remote areas

Service outlet period of operation

• 82.0% (879) operated 7-8 hours a day
• 86.3% (925) operated 5 days a week
• 93.8% (1,005) operated 48-52 weeks in the year

No. of FTE paid staff in the reference week (Based on a 38-hour working week)

• 8,264 FTE staff worked in disability employment service outlets - 91.6% of all disability service outlet staff
• 7.7 FTE staff per outlet (average)
• Each consumer received 3.8 total staff hours per week (average)

No. of volunteers in a typical week

• 68.6 FTE volunteers supported disability employment service outlet operations
  - 54.0% of all disability service outlet volunteers

No. of consumers assisted in the year

• 82,767 used disability employment services
  - 50.4% of all consumers assisted across all disability service outlets
  - Represents 233 per 1,000 of the 'potential' employment population aged 15-64 years

Consumer characteristics Equity group representation

• 30,620 (37.0%) female consumers
• 1,922 (2.3%) Indigenous consumers
• 7,294 (8.8%) NESB consumers
• 30,456 (36.8%) regional & remote consumers

Disability information

• 26,595 (32.1%) had an intellectual disability
• 20,792 (25.1%) had a psychiatric disability
• 14,614 (17.7%) had a physical disability
• 6,865 (8.3%) had a learning disability
• 4,975 (6.0%) had a sensory disability
• 2,680 (3.2%) had an acquired brain injury
• 2,656 (3.2%) had a neurological disability
• 2,649 (3.2%) had autism
• 38,530 (46.6%) had a profound or severe core activity limitation
• 16,398 (19.8%) had an informal carer
• 5,229 (6.3%) in supported accommodation

Main source of income and employment

• 61,586 (74.6%) received a government pension or allowance
  - 44,816 (54.1%) received DSP
• 5,665 (6.8%) had paid employment
• 50,529 (61.0%) were employed in 2006-07
  - 59.7% female consumers
  - 45.8% Indigenous consumers
  - 40.9% NESB consumers
  - 59.6% regional & remote consumers

1.5b Data summary of open employment services, 2006-07

No. of service outlets funded in the year

• 657 open employment service outlets
  - 54.3% of all disability service outlets
  - 323 (96.7%) more open employment service outlets operated in 2006-07 than in 2005-06

State distribution of service outlets

• 231 (35.2%) in New South Wales
• 139 (21.2%) in Victoria
• 132 (20.1%) in Queensland
• 70 (10.7%) in South Australia
• 45 (6.8%) in Western Australia
• 22 (3.3%) in Tasmania
• 9 (1.4%) in the ACT
• 9 (1.4%) in the Northern Territory

Geographic location of service outlets

• 52.7% (346) in major cities
• 43.8% (288) in regional areas
• 3.5% (23) in remote areas

Service outlet period of operation

• 81.0% (532) operated 7-8 hours a day
• 82.6% (543) operated 5 days per week
• 92.8% (610) operated 48-52 weeks in the year

No. of FTE paid staff in the reference week (Based on a 38-hour working week)

• 2,669 FTE staff worked in open employment service outlets
  - 29.6% of all disability service outlets
• 4.1 FTE staff per outlet (average)
• Each consumer received 1.7 total staff hours per week (average)

No. of volunteers in a typical week

• 10.7 FTE volunteers supported open employment service outlet operations
  - 8.5% of all disability service outlet volunteers

No. of consumers assisted in the year

• 60,774 used open employment services
  - 37.0% of all consumers assisted across all disability service outlets
  - Represents 171 per 1,000 of the 'potential' employment population aged 15-64 years

Consumer characteristics Equity group representation

• 22,651 (37.3%) female consumers
• 1,469 (2.4%) Indigenous consumers
• 6,372 (8.8%) NESB consumers
• 23,197 (38.2%) regional & remote consumers

Disability information

• 18,192 (29.9%) had a psychiatric disability
• 13,171 (21.7%) had a physical disability
• 11,167 (18.4%) had an intellectual disability
• 6,572 (10.8%) had a learning disability
• 4,415 (7.3%) had a sensory disability
• 2,108 (3.5%) had autism
• 2,194 (3.6%) had a neurological disability
• 2,040 (3.4%) had an acquired brain injury
• 22,307 (36.7%) had a profound or severe core activity limitation
• 5,435 (8.9%) had an informal carer

Main source of income and employment

• 41,467 (68.2%) received a government pension or allowance
  - 24,858 (40.9%) received DSP
• 5,195 (8.5%) had paid employment
• 29,794 (49.0%) were employed in 2006-07
  - 47.5% female consumers
  - 32.5% Indigenous consumers
  - 32.9% NESB consumers
  - 49.1% regional & remote consumers

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1.5c Data summary of supported employment services, 2006-07

No. of service outlets funded in the year

• 415 supported employment service outlets
  - 34.3% of all disability service outlets

State distribution of service outlets

• 148 (38.1%) in New South Wales
• 102 (24.6%) in Victoria
• 50 (12.0%) in Queensland
• 44 (10.6%) in South Australia
• 32 (7.7%) in Western Australia
• 16 (3.9%) in Tasmania
• 8 (1.9%) in the ACT
• 5 (1.2%) in the Northern Territory

Geographic location of service outlets

• 55.9% (232) in major cities
• 42.2% (288) in regional areas
• 1.9% (8) in remote areas

Service outlet period of operation

• 83.6% (347) operated 7-8 hours a day
• 92.0% (382) operated 5 days per week
• 95.2% (395) operated 48-52 weeks in the year

Note: data was not provided in respect of 2 supported employment service outlets

No. of FTE paid staff in the reference week (Based on a 38-hour working week)

• 5,595 FTE staff worked in supported employment service outlets
  - 62.0% of all disability service outlets
• Indirect/direct support staff ratio is 1:4
• 13.5 FTE staff per outlet (average)
• Each consumer received 7.7 total direct staff support hours per week (average)

No. of volunteers in a typical week

• 57.8 FTE volunteers assisted supported employment service outlet operations
  - 45.5% of all disability service outlet volunteers

No. of consumers assisted in the year

• 21,993 used supported employment services
  - 13.4% of all consumers assisted across all disability service outlets
  - 53 consumers per outlet (average)
  - Represents 62 per 1,000 of the 'potential' employment population aged 15-64 years

Consumer characteristics Equity group representation

• 7,969 (36.2%) female consumers
• 453 (2.1%) Indigenous consumers
• 922 (4.2%) NESB consumers
• 7,259 (33.0%) regional & remote consumers

Disability information

• 15,428 (70.1%) had an intellectual disability
• 2,600 (11.8%) had a psychiatric disability
• 1,433 (6.6%) had a physical disability
• 640 (2.9%) had an acquired brain injury
• 580 (2.5%) had a sensory disability
• 541 (2.5%) had autism
• 462 (2.1%) had a neurological disability
• 293 (1.3%) had a learning disability
• 16,223 (73.8%) had a profound or severe core activity limitation
• 10,962 (49.8%) had an informal carer
• 5,089 (23.1%) in supported accommodation

Main source of income and employment

• 19,958 (90.7%) received DSP
• 20,735 (94.3%) were employed in 2006-07

Employment characteristics

• 32.4% worked full-time hours
• 26.4 hours worked per week (average)
• 76.9% earned $100 or less a week
• $76.40 gross weekly wage (average)
• $3.03 gross hourly wage rate (average)

1.5d Data summary of advocacy services, 2006-07

No. of service outlets funded in the year

• 72 advocacy service outlets
  - 6.0% of all disability service outlets

Service outlet mergers and closures

• 2 advocacy service outlets merged to form one single service outlet
• 2 advocacy service outlets chose to discontinue operations mid-year, with the funding and geographic coverage of those outlets transferring to 2 existing advocacy service outlets

State distribution of service outlets

• 19 (26.4%) in New South Wales
• 22 (30.6%) in Victoria
• 8 (11.5%) in Queensland
• 6 (8.3%) in South Australia
• 9 (12.5%) in Western Australia
• 3 (4.2%) in Tasmania
• 2 (2.8%) in the ACT
• 3 (4.2%) in the Northern Territory

Geographic location of service outlets

• 69.4% (50) in major cities
• 42.2% (19) in regional areas
• 4.2% (3) in remote areas

Service outlet period of operation

• 91.7% (66) operated 7-8 hours a day
• 88.9% (64) operated 5 days per week
• 93.1% (67) operated 48-52 weeks in the year

Note: data was not provided in respect of 1 advocacy service outlet

No. of FTE paid staff in the reference week (Based on a 38-hour working week)

• 226 FTE staff worked in advocacy service outlets - 2.5% of all disability service outlet staff
• 3.1 FTE staff per outlet (average)
• Each consumer received 21.9 total staff hours in the year (average)

No. of volunteers in a typical week

• 40.1 FTE volunteers supported advocacy service outlet operations
  - 31.5% of all disability service outlet volunteers
• Represents 17.7% of paid staff hours in advocacy services - the highest across all disability service types
• 0.6 FTE volunteers per outlet (average)

No. of consumers assisted in the year

• 20,409 used advocacy services
  - 12.4% of all consumers assisted across all disability service outlets
• 283 consumers per outlet (average)
• Represents 28 per 1,000 of the 'potential' population aged 0-64 years

Note: data was not provided in respect of 2 advocacy service outlets

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1.5e Data summary of respite services, 2006-07

No. of service outlets funded in the year

• 51 respite service outlets
  - 4.2% of all disability service outlets

State distribution of service outlets

• 16 (31.4%) in New South Wales
• 10 (19.6%) in Victoria
• 7 (13.7%) in Queensland
• 4 (7.8%) in South Australia
• 7 (13.7%) in Western Australia
• 3 (5.9%) in Tasmania
• 1 (2.0%) in the ACT
• 3 (5.9%) in the Northern Territory

Geographic location of service outlets

• 45.1% (23) in major cities
• 47.1% (24) in regional areas
• 7.8% (4) in remote areas

Service outlet period of operation

• 52.9% (27) operated 7-8 hours a day
  - 37.3% (19) operated 24 hours a day
• 56.9% (29) operated 5 days per week
  - 41.2% (21) operated 7 days a week
• 96.1% (49) operated the full 52 weeks in the year

No. of FTE paid staff in the reference week (Based on a 38-hour working week)

• 382 FTE staff worked in respite services - 4.2% of all disability service outlet staff
• 7.5 FTE staff per outlet (average)
• Each consumer received 91.1 total staff hours in the year (average)
  - Each consumer received 63.7 direct support staff hours in the year (average)

No. of volunteers in a typical week

• 3 FTE volunteers supported respite service outlet operations
  - 2.3% of all disability service outlet volunteers

No. of consumers assisted in the year

• 8,283 used respite services
  - 5.0% of all consumers assisted across all disability service outlets
• 162 consumers per outlet (average)
• Represents 37 per 1,000 of the 'potential' respite population aged 0-64 years

Note: data was not provided in respect of 1 respite service outlet

1.5f Data summary of print disability services, 2006-07

No. of service outlets funded in the year

• 13 print disability service outlets
  - 1.1% of all disability service outlets

Service outlet mergers and closures

• 3 print disability service outlets merged to form one single service outlet
• 1 print disability service outlet chose to discontinue operations at the end of the financial year

State distribution of service outlets

• 4 in New South Wales
• 3 in Victoria
• 1 in Queensland
• 1 in South Australia
• 2 in Western Australia
• 1 in Tasmania
• 1 in the ACT
• There are no print disability service outlets operating in the Northern Territory

Geographic location of service outlets

• 12 in major cities
• 1 in regional areas
• There were no print disability service outlets operating in remote areas

Service outlet period of operation

• 9 operated 7-8 hours a day
• 11 operated 5 days per week
• 9 operated 48-52 weeks in the year

Note: data was not provided in respect of 1 print disability service outlet

No. of FTE paid staff in the reference week (Based on a 38-hour working week)

• 138 FTE staff worked in respite services - 1.5% of all disability service outlet staff
• 11 FTE staff per outlet (average)
• Each consumer received 9.0 total staff hours in the year (average)

Note: data was not provided in respect of 1 print disability service outlet

No. of volunteers in a typical week

• 15.4 FTE volunteers supported print disability service outlet operations
  - 12.1% of all disability service outlet volunteers
• Represents 11.2% of paid staff hours in print disability services
• 1.2 FTE volunteers per outlet (average)
  - the highest across all disability service types

Note: data was not provided in respect of 1 print disability service outlet

No. of consumers assisted in the year

• 30,284 used print disability services - 18.4% of all consumers assisted across all disability service outlets
• 2,330 consumers per outlet (average)
• Represents 42 per 1,000 of the 'potential' population aged 0-64 years

Note: data was not provided in respect of 1 print disability service outlet

1.5g Data summary of information services, 2006-07

No. of service outlets funded in the year

• 2 information service outlets
  - 0.2% of all disability service outlets

State distribution of service outlets

• 1 in New South Wales
• 1 in the ACT

Geographic location of service outlets

• Both are located in major cities Service outlet period of operation
• Both operated 7-8 hours a day
• Both operated 5 days a week
• Both operated the full 52 weeks in the year

No. of FTE paid staff in the reference week (Based on a 38-hour working week)

• 8 FTE paid staff worked in information services
  - 0.1% of all disability service outlets
• 4 FTE staff per outlet (average)

No. of volunteers in a typical week

• Volunteers were not used to support the operations of information services

No. of consumers assisted in the year

• 22,593 used information services
  - 13.7% of all consumers assisted across all disability service outlets
  - 1 information service outlet did not have direct contact with consumers as it captions media entertainment for people who are deaf and hearing impaired and distributes these products to the media entertainment sector throughout Australia

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History of the Disability Services Census

2.1 Overview of key developments

The Australian Government Disability Services Census was developed to provide comprehensive information on Australian Government funded specialist disability services to assist in the planning, development and management of these services.

The first Disability Services Census was held in 1986. Prior to the introduction of the Disability Services Act 1986 (Cth) (DSA) on 5 June 1987, the legislative basis of disability services was the Handicapped Persons Assistance Act 1974 (Cth) (HPAA). On 4 September 1986 a census of all disability services funded under the HPAA was undertaken in preparation for the transition of these services to meet the requirements of the new legislation. Prior to the Census, the Department of Community Services and Health's (DCSH) understanding of its disability services and consumers was limited for planning and administrative purposes. The Census of Disability Services report released in September 1988 presents a comprehensive statistical compendium on disability service operations, including staffing and financial matters, and consumer characteristics for each disability service type funded under the HPAA (DCSH 1988).

The next Disability Services Census was conducted some five years later in 1991. The resultant report provided summary statistics and commentary on all disability services funded under sections 10 and 13 of the DSA. The report's coverage of disability service operations and consumer characteristics for each disability service type was consistent with the data presented in respect of the 1986 Census (Department of Health, Housing and Community Services 1991).

Between 1991 and 1997, the Disability Services Census was conducted on a biennial basis. From 1998, the Census has been conducted on an annual basis. Between 1991 and 1999, census information was collected on a 'snapshot day' or the day in the year the Census was conducted. From 2000, full financial year data has been collected. A decision at the April 1993 meeting of the Working Party to the Review of Funding Arrangements for the Disability Services Program instigated a review of the 1991 Disability Services Census. As a result of this review, pilot testing was conducted in July 1993 to improve the census collection. The resultant report was more comprehensive than its predecessor (Department of Human Services and Health 1994).

The 1995 Disability Services Census held on 18 October 1995 signified the first year in which the census collection formed part of the first Commonwealth State Disability Agreement Minimum Dataset (CSDA MDS) conducted under the auspices of the heads of Australian, state and territory government disability services and 14 Australian Government Disability Services Census 2007 coordinated by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). The CSTDA National Minimum Dataset (CSTDA NMDS) refers to the redeveloped ongoing collection, which was fully implemented nationally in October 2002. The change in the collection's name stems from the negotiations of the third CSTDA (AIHW 2003).

The CSTDA NMDS is both a set of nationally significant data items that are collected in all jurisdictions for national reporting on CSTDA service provision and an agreed method of collection and transmission (AIHW 2003). The purpose of the CSTDA NMDS is to enable the annual collation of nationally comparable data on CSTDA funded services and to obtain reliable and consistent data on the type and location of these services, and an understanding of the people who use those services (Department of Family and Community Services 1999).

In 1996, outlet based funding and administration was introduced, where disability services were split according to activity and location and reclassified as separate entities known as outlets (FaCS 1998).

While the 1997 census report remained relatively unchanged compared with the 1995 census report, it signified the first year in which FaCS became responsible for the Disability Services Census. The Census was held on 24 September 1997 (FaCS 1998). Since then, the Department has continued to have overall responsibility for the Disability Services Census.

A new feature of the 1998 Disability Services Census was the Accessibility Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA) to classify accessibility/remoteness. The ARIA classification includes Highly Accessible, Accessible, Moderately Accessible, Remote and Very Remote. The ARIA classification replaced the Rural and Remote Area (RARA) Index (FaCS 1999). In 2005, the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) Remoteness Areas classification replaced the ARIA classification to align with AIHW's reporting on CSTDA service provision. The ASGC Remoteness Areas classification includes Major Cities, Inner Regional Areas; Outer Regional Areas, Remote Areas and Very Remote Areas. This index offers a greater level of precision in its measurement of accessibility/remoteness than the ARIA methodology, particularly in the more remote areas (AIHW 2004).

The 2000 census report included two major data additions. Full financial year data on consumers accessing specialist disability employment assistance was collected for the first time, as was information on respite services (FaCS 2002). These data have been reported in subsequent census reports.

The Machinery of Government (MoG) changes of December 2004 resulted in changes to the management of specialist disability employment assistance and subsequently to the way information on these services were presented in the 2005 census report. The MoG changes resulted in the transfer of responsibility for open employment services to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) and the cessation of dual employment services as a separate disability employment service type, which provided both streams of specialist disability employment assistance. Responsibility for supported employment services stayed with FaCS. The 2005 census report subsequently provided information on open and supported employment services only (FaCS 2006).

The 2006 Disability Services Census process reflected a significant departure from previous years with DEWR taking responsibility for the collection of open employment services data in line with the 2004 MoG changes (Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs 2007).1 Two data sources were used for the 2006 census collection. In addition to collecting information directly from disability service providers, FaCSIA and DEWR also used administrative data to reduce the workload on service providers at census time.

The separate collection of open and supported employment services data continued for the 2007 Disability Services Census. To further streamline the data collection, the data provided by DEEWR2 included all data items in the CSTDA NMDS, but did not include the more detailed information on the employment characteristics of open employment service consumers collected in previous censuses, that being the consumer's phase and basis of employment, hours of employment, wages and industrial relations arrangements.

The structure of the 2007 census report reflects the divergence in the disability services census collection by FaHCSIA3 and DEEWR. The 2007 census report includes information on consumers of disability employment services not provided in previous census reports. This report includes for the first time information on 'severity of disability', the 'transport needs of supported employment service consumers' and a special chapter describing changes in the profile of disability employment service consumers over time. Greater attention has also been given to the employment outcomes of equity groups and primary disability consumer groups.

 

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3.1 Introduction

This chapter provides a profi le of the operations of Australian Government funded CSTDA services in 2006-07. The information presented relates to the number of disability service outlets, disability service type provided, location of the disability service type outlet, number of hours worked by staff, number of paid staff and volunteers, times of operation and the number of consumers assisted.

3.2 Description of disability service types

Below is a description of the types of specialist disability services funded by the Australian Government under the CSTDA:

• Advocacy services assist people with disability to overcome barriers that impact on their daily life and their ability to participate in the community. Service provision focuses on six different models of advocacy: self-advocacy; individual advocacy; citizen advocacy; family advocacy; legal advocacy; and systemic advocacy. The adoption of a range of advocacy models enables advocacy services to delivery flexible and responsive services to meet the needs of people with disability.

• Disability employment services provide specialist employment assistance to people with disability to assist them to obtain and retain employment. There are two types of disability employment services, open and supported employment services. Open employment services assist job seekers with disability to obtain and retain employment in the open labour market. Supported employment services provide ongoing on-the-job employment support within a commercial enterprise.

• Information services facilitate access to information by people with disability, their families, carers and professionals, and include services to provide the information necessary to enable people with disability to live full lives in their communities. This includes captioning of all the elements of media entertainment (e.g. television programs, DVDs, cinema) for people who are deaf and hearing impaired.

• Print disability services produce alternative formats of communication for people who, by reason of their disability, are unable to read, hold or manipulate printed material. These alternative formats include Braille, large print, audio recordings, computer discs and electronic text. The provision of printed materials in alternative formats enables people with print disability to access information relevant to their educational and vocational needs, everyday living and leisure. These materials are delivered mainly through the Postal Concessions for the Blind program, a program funded outside the CSTDA.

• Respite services provide a short-term and time-limited break for families and other voluntary caregivers of people with disability, to assist in supporting and maintaining the primary care giving relationship, while providing a positive experience for the person with a disability.

3.3 Number of disability service outlets

In 2006-07, the Australian Government funded a total of 1,210 disability service outlets nationally. Disability employment services accounted for the vast majority of disability service outlets, some 88.6% (1,072). Of these, 657 (61.3%) were open employment service outlets and 415 (38.7%) supported employment service outlets. Of the remaining 138 disability service outlets, 72 (6.0%) provided advocacy services, 51 (4.2%) respite services, 13 (1.1%) print disability services and 2 (0.2%) information services. Figure 3.1 shows the breakdown of disability service outlets by service type.

Figure 3.1: Disability service outlets, by service type, 2006-07

 

Overall, there were 342 (39.4%) more disability service outlets operating in 2006-07 than were in 2005-06, up from 868. The major source of growth occurred through the expansion of the open employment sector with the introduction of initiatives related to Welfare to Work reforms from July 2006.

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3.4 State distribution of disability service outlets

3.4.1 State distribution of disability service outlets across Australia
3.4.2 State distribution of disability service outlet types across Australia
3.4.3 Disability service outlet type within each state

3.4.1 State distribution of disability service outlets across Australia

The state distribution of disability service outlets across Australia in 2006-07 is shown in Table 3.1. Importantly, the pattern is broadly consistent with the state breakdown of the general Australian population (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2007a).

Table 3.1: State distribution of disability service outlets across Australia, 2006-07

Service outlet	NSW	Vic	Qld	SA	WA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aust
Number	429	276	198	125	95	45	22	20	1,210
Percentage	35.5%	22.8%	16.4%	10.3%	7.9%	3.7%	1.8%	1.7%	100%

3.4.2 State distribution of disability service outlet types across Australia

Figure 3.2 shows the state distribution of disability service outlet types across Australia in 2006-07. Disability service outlets providing open employment, supported employment, advocacy and respite services operated in all states.

Based on the state distribution of all disability service outlets across Australia:

• The distribution of disability employment service outlets is broadly consistent with the national profile. For open employment service outlets, a higher percentage of such outlets were located in Queensland, whereas a higher percentage of supported employment service outlets were located in New South Wales and Victoria.
• a higher percentage of disability service outlets providing advocacy services were located in Victoria (30.6%), Western Australia (12.6%), Tasmania (4.2%), the ACT (2.8%) and the Northern Territory (4.2%);
• a higher percentage of disability service outlets providing respite services were located in Western Australia (13.7%), Tasmania (5.9%) and the Northern Territory (5.9%);
• Disability service outlets providing print disability services were located in each state except the Northern Territory; and
• the two information service outlets providing a nationwide service, were located in New South Wales and the ACT.

Figure 3.2: State distribution of disability service outlet type across Australia, 2006-07

Figure 3.2 shows the distribution of disability service outlet types across Australia in 2006 –07.  This bar chart shows the breakdown by disability service outlet  type and jurisdiction of all disability service outlets.

 

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3.4.3 Disability service outlet type within each state

As shown in Table 3.2, disability employment service outlets were the most common disability service outlet type in all states in 2006-07. Overall, New South Wales had the most disability employment service outlets (389), as well as the most respite service outlets (16) and print disability service outlets (4). Victoria had the highest number of advocacy service outlets (22). The two information service outlets which provided a nationwide service were located in New South Wales and the ACT.

Table 3.2: Number of disability service outlet types in each state, 2006-07

Service outlet	NSW	Vic	Qld	SA	WA	Tas	ACT	NT	Total
Employment	389	241	182	114	77	38	17	14	1,072
- Open	231	139	132	70	45	22	9	9	657
- Supported	158	102	50	44	32	16	8	5	415
Advocacy	19	22	8	6	9	3	2	3	72
Respite	16	10	7	4	7	3	1	3	51
Print disability	4	3	1	1	2	1	1	-	13
Information	1	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	2
Total	429	276	198	125	95	45	22	20	1,210

As shown in Table 3.3, Queensland and South Australia had the highest percentage of disability employment service outlets in 2006-07, with 91.9% and 91.2% respectively. The lower representation of these services in the Northern Territory (70.0%) and the ACT (77.3%) is influenced by the presence of other disability service types in those states.

For instance:

• the Northern Territory had the highest percentage of disability service outlets providing advocacy services (15.0%) and respite services (15.0%), compared with the national average of 6.0% and 4.2% respectively; and
• the ACT had a higher than average percentage of advocacy service outlets (9.1%) and one of the two information service outlets, which together accounted for 4.5% of all its disability service outlets.

Queensland also had the highest percentage of open employment service outlets (66.7%, compared with the national average of 54.3%). Victoria and New South Wales had the highest percentage of supported employment service outlets (37.0% and 36.8% respectively, compared with the national average of 34.3%).

Table 3.3: Percentage of disability service outlet type in each state, 2006-07

Service outlet	NSW	Vic	Qld	SA	WA	Tas	ACT	NT	Total
Employment	90.7%	87.3%	91.9%	91.2%	81.1%	84.4%	77.3%	70.0%	88.6%
- Open	53.8%	50.4%	66.7%	56.0%	47.4%	48.9%	40.9%	45.0%	54.3%
- Supported	36.8%	37.0%	25.3%	35.2%	33.7%	35.6%	36.4%	25.0%	34.3%
Advocacy	4.4%	8.0%	4.0%	4.8%	9.5%	6.7%	9.1%	15.0%	6.0%
Respite	3.7%	3.6%	3.5%	3.2%	7.4%	6.7%	4.5%	15.0%	4.2%
Print disability	0.9%	1.1%	0.5%	0.8%	2.1%	2.2%	4.5%	-	1.1%
Information	0.2%	-	-	-	-	-	4.5%	-	0.2%
Total	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%

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3.5 Geographic location of disability service outlets

3.5.1 Geographic distribution of disability service outlets
3.5.2 Geographic distribution of disability service outlet types

3.5.1 Geographic distribution of disability service outlets

Of the 1,210 disability service outlets that operated across Australia in 2006-07, the majority were located in major cities, some 55.0% (665). Based on the major city/non-major city breakdown of the general Australian population, there was a good balance of disability service outlets located in regional and remote areas. A total of 507 (41.9%) disability service outlets were located in regional areas, with 27.2% (329) in inner regional areas and 14.7% (178) in outer regional areas. Remote and very remote areas accounted for 3.1% (38) of all disability service outlets. Figure 3.3 shows the distribution of disability service outlets by geographic location.

Description of Figure 3.3

3.5.2 Geographic distribution of disability service outlet types

The number of disability service outlets by disability service outlet type and geographic location in 2006-07 is shown in Table 3.4. Disability service outlets providing open employment, supported employment, advocacy and respite services operated in all geographic locations. Notably, disability employment services were the most common disability service type across all geographic locations.

Table 3.4: Number of disability service outlet type, by geographic location, 2006-07

Service outlet	Major city	Inner regional	Outer regional	Remote	Very remote	Total
Employment	578	296	167	24	7	1,072
- Open	346	179	109	18	5	657
- Supported	232	117	58	6	2	415
Advocacy	50	15	4	3	-	72
Respite	23	17	7	3	1	51
Print disability	12	1	-	-	-	13
Information	2	0	-	-	-	2
Total	665	329	178	30	8	1,210

As shown in Figure 3.4, all disability service types were concentrated in major cities. That said, based on the major city/non-major city breakdown of the general Australian population, there was a good balance of disability employment service outlets located in and outside major cities. A similar pattern was seen for both open and supported employment service outlets. Importantly, 46.7% (494) of disability employment service outlets were located outside major cities, with 47.3% (311) open employment service outlets and 44.1% (183) of supported employment service outlets.

Figure 3.4: Percentage of disability service type outlet, by geographic location, 2006-07

Figure 3.4 illustrates that all disability service types were concentrated in the major cities.

Major cities	Inner regional	Outer regional	Remote	Very remote
All disability service outlets	55.0%	27.2%	14.4%	-	-
Information	100%	-	-	-	-
Print disability	92.3%	7.7%	-	-	-
Respite	45.1%	33.3%	13.7%	-	-
Advocacy	69.4%	Â	Â	Â	Â
Supported employment	55.9%	28,2%	14%	-	-
Open employment	52.7%	27.2%	16.6%	-	-
Total employment	53.9%	27.6%	15.6%	-	-

Advocacy services, however, were not as well represented outside major cities, accounting for 30.6% (22) of all such service outlets. Respite services had the highest representation of disability service outlets located outside major cities, some 54.9% (11).

Finally, the geographic location of print disability and information services, which are located in major cities, is not critical to their overall effectiveness in delivering a quality service to people with disability. The service delivery method adopted by these services - telecommunications and postage - means that the needs of their target groups can be easily met on a state-wide or nationwide basis.

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3.6 Period of operation

3.6.1 Hours per day
3.6.2 Days per week
3.6.3 Weeks per year

Of the 1,210 disability service outlets that operated across Australia in 2006-07, the vast majority operated 7-8 hours a day (81.2%), five days a week (85.2%), for 48 or more weeks in the year (93.7%), with 56.9% (689) operating the full 52 weeks.

3.6.1 Hours per day

As shown in Figure 3.5, the vast majority of disability service outlets operated 7-8 hours a day in 2006-07, some 81.2% (983). A further 59 (4.9%) disability service outlets operated fewer than seven hours a day and 123 (10.2%) operated between eight and 24 hours a day, with 19 (1.6%) operating 24 hours a day. A small number (41) of disability service outlets overall had no regular pattern of daily operation. Four disability service outlets did not provide hours of daily operation data.

Figure 3.5: Disability service outlets, by number of hours operating per day, 2006-07

Figure 3.5 shows the majority of disability service outlets operated 7 – 8 hours per day in 2006–07.

7- 8 hours	983	81.2%
9 – 23 hours	104	8.6%
24 hours	19	1.6%
No regular pattern	41	3.4%
Not stated	4	0.3%
< 7 hours	59	4.9%

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Table 3.5 shows the breakdown of the number of hours operating per day for each disability service outlet type in 2006-07. The most common number of operating hours for all disability service outlet types was 7-8 hours a day. All 19 disability service outlets operating for 24 hours a day were respite services and the 41 with no regular pattern of operating hours per day were all open employment services. Some of these open employment service outlets provided an outreach service and others provided an irregular on-call service outside of their usual operating hours.

Table 3.5: Disability service outlet type, by number of hours operating per day, 2006-07

Â	Hours of operation per day				Â
Service outlet	< 7	7-8	9-23	24	No regular pattern	No stated	Total
Employment	53	879	97	-	41	2	1,072
- Open	29	532	55	-	41	-	657
- Supported	24	347	42	-	-	2	415
Advocacy	2	66	3	-	-	1	72
Respite	1	27	4	19	-	-	51
Print disability	3	9	-	-	-	1	13
Information	-	2	-	-	-	-	2
Total	59	983	104	19	41	4	1,210
Employment	4.9%	82.0%	9.0%	-	3.8%	0.2%	100%
- Open	4.4%	81.0%	8.4%	-	6.2%	-	100%
- Supported	5.8%	83.6%	10.1%	-	-	0.5%	100%
Advocacy	2.8%	91.7%	4.2%	-	-	1.4%	100%
Respite	2.0%	52.9%	7.8%	37.3%	-	-	100%
Print disability	23.1%	69.2%	-	-	-	7.7%	100%
Information	-	100.0%	-	-	-	-	100%
Total	4.9%	81.2%	8.6%	1.6%	3.4%	0.3%	100%

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3.6.2 Days per week

As shown in Table 3.6, the vast majority of disability service outlets operated five days a week in 2006-07, some 85.2% (1,031). A further 74 (6.1%) disability service outlets operated fewer than five days a week and 55 (4.5%) operated six or seven days a week, with most of these (46) operating seven days a week. A small number (46) of disability service outlets overall had no regular pattern of weekly operation. Four disability service outlets did not provide weeks of operation data.

Table 3.6: Disability service outlets, by number of operating days per week, 2006-07

Â	Days of operation per day							Â
Service type	1 day	2 days	3 days	4 days	5 days	6 days	7 days	No regular pattern	No stated	Total
Number	31	19	10	14	1,031	9	46	46	4	1,210
Percentage	2.6%	1.6%	0.8%	1.2%	85.2%	0.7%	3.8%	3.8%	0.3%	100%

Table 3.7 shows the breakdown of the number of operating days per day for each disability service outlet type in 2006-07. The most common number of operating days for all disability service types was five days a week. Respite services were more likely than any other disability services type to operate seven days a week, accounting for 45.7% (21) of all disability service outlets to have operated these days. All 46 disability service outlets with no regular pattern of operating days per week were providing open employment services.

Table 3.7: Disability service outlet type, by number of operating days per week, 2006-07

Â	Days of operation per day							Â
Service type	1 day	2 days	3 days	4 days	5 days	6 days	7 days	No regular pattern	No stated	Total
Employment	31	18	9	9	925	9	23	46	2	1,072
- Open	31	16	9	5	543	1	6	46	-	657
- Supported	Â	2	-	4	382	8	17	-	2	415
Advocacy	-	-	-	5	64	-	2	-	1	72
Respite	-	-	1	Â	29	-	21	-	Â	51
Print disability	-	1	-	-	11	-	-	-	1	13
Information	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	2
Total	31	19	10	14	1,031	9	46	46	4	1,210

Figure 3.6 shows the breakdown of the operating days per week for each disability service outlet type in 2006-07.

Figure 3.6: Disability service outlet type, by operating days per week, 2006-07

Figure 3.6 shows the breakdown of the operating days per week for each disability service outlet type in 2006-07.

<5 days	5 days	6 or 7 days	No regular pattern	Not stated
All disability service outlets	6.1%	85.2%  Â	4.5%	-	-
Information	-	100%	-	-	-
Print disability	7.7%	84.6%	7.7%	-	-
Respite	2%	56.9%	41.2%	-	-
Advocacy	6.9%	88.9%	2.8%	-	-
Supported employment	1.4%	92%	6%	-	-
Open employment	9.3%	82.6%	1.1%	-	-
Total employment	6.3%	86.3%	3.0%	-	-

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3.6.3 Weeks per year

As shown in Table 3.8, most disability service outlets operated 48 or more weeks in 2006-07, some 93.7% (1,134). Over half - 56.9% or 689 - the disability service outlets operated the full 52 weeks in the year and 36.8% (445) operated 48-51 weeks in the year. A small number of disability service outlets (52) operated for fewer than 48 weeks in the year. Only 20 disability service outlets had no regular pattern of weeks of operation in the year. Four disability service outlets did not provide weeks of operation data.

Table 3.8: Disability service outlet type, by operating weeks in 2006-07

Â	Weeks of operation per year				Â
Service type	1-39 weeks	40-47 weeks	48-51 weeks	52 weeks	No regular pattern	No stated	Total
Employment	35	10	399	606	20	2	1,072
- Open	27	-	233	377	20	-	657
- Supported	8	10	166	229	-	2	415
Advocacy	4	-	35	32	-	1	72
Respite	-	-	2	49	-	Â	51
Print disability	2	1	9	-	-	1	13
Information	-	-	-	2	-	-	2
Total	41	11	445	689	20	4	1,210

Figure 3.7 shows the breakdown of the operating weeks for each disability service outlet type in 2006-07.

Figure 3.7: Disability service outlet type, by operating weeks in 2006-07

Figure 3.7 shows the breakdown of the operating days per week for each disability service outlet type in 2006-07.

1 - 39 weeks	40 - 47 weeks	48 - 51 weeks	52 weeks	No regular pattern	Not stated
All disability service outlets	-	-	37.2%	56.5%	-	-
Information	-	-	-	100%	-	Â
Print disability	15.4%	7.7%	69.2%	-	-	7.7%
Respite	-	-	3.9%	96.1%	-	Â
Advocacy	-	-	48.6%	44.4%	-	Â
Supported employment	-	-	40.0%	55.2%	-	Â
Open employment	-	-	35.5%	57.4%	-	-
Total employment	-	-	36.8%	56.9%	-	Â

 

All disability service outlet types except for print disability and advocacy services were most likely to operate for the full 52 weeks in 2006-07. Notably, 49 (96.1%) of the 51 respite service outlets operated throughout the year, compared with the national average of 56.9%. Print disability and advocacy services most commonly reported operating 48-51 weeks in the year (69.2% and 48.6% respectively, compared with the national average of 36.8%). All 20 disability service outlets with no regular pattern of weeks of operation in the year provided open employment services.

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3.7 National staff profile

3.7.1 Hours worked by paid staff
3.7.2 Role of paid staff - direct and indirect support staff
3.7.3 Volunteers

3.7.1 Hours worked by paid staff

In 2006-07, a total of 342,688 paid staff hours in the reference week were spent on disability service outlet operations. There were 54,595 (19.0%) more paid staff hours in the reference week spent on disability service outlet operations in 2006-07 than were in 2005-06, up from 288,093.

Full-time equivalent (FTE) paid staff

Based on a 38-hour working week, a total of 9,018 FTE paid staff worked in disability service outlets across Australia in 2006-07. This equates to an average of 7.5 FTE paid staff in each disability service outlet. There were 1,437 (19.0%) more FTE paid staff working in disability service outlets in 2006-07 than were in 2005-06, up from 7,581.

Figure 3.8 shows the breakdown of FTE paid staff for each disability service outlet type in 2006-07.

Figure 3.8: Disability service outlet type, by FTE paid staff, 2006-07

Figure 3.8 shows the breakdown of staff numbers, measured in terms of full time equivalent, for each disability service outlet type in 2006–07.

FTE
Information	8
Print disability	138
Respite	382
Advocacy	226
Supported employment	5,595
Open employment	2,669
Total employment	8,264

 

(a) FTE direct and indirect paid staff figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number.

The vast majority of FTE paid staff worked in the disability employment sector, some 8,264 (91.6%). Among these staff, 5,595 (62.0%) FTE paid staff worked in supported employment services and 2,669 (29.6%) FTE paid staff in open employment services. A further 382 (4.2%) FTE paid staff worked in respite services, 226 (2.5%) FTE paid staff in advocacy services, 138 (1.5%) FTE paid staff in print disability services and 8 (0.1%) FTE paid staff in information services.

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3.7.2 Role of paid staff - direct and indirect support staff

The role of paid staff in disability service outlets is measured in terms of the provision of direct and indirect staff support:

• Direct support staff - staff who have direct contact with consumers in a support role. This includes coordinators, case workers and other staff who spend a major portion of their time in direct consumer contact.
• Indirect support staff - staff who have no, or only minimal, direct contact with consumers e.g. management staff, administrative staff, training personnel, etc.

A national breakdown of staff working in direct and indirect staff support roles in 2006-07 is not possible as this information was not collected in respect of open employment services. Of the data that is available, the ratio of direct to indirect support staff in disability service outlets was 4:1.

Table 3.9 shows the breakdown of staff working in direct and indirect staff support roles by disability service outlet type in 2006-07. Some caution, however, should be exercised in drawing conclusions from data on FTE direct support paid staff, since this will be strongly influenced by the type of service being provided. Supported employment services had the highest percentage of paid staff working in direct support roles, with 79.7% of all FTE paid staff engaged in service delivery. Respite services, on the other hand, had the highest percentage of paid staff working in indirect support roles, with 30.2% of all FTE paid staff involved in management or other administrative duties.

Table 3.9: Disability service outlet type, by FTE direct and indirect support paid staff, 2006-07

Â	FTE paid staff						Â
Â	Direct support staff			Indirect support staff			Â
Service type	No.	%		No.	%	Â	Total FTE paid staff
Employment	-	-	Â	-	-	Â	8,264
- Open	-	-	Â	-	-	Â	2,669
- Supported	4,459	79.7%	Â	1,136	20.3%	Â	5,595
Advocacy	176	77.7%	Â	50	22.3%	Â	226
Respite	267	69.8%	Â	115	30.2%	Â	382
Print disability	102	73.8%	Â	36	26.2%	Â	138
Information	6	71.6%	Â	2	28.4%	Â	8
Total	-	-	Â	-	-	Â	9,018

(a) FTE direct and indirect paid staff figures have been rounded to the nearest whole number and are based on a 38-hour working week.

3.7.3 Volunteers

In 2006-07, a total of 4,826 hours of volunteer support in a typical week were spent on disability service outlet operations. This represents 1.4% of paid staff hours, or an equivalent of another 127 FTE staff based on a 38-hour working week.

Table 3.10 shows the breakdown of the use of volunteer support by disability service outlet type in a typical week in 2006-07. The supported employment sector had the largest volunteer workforce, accounting for 45.5% (57.8 FTE volunteers) of all volunteers in disability support outlets. At the disability service outlet level, print disability services were most likely to use the support of volunteers, with an average of 1.2 FTE volunteers supporting service outlet operations. Overall, advocacy services were most likely to use the support of volunteers to supplement day-to-day service outlet operations, with volunteer support hours representing 17.7% of paid staff hours.

Table 3.10: Disability service type outlet, by FTE volunteers in a typical week, 2006-07

Table 3.9: Disability service outlet type, by FTE direct and indirect support paid staff, 2006-07

Â	Total volunteer hours			FTE volunteers			No. of FTE volunteers per outlet	% of paid staff hours
Service type	No.	%		No.	%	Â
Employment	2,605	54.0%	Â	68.5	54.0%	Â	0.1	0.8%
- Open	408	8.5%	Â	10.7	8.5%	Â	0.0	0.4%
- Supported	2,197	45.5%	Â	57.8	45.5%	Â	0.1	1.0%
Advocacy	1,522	31.5%	Â	40.1	31.5%	Â	0.6	17.7%
Respite	113	2.3%	Â	3.0	2.3%	Â	0.1	0.8%
Print disability	586	12.1%	Â	15.4	12.1%	Â	1.2	11.2%
Information	0	0.0%	Â	0	0.0%	Â	0.0	0.0%
Total	4,826	100%	Â	127.0	100%	Â	0.1	1.4%

(a) FTE volunteer figures are based on a 38-hour working week.

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3.8 Number of consumers assisted

In 2006-07, a total of 164,336 consumers were assisted through Australian Government funded CSTDA services. This represents 228 per 1,000 (22.8%) of the potential population aged 0-65 years who may at some time require access to specialist disability services funded by the Australian Government.

Figure 3.9 shows the number of consumers assisted in each disability service outlet type. In 2006-07, just over half (82,767 or 50.4%) of all consumers accessed specialist disability employment assistance, with 60,774 (37.0%) using open employment services and 21,993 (13.4%) using supported employment services. A further 30,284 (18.4%) consumers used print disability services, 22,593 (13.7%) used information services, 20,409 (12.4%) used advocacy services and 8,283 (5.0%) used respite services. Four disability service outlets did not provide data on the number of consumers they assisted.

Figure 3.9: All consumers assisted, by disability service outlet type, 2006-07

 

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">

National disability employment services consumer profile

4.1 Introduction

The Australian Government has a longstanding, growing and ongoing commitment to encouraging and assisting people with disability into paid employment in recognition of the substantial barriers they can face in entering and remaining in the workforce. To help overcome these barriers, the Australian Government provides specialist disability employment assistance and related services.

Under the CSTDA, the Australian Government is responsible for the planning, policy setting and management of specialist disability employment assistance. The provision of this assistance is designed to increase levels of employment among people with disability by assisting those who need assistance to enter and remain in the workforce.

Specialist disability employment assistance is delivered through disability employment services in both open and supported employment services. Open employment services assist job seekers with disability to obtain and retain employment in the open labour market. Supported employment services, on the other hand, provide ongoing on-the-job employment support within a commercial enterprise.

This chapter presents a national profile on the disability employment services population in 2006-07, and provides important information to assist in the monitoring of the usage of specialist disability employment assistance and the employment outcomes attained by consumers.

The chapter provides information on the number of consumers assisted by disability employment services, and includes information on their demographic characteristics, disability characteristics, informal carer arrangements, income, employment outcomes, employment characteristics and industrial arrangements. Separate commentary is also provided on open and supported employment service consumers and the key differences between these two consumer groups. The commentary provided on open employment service consumers is different to that in previous census reports to reflect changes in the reporting requirements for open employment service providers. The main change is that employment characteristics data is no longer collected. The commentary also draws on other research and general Australian population data to enhance the overall analysis.

The data on disability employment service consumers in this chapter are reported in two ways. The first provides data on'all consumers' who received assistance from disability employment services during 2006-07. The second provides data on a'snapshot' or'on the books' basis. Consumers'on the books' are registered as receiving assistance from disability employment services on Census Day, 29 June 2007. This chapter provides commentary mostly on'all consumers'. The commentary provided on consumers'on the books' relates only to the employment characteristics of supported employment service consumers as full financial year data was not collected for this information.

4.2 Disability employment services population

4.2.1 Number of consumers assisted
4.2.2 Demographics
4.2.3 Disability profile
4.2.4 Informal carer arrangements
4.2.5 Income
4.2.6 Employment outcomes

4.2.1 Number of consumers assisted

All consumers

In 2006-07, a total of 82,767 consumers were assisted by disability employment services nationally. This is an increase of 5,454 (7.1%) disability employment service consumers on 2005-06, up from 77,313. Much of this growth can be attributed to the expansion of the open employment sector with the introduction of initiatives related to Welfare to Work reforms from July 2006.

Consumers 'on the books'

On Census Day at 29 June 2007, there were 62,063 consumers 'on the books' in disability employment services. This is an increase of 5,121 (9.0%) disability employment service consumers on 2005-06, up from 56,942.

New starters and leavers

During 2006-07, some 32,698 consumers commenced assistance in disability employment services, accounting for 39.5% of all consumers.

A total of 20,704 consumers left their disability employment service in the same year, accounting for 25.0% of all consumers. Table 4.1 shows the main reason consumers left their disability employment service in 2006-07.

Table 4.1: All disability employment service consumers, by main reason for leaving the disability employment service, 2006-07

Â	Disability employment service leavers
Main reason for leaving	No. of consumers	% of total
Consumer no longer needs assistance	8,019	38.8%
- Moved to mainstream service	3,903	18.9%
- Other (includes employment)	4,116	19.9%
Consumer terminated service	5,059	24.4%
Consumer needs have increased	2,288	11.1%
Consumer moved out of area	311	1.5%
Consumer died	157	0.8%
OH&S reasons	39	0.2%
Consumer moved to accommodation setting	29	0.1%
Budget/staffing constraints	20	0.1%
Other	4,134	20.0%
Not stated	648	3.1%
Total	20,704	100%

The main reason for leaving was 'consumer no longer needs assistance'. They accounted for 38.8% (8,019) of all consumers who left their disability employment service and, of these, nearly half (3,903) 'moved to a mainstream service'. The two other main reasons for leaving included 'consumer terminated service' (24.4% or 5,059) and 'consumer needs have increased' (11.1% or 2,288). Together, these three main reasons for leaving accounted for nearly three-quarters (15,366) of all consumers who left their disability employment service in 2006-07. The main reason for leaving was inconclusive for 20.0% (4,134) of consumers as the service provider recorded 'other' as the main reason.

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4.2.2 Demographics

The demographic characteristics of consumers accessing specialist disability employment assistance in 2006-07 include information on their gender, age, Indigenous status, country of birth, the state and geographical location of their area of usual residence, living arrangements and accommodation setting.

Gender

Consistent with previous years, males were much more likely than females to access disability employment services in 2006-07, 63.0% (52,147) compared with 37.0% (30,620). This compares with 53.9% of males and 46.1% females in the general Australian labour force population aged 15 years and older (ABS 2007a).

Age

The age categories presented in this report are different to that in previous census reports to better align with AIHW's reporting on CSTDA service provision and ABS publications. To ensure comparisons can still be made over time, data on the age categories used in previous census reports is provided in the Appendices at Table 2A. Figure 4.1 shows the age distribution of the disability employment services population in 2006-07.

Figure 4.1: All disability employment service consumers, by age group, 2006-07

Figure 4.1 shows the age distribution of the disability employment service population in 2006–07.

65+	474
55 - 64	7,643
45-54	16,206
35-44	18,555
25-34	19,137
14-24	20,752

The number of consumers accessing disability employment services declined with age. Some 25.1% (20,752) of consumers were aged 14-24 years, while 19.6% (16,206) were aged 45-54 years. Nearly 10.0% (8,117) of consumers were aged 55 years and older, with 9.2% (7,643) aged 55-64 years. The median age of the disability employment services population was 35 years.

The disability employment services population has a younger age profile compared with the general Australian labour force population aged 15 years and older. Some 70.6% of disability employment service consumers were under the age of 45 years, compared with 62.8% of the general Australian labour force population aged 15 years and older (ABS 2007a). The lower representation of older consumers in disability employment services may reflect the increased effects of disability on a person's ability to participate in the labour force (ABS 2005).

Indigenous status

In 2006-07, a total of 1,922 Indigenous consumers were assisted by disability employment services. The Indigenous status of consumers was not stated for 133 consumers. The representation of Indigenous consumers in disability employment services was 2.3%. This compares with 1.8% in the general Australian population aged 15 years and older (ABS 2007a).

Country of birth

In 2006-07, 85.0% (70,324) of consumers accessing disability employment services were born in Australia. A total of 11,435 (13.8%) consumers were born overseas, of whom 8.8% (7,294) were born in non-English speaking countries and 5.0% (4,141) in English speaking countries. Country of birth data was not stated for 1.2% (1,008) of consumers. Figure 4.2 shows the disability employment services population by country of birth category.

Figure 4.2: All disability employment service consumers, by country of birth category, 2006-07

 

Figure 4.2 shows the disability employment services population by country of birth category.

Australia	70,324Â	85.0%
Overseas English speaking country	4,141	5.0%
Non English speaking country	7,294	8.8%
Not stated	1,008	1.2%

 

The most common overseas countries of birth among disability employment service consumers are shown in Table 4.2.

Table 4.2: All disability employment service consumers, by most common overseas country of birth, 2006-07

Â	Overseas born disability employment service consumers
Most common overseas country of birth	No. of consumers	% of total
United Kingdom	2,271	19.9%
New Zealand	1,297	11.3%
Vietnam	793	6.9%
Philippines	360	3.1%
Lebanon	320	2.8%
Total	11,435	100%

Among the 7,294 disability employment service consumers born in non-English speaking countries, some 959 consumers needed interpreter assistance. As a group, they accounted for 13.1% of all non-English speaking born consumers and 1.2% of all consumers.

Notably, the general Australian population is somewhat more likely than the disability employment services population to have been born overseas (22.2% compared with 13.8%) (ABS 2007a). The lower representation of people born overseas in disability employment services is largely related to the health requirements governing permanent entry to Australia set down in migration legislation. This means for example that a person with disability is unlikely to be granted permanent residency in circumstances where they need access to health or community services (Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth), Item 4005). Importantly, a waiver of the need to meet the health requirements is available for people moving to Australia on humanitarian grounds (Department of Immigration and Citizenship 2007). Due to the health requirements governing permanent entry to Australia, many overseas-born disability employment service consumers would have acquired their disability while living in Australia.

State or territory of usual residence

Consistent with the general Australian population, the states with the largest disability employment services populations in 2006-07 were New South Wales (30.9% or 25,581), Victoria (26.5% or 21,923) and Queensland (19.7% or 16,307) (ABS 2007b). Together, they accounted for 77.1% (63,811) of all consumers. Those living in Western Australia and South Australia accounted for 9.4% (7,754) and 9.1% (7,550) respectively of all consumers. Of the balance, 2.7% (2,208) of consumers were living in Tasmania, 1.1% (924) in the Australian Capital Territory and 0.6% (520) in the Northern Territory. Figure 4.3 shows the state and territory distribution of the disability employment services population.

Figure 4.3: All disability employment service consumers, by state or territory of usual residence, 2006-07

 

Table 4.3 shows the numbers and percentages of disability employment service consumers housed in the respective accommodation setting types – private residence, supported accommodation, boarding house/private hostel or other. 

Figure 4.3 shows the state and territory distribution of disability employment service consumers.

NSW	25,581
VIC	21,923
QLD	16,307
WA	7,754
SA	7,550
TAS	2,208
ACT	924
NT	520

 

Geographic location of usual residence

Consistent with the general Australian population, major cities were home to the largest percentage of consumers accessing disability employment services in 2006-07, accounting for 63.2% (52,311) of all consumers (ABS 2007b). Those living in regional areas accounted for 35.3% (29,197) of all consumers, with 24.2% (20,009) in inner regional areas and 11.1% (9,188) in outer regional areas. The remaining 1.5% (1,259) of consumers were living in remote and very remote areas. Figure 4.4 shows the distribution of the disability employment services population by geographic location of usual residence.

Figure 4.4: All disability employment service consumers, by geographic location of usual residence, 2006-07

Figure 4.4 shows the distribution of disability employment service consumers by geographic location of usual residence.

 

Living arrangements and accommodation setting

In 2006-07, disability employment service consumers were most likely to be living with family, accounting for 31.9% (26,390) of all consumers. A further 28.1% (23,235) of consumers were living with others and 25.6% (21,207) living alone. Living arrangements data was not stated for 14.5% (11,935) of consumers.

Figure 4.5: All disability employment service consumers, by living arrangements, 2006-07

Figure 4.5 shows the living arrangements of disability employment service consumers.

Lives alone	21,207	25.6%
Lives with family	26,390	31.9%
Lives with others	23,325	28.1%
Not stated	11,935Â	14.4%

 

Further, disability employment service consumers were more likely to be living in a private residence than any other setting in 2006-07, some 81.6% (67,501). A further 6.3% (5,229) of consumers were living in settings where supported accommodation or formal care is provided. Consumers living in a boarding house/private hotel accounted for 3.3% (2,740) of all consumers. Less than 1.0% (200) of consumers were living in other settings. Accommodation setting data was not stated for 8.6% (7,098) of consumers. Table 4.3 shows the accommodation setting of disability employment service consumers, and Figure 4.6 shows the supported accommodation setting for this consumer group.

Table 4.3: All disability employment service consumers, by accommodation setting, 2006-07

Â	Disability employment service consumers
Accommodation setting	No. of consumers	% of total
Private residence	67,501	81.6%
Supported accommodation	5,229	6.3%
Boarding house/private hotel	2,740	3.3%
Other	200	0.2%
Not stated	7,098	8.6%
Total	82,767	100%

Figure 4.6: All disability employment service consumers that are in supported accommodation, by supported accommodation setting, 2006-07

Figure 4.6 shows the distribution of disability employment service consumers by supported accommodation setting

Supported accommodation facilities	3,570Â	68.3%
Domestic scale supported living facilities	1,382	26.4%
Psychiatric community care facility	133	2.5%
Residential aged care facility	118	2.3%
Emergency / transitional accommodation facility	26	0.5%

4.2.3 Disability profile

The disability profile of consumers accessing specialist disability employment assistance in 2006-07 includes information on their primary disability, the presence of any other significant disability, severity of disability and need for assistance in nine main life areas.

Primary disability

'Primary disability' refers to the disability that most clearly expresses the experience of disability by a person. It can also be considered as the disability causing the most difficulty to the person in daily life, compared with any other disability they may also have (FaCS 2005). As shown in Figure 4.7, the primary disability profile of the disability employment services population is diverse. In 2006-07, consumers with an intellectual disability were the largest group accessing disability employment services, some 32.1% (26,595). Consumers with a psychiatric and physical disability were the second and third largest groups, accounting for 25.1% (20,792) and 17.7% (14,614) of all consumers. Together, consumers with an intellectual, psychiatric and physical disability accounted for 74.9% (62,001) of all disability employment service consumers.

A further 8.3% (6,865) of consumers had a specific learning disability/ADD. Consumers with an acquired brain injury (2,680), a neurological disability (2,656), autism (2,649) and a hearing disability (2,635) were equally represented with 3.2% in each category. Consumers with a vision disability accounted for 2.8% (2,316) of all consumers. Of the balance, less than 1.0% of consumers had a speech disability (309) and deafblindness (24). Primary disability data was not stated for 0.8% (632) of consumers.

Figure 4.7: All disability employment service consumers, by primary disability type, 2006-07

Other significant disability

Figure 4.8 provides information on the disability employment service consumers with other significant disabilities. In 2006-07, some 17,234 (20.8%) consumers had multiple or other significant disabilities. Among this group, they were more likely to have a physical disability than any other significant disability type, some 23.0% (3,997). The second most common other significant disability type was psychiatric disability, accounting for 21.6% (3,748) of all disability employment service consumers with other significant disabilities. The third and fourth most common other significant disabilities were specific learning disability/ADD and intellectual disability, accounting for 16.3% (2,820) and 11.1% (1,922) of all disability employment service consumers with other significant disabilities.

Notably, disability employment service consumers were far more likely to have a speech disability and deafblindness as an other significant disability than as a primary disability. A total of 1,494 (1.8%) consumers had a speech disability, with 0.4% (309) as a primary disability and 6.8% (1,185) as an other significant disability. Consumers were more than four times as likely to have deafblindness as an other significant disability than as a primary disability (112 compared with 24).

Figure 4.8: All disability employment service consumers with an other significant disability, by other significant disability type, 2006-07

 

Severity of disability

The severity of a person's disability relates to the level of help or support they need. The extent to which a person's disability affects their everyday life is indicated by the presence of a core activity limitation. A core activity limitation refers to whether a person needs help, has difficulty, or uses aids or equipment with the core activities of self-care, mobility or communication (ABS 2004). These core activities are commonly referred to as activities of daily living and are strongly associated with autonomy and the performance of other life roles.

A person's overall level of core activity limitation is determined by the highest level of help or support needed in any of the core activities. For the purposes of this report, three levels of core activity limitation (or severity of disability) are used. These are profound, severe and moderate to none. A person with a profound core activity limitation is unable to do, or always needs help with, a core activity. A person with a severe core activity limitation sometimes needs help with a core activity, or has difficulty understanding or being understood by family or friends, or communicates more easily using sign language or other forms of non-spoken communication. A person with a moderate to no core activity limitation needs no help but has difficulty with a core activity or needs no help but uses aids and equipment (ABS 2004).

Figure 4.9 shows the severity of disability of disability employment service consumers. In 2006-07, 8.7% (7,198) consumers had a profound core activity limitation and 37.9% (31,332) a severe core activity limitation. Together, 46.6% (38,530) of consumers had a profound or severe core activity limitation. A further 46.1% (36,135) of consumers had a moderate to no core activity limitation. Moreover, consumers were nearly equally as likely to have a profound or severe core activity limitation (46.6%) and a moderate to no core activity limitation (46.1%). Severity of disability data was not stated for 7.4% (6,102) of consumers.

Figure 4.9: All disability employment service consumers, by severity of disability, 2006-07

 

There were also clear and significant differences in the severity of disability of disability employment service consumers by primary disability type in 2006-07. This is shown in Figure 4.10.

Figure 4.10: All disability employment service consumers with a profound or severe core activity limitation, by primary disability type, 2006-07

For instance:

• Disability employment service consumers who are deafblind and those with an intellectual disability were equally as likely to need the highest level of support with a core activity. Just over two-thirds of consumers with these disabilities had a profound or severe core activity limitation, which is well above the national average of 46.6%.
• A somewhat higher percentage of disability employment service consumers with autism (60.0%) and a hearing disability (56.8%) than the national average (46.6%) had a profound or severe core activity limitation.
• Disability employment service consumers whose primary disability is neurological, vision, psychiatric or physical had a profound or severe core activity limitation somewhat lower than the national average, ranging from 30.8% to 35.1%.

Need for assistance

The support needs of consumers accessing disability employment services relate to nine main life areas in which a person may participate or undertake activities. These main life areas are self-care, communication, mobility, interpersonal interactions and relationships, learning and applying knowledge, domestic life, education, community (civic) and economic life, and working. These nine main life areas conform to a common framework that is consistent with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) (AIHW 2007). This framework enables us to compile a coherent summary of the support needs of this consumer group.

As a group, disability employment service consumers needed substantial support across the majority of the main life areas in 2006-07. Figure 4.11 shows the percentage of disability employment service consumers who always or sometimes needed support in each main life area, and Table 4.4 shows all levels of support needed by these consumers in each main life area.

The main life areas in which disability employment service consumers were most likely to need support are learning and applying knowledge and interpersonal interactions and relationships. The corresponding percentage and number of consumers who always or sometimes needed support in these life areas are 56.1% (46,398) and 53.4% (44,158). The uppermost important aspect of interpersonal interactions and relationships is that of communication. Some 41.1% (33,985) of consumers always or sometimes needed support in this life area, that is with understanding or being understood.

Importantly, when the 'not stated' category in these three main life areas is excluded from the overall count, the percentage of disability employment service consumers who always or sometimes needed support in these life areas is 62.6% for learning and applying knowledge, 58.5% for interpersonal interactions and relationships and 44.4% for communication.

For the main life area of community (civic) and economic life - which is strongly related to the need for support in the main life areas of learning and applying knowledge, interpersonal interactions and relationships and communication - 48.9% (40,484) of disability employment service consumers always or sometimes needed support in this life area. This percentage rises to 56.3% when the 'not stated' category is excluded from the overall count.

These limitations together mean that disability employment service consumers needed substantial support with social engagement in the community, as well as with understanding new ideas, coping with feelings or emotions, making sound decisions, remembering and undertaking daily tasks. These limitations, in turn, impact upon their ability to undertake actions and behaviours needed to obtain and retain employment. Some 51.6% (42,717) of consumers always or sometimes needed support in the main life area of working. This percentage rises to 55.7% when the 'not stated' category is excluded from the overall count.

Disability employment service consumers, on the other hand, were least likely to need support in the home environment, including attending to their self-care needs and walking and moving about. Moreover, the majority of consumers needed no support with the main life areas of self-care, mobility and domestic life, with 78.2% (64,705), 74.0% (61,207) and 65.3% (54,071) respectively. These percentages rise to 85.9%, 80.5% and 74.4% respectively when the 'not stated' category is excluded from the overall count.

Figure 4.11: All disability employment service consumers who always or sometimes needed support, by main life area, 2006-07

Table 4.4: All disability employment service consumers, by level of support needed in each main life area, 2006-07

Main life area	Level of support needed				Total
	Always needs support	Sometimes needs support	Needs no support (a)	Not stated
Self-care	2,487	8,156	64,705	7,419	82,767
Communication	4,529	29,456	42,594	6,178	82,767
Mobility	3,361	11,441	61,207	6,758	82,767
Interpersonal interactions & relationships	12,476	31,682	31,328	7,281	82,767
Learning & applying knowledge	17,163	29,235	27,669	8,700	82,767
Education	14,228	24,807	35,643	8,089	82,767
Community (civic) & economic life	14,157	26,327	31,419	10,864	82,767
Domestic life	5,971	11,362	54,529	10,905	82,767
Working	16,572	26,145	33,941	6,109	82,767
Â
Self-care	3.0%	9.9%	78.2%	9.0%	100%
Communication	5.5%	35.6%	51.5%	7.5%	100%
Mobility	4.1%	13.8%	74.0%	8.2%	100%
Interpersonal interactions & relationships	15.1%	38.3%	37.9%	8.8%	100%
Learning & applying knowledge	20.7%	35.3%	33.4%	10.5%	100%
Education	17.2%	30.0%	43.1%	9.8%	100%
Community (civic) & economic life	17.1%	31.8%	38.0%	13.1%	100%
Domestic life	7.2%	13.7%	65.9%	13.2%	100%
Working	20.0%	31.6%	41.0%	7.4%	100%

(a) The 'needs no support' category includes 'needs no support, but uses aids' and 'needs no support and does not uses aids. The disaggregated data for 'needs no support' category is provided in the Appendices at Table 9A.

Worthy of mention is that the percentage of disability employment service consumers who always or sometimes needed support in 2006-07 was lower in eight of the nine main life areas compared with 2005-06. The exception was the main life area of community (civic) and economic life. These differences are shown in Table 4.5. The significant change in the support profile of consumers over the past year is partly due to a change in the way open employment service consumer support needs were derived for the CSTDA NMDS. The introduction of the open employment services' uncapped stream from 1 July 2006 has also contributed to the net reduction in the percentage of disability employment service consumers needing support. The open employment service uncapped stream is designed for people with disability assessed as having significant capacity for paid work in the open labour market. This consumer group will generally have lower support needs than consumers in the open employment service capped stream.

Table 4.5: All disability employment service consumers, by level of support needed in each main life area, 2005-06 and 2006-07

Main life area	2005-06			2006-07
	Level of support needed			Level of support needed
	Always needs support	Sometimes needs support	Total	Always needs support	Sometimes needs support	Total
Self-care	3.9%	23.8%	27.7%	3.0%	9.9%	12.9%
Communication	7.0%	39.6%	46.6%	5.5%	35.6%	41.1%
Mobility	6.4%	21.7%	28.1%	4.1%	13.8%	17.9%
Interpersonal interactions & relationships	9.3%	48.1%	57.4%	15.1%	38.3%	53.4%
Learning & applying knowledge	12.2%	51.0%	63.2%	20.7%	35.3%	56.0%
Education	15.1%	41.4%	56.5%	17.2%	30.0%	47.2%
Community (civic) & economic life	25.4%	10.5%	35.9%	17.1%	31.8%	48.9%
Domestic life	26.3%	9.0%	35.3%	7.2%	13.7%	20.9%
Working	16.0%	58.9%	74.9%	20.0%	31.6%	51.6%

4.2.4 Informal carer arrangements

An informal carer is 'a person, such as a family member, friend or neighbour, who provides regular and sustained care and assistance to a person requiring support' (AIHW 2007, p. 38). In 2006-07, some 16,398 disability employment service consumers had an informal carer, accounting for 19.8% of all consumers.4

Figure 4.12: All disability employment service consumers, by relationship of informal carer to consumer, 2006-07

 

The relationship of the informal carer to the disability employment service consumer for whom they care is shown in Figure 4.12. Of the 16,398 consumers with an informal carer, the vast majority were being cared for by a parent, some 71.5% (11,716). For 9.1% (1,495) of consumers, a spouse/partner was providing the care. A further 9.6% (1,577) of consumers were being assisted by other relatives and 3.1% (515) by a friend or neighbour. Relationship of informal carer to consumer data was not stated for 6.7% (1,095) of consumers.

4.2.5 Income

The main source of income is known for 91.2% (75,438) of consumers accessing disability employment services in 2006-07. A government pension or allowance was the main source of income for almost three-quarters (61,586) of consumers, with the majority (54.1% or 44,816) receiving a disability support pension and around a fifth (16,770) some other pension or allowance. Paid employment was the main source of income for 6.8% (5,665) of consumers. A further 9.3% (7,716) of consumers were receiving income from other sources such as compensation and superannuation. Less than 1.0% (471) of consumers had no income. Figure 4.13 shows the main source of income for disability employment service consumers in 2006-07.

Figure 4.13: All disability employment service consumers, by main source of income, 2006-07

4.2.6 Employment outcomes

The provision of specialist disability employment assistance continues to provide invaluable support to people with disability to enter and remain in the workforce. Throughout 2006-07, disability employment services delivered strong employment outcomes overall for consumers.

'Employment outcomes' refers to those consumers in disability employment services who were employed for some or all of the time during 2006-07. It differs from, and should not be confused with, the employment outcome measure applying to the cased based funding model for disability employment services, which uses an hours and duration in employment measure.

In 2006-07, employment outcomes were achieved for a total of 50,529 people with disability. This equates to a national employment outcome rate of 61.0%. Of these, 59.0% (29,794) were open employment service consumers and 41.0% (20,735) supported employment service consumers.

Equity groups

In the broader Australian labour force, disadvantage remains a significant feature of the employment experience of people from equity groups - women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from non-English speaking backgrounds, people with disability and people living in regional and remote areas. Multiple or cumulative disadvantage may exist where people have two or more equity group characteristics. People from equity groups continue to have lower levels of employment than other Australians. For this reason, it is important to identify the extent to which disability employment service consumers from equity groups attained employment outcomes compared with other disability employment service consumers.

Figure 4.14 shows the employment outcomes for disability employment service consumers by equity group in 2006-07. The data point to clear and significant differences in the employment outcomes of disability employment service consumers from equity groups. For instance:

Figure 4.14: All disability employment service consumers, by equity group and employment outcome, 2006-07

Age

It is generally understood that workforce participation declines with age. This pattern is more pronounced among people with disability, reflecting the increased effects of disability on a person's ability to work as they age (ABS 2005).

Figure 4.15 shows the employment outcomes for disability employment service consumers by age in 2006-07.

Figure 4.15: All disability employment service consumers, by age and employment outcome, 2006-07

The employment outcomes among disability employment service consumers by age is generally consistent with the general Australian population aged 15 years and older, except for consumers aged 65 years and older. The much higher employment outcome attained by the oldest age group (81.2%) reflects a capacity for paid work and a desire to keep working beyond retirement age. The lower employment outcome attained by consumers aged 55-64 years (50.2%) reflects both greater employment restrictions experienced by this group and greater difficulty in accommodating their needs in the workplace in respect of the type of work they can do and the number of hours they can work.

Primary disability type

The nature of the person's disability can have an effect on their ability to obtain employment (ABS 2005). As shown in Table 4.2e, the employment outcomes of disability employment service consumers varied significantly by primary disability type in 2006-07. The highest employment outcome was attained by consumers with an intellectual disability (84.1%). This is well above the national average of 61.0%.

Further, the employment outcomes for disability employment service consumers with an acquired brain injury, autism and hearing disability were marginally higher than the national average (65.0%, 63.8% and 63.1% respectively). The employment outcome attained by consumers with a vision disability was in line with the national average, whereas marginally lower employment outcomes were attained by consumers with a speech disability (58.6%), neurological disability (58.3%) and specific learning disability/ADD (57.4%).

Notably, disability employment service consumers with a physical disability and those with a psychiatric disability faced the greatest challenges in obtaining employment. The employment outcome attained by consumers with a physical disability was 40.4%, some 20.6 percentage points below the national average. The employment outcome attained by consumers with a psychiatric disability was slightly higher at 46.6%.

The lower employment outcome among disability employment service consumers with a physical disability is related to their older age profile and the discernible lower employment outcomes among older consumers generally. The median age of this group was 46 years, some 11 years older than the median age for all disability employment service consumers (35 years). As a group, they accounted for a third (7,852) of all consumers aged 45-64, yet made up only 17.7% of all disability employment service consumers.

The lower employment outcome among disability employment service consumers with a psychiatric disability, on the other hand, is related to the episodic nature of this disability, which limits employment options, can affect work behaviour, and can lead to employer reluctance to hire a person with this disability. Their work performance may also fluctuate, as a result of their disability and possible side-effects from medication (Mental Health Council of Australia 2007).

Table 4.6: All disability employment service consumers, by primary disability type and employment outcome, 2006-07

Primary disability type	Disability employment service consumers
	Attained employment outcome		Not attained employment outcome		Total
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
Intellectual	22,355	84.1%	4,240	15.9%	26,595	100%
Acquired brain injury	1,741	65.0%	939	35.0%	2,680	100%
Autism	1,690	63.8%	959	36.2%	2,649	100%
Hearing	1,664	63.1%	971	36.9%	2,635	100%
Vision	1,415	61.1%	901	38.9%	2,316	100%
Speech	181	58.6%	128	41.4%	309	100%
Neurological	1,549	58.3%	1,107	41.7%	2,656	100%
Specific learning/ADD	3,939	57.4%	2,926	42.6%	6,865	100%
Psychiatric	9,688	46.6%	11,104	53.4%	20,792	100%
Physical	5,910	40.4%	8,704	59.6%	14,614	100%
Not stated	377	59.7%	255	40.3%	632	100%
Total	50,529	61.0%	32,238	39.0%	82,767	100%

(a) The deafblind primary disability group is not publishable due to the small number of consumers.
(b) Employment outcome data was 'not stated' for 4 consumers.

Severity of disability

In the general Australian disability population, employment participation decreases as severity of disability increases (ABS 2005). Surprisingly, in the disability employment services population in 2006-07, consumers with a profound core activity limitation attained the highest employment outcome (79.3%). Notably, this figure is highly influenced by the 88.3% of supported employment service consumers with a profound core activity limitation who attained an employment outcome.

When this supported employment service group is excluded from the overall count, the employment outcome pattern is consistent with the employment experience of people with disability in the general Australian population aged 15 years and older - that is, employment outcomes decrease as severity of disability increases. Accordingly, the employment outcome attained by disability employment service consumers with a profound core activity limitation falls to 40.8%, then rises to 59.3% among consumers with a severe core activity limitation and rises again to 65.7% among consumers with a moderate to none core activity limitation.

4 The number of informal carers reported by the AIHW in its annual disability support services publication in respect of disability employment service consumers is higher. The reason for this is that the AIHW analyses data from the CSTDA NMDS, which enables data linkages of consumer records across all jurisdictions.

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4.3 Open employment services population

4.3.1 What are open employment services?
4.3.2 Number of consumers assisted
4.3.3 Demographics
4.3.4 Disability profile
4.3.5 Informal carer arrangements
4.3.6 Income
4.3.7 Employment outcomes

4.3.1 What are open employment services?

Open employment services provide assistance to job seekers with disability to help them obtain and retain employment in the open labour market. The assistance includes employment preparation, job search, job placement, and post placement or ongoing support.

Open employment services provide two streams of assistance:

• The capped stream assists job seekers with disability who are able to work a minimum of eight hours a week at award wages in the open labour market and are likely to require ongoing support to retain employment once they have found a job.

• Commencing in July 2006, the uncapped stream guarantees up to two years assistance to job seekers with disability in receipt of Youth Allowance, Newstart Allowance or Parenting Payment who are able to work 15 to 29 hours a week at full award wages in the open labour market and have part-time participation requirements.

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4.3.2 Number of consumers assisted

All consumers

In 2006-07, a total of 60,774 consumers were assisted by open employment services nationally. This is an increase of 4,710 (8.4%) open employment service consumers on 2005-06, up from 56,064.

Consumers ‘on the books’

On Census Day at 29 June 2007, there were 43,550 consumers ‘on the books’ in open employment services.

New starters and leavers

During 2006-07, 29,512 consumers commenced assistance in open employment services, either for the first time or having exited assistance in the previous financial year. As a group, they accounted for 48.6% of all open employment service consumers.

A total of 17,224 consumers left their open employment service in the same year, accounting for 28.3% of all open employment service consumers. The main reason these consumers left their service is shown in Table 4.7. The main reason for leaving was ‘consumer no longer needs assistance’. They accounted for 40.9% (7,051) of all consumers who left their open employment service. Of these, 52.6% (3,711) ‘moved to a mainstream service’ and 47.4% (3,340) no longer needed assistance for other reasons (e.g. successfully placed in employment in the open labour market). The two other main reasons for leaving included ‘consumer terminated service’ (23.8% or 4,099) and ‘consumer needs have increased’ (10.5% or 1,812). Together, these three main reasons for leaving accounted for around three-quarters (12,962) of all consumers who left their open employment service in 2006-07. The main reason for leaving was inconclusive for 20.6% (3,555) of consumers as the service provider recorded ‘other’ as the main reason.

Table 4.7: All open employment service consumers, by main reason for leaving the open employment service, 2006-07

Main reason for leaving	Open employment service leavers
	No. of consumers	% of total
Consumer no longer needs assistance	7,051	40.9%
- Moved to mainstream service	3,711	21.5%
- Other (includes employment)	3,340	19.4%
Consumer terminated service	4,099	23.8%
Consumer needs have increased	1,812	10.5%
Consumer died	84	0.5%
Consumer moved out of area	25	0.1%
Other	3,555	20.6%
Not stated	598	3.5%
Total	17,224	100%

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4.3.3 Demographics

The demographic characteristics of consumers accessing open employment services in 2006-07 include information on their gender, age, Indigenous status, country of birth, the state and geographical location of their area of usual residence, living arrangements and accommodation setting.

Gender

Consistent with previous years, males were much more likely than females to access open employment services in 2006-07, 62.7% (38,123) compared with 37.3% (22,651).

Age

Figure 4.16 shows the age distribution of the open employment services population. In 2006-07, younger consumers were most likely to access open employment services. Just over half (51.7% or 31,427) of all consumers were aged under 35 years, of whom 28.6% (17,375) were aged 14-24 years and 23.1% (14,052) aged 25-34 years. Service usage then declined steadily among consumers aged 35-54 years, with 20.3% (12,328) aged 35-44 years and 18.5% (11,220) aged 45-54 years. Consumers aged 55 years and older were considerably less likely than their younger counterparts to access open employment services, with 9.2% (5,602) aged 55-64 years and 0.3% (197) aged 65 years and older. The median age of the open employment services population was 34 years.

Figure 4.16: All open employment service consumers, by age group, 2006-07

Figure 4.16 shows the age distribution of open employment service consumers. 

65 +	197
55 – 64	5,602
45 – 54	11,220
35 – 44	12,328
25 – 34	14,052
14 – 24	17,375

Indigenous status

In 2006-07, open employment services assisted a total of 1,469 Indigenous consumers. Notably, the representation of Indigenous consumers in the open employment services population was 2.4%. This compares with 1.8% in the general Australian population aged 15 years and older (ABS 2007a).

Country of birth

Figure 4.17 shows the open employment services population by country of birth category.

Figure 4.17: All open employment service consumers, by country of birth category, 2006-07

Figure 4.17 shows the breakdown, by country of birth category, of the total population of open employment service consumers.

All open employment service consumers, by country of birth category, 2006–07.

Australia	49,886Â	82.1%
Non – English speaking country	6,372Â	10.5%
Overseas English speaking country	3,659	6.0%
Not stated	857	1.4%

In 2006-07, 82.1% (49,886) of open employment service consumers were born in Australia. A total of 10,031 (16.5%) consumers were born overseas, of whom 10.5% (6,372) were born in non-English speaking countries and 6.0% (3,659) in English speaking countries. Country of birth data was not stated for 1.4% (857) of consumers. Table 4.8 shows the most common overseas countries of birth in the open employment services population. Of the 10,031 open employment service consumers born overseas, the most common countries of birth were the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Lebanon.

Table 4.8: All open employment service consumers, by most common overseas country of birth, 2006-07

Most common overseas country of birth	Overseas born open employment service consumers
	No. of consumers	% of total
United Kingdom	2,047	20.4%
New Zealand	1,139	11.4%
Vietnam	717	7.1%
Philippines	302	3.0%
Lebanon	289	2.9%
Total	10,031	100%

Among the 6,372 open employment service consumers born in non-English speaking countries, 592 consumers needed interpreter assistance. As a group, they accounted for 9.3% of all non-English speaking born open employment service consumers and 1.0% of all open employment service consumers.

State or territory of usual residence

Consistent with the general Australian population, the states with the largest open employment service populations in 2006-07 were New South Wales (28.4% or 17,284), Victoria (27.9% or 16,932) and Queensland (22.8% or 13,854) (ABS 2007b). Together, they accounted for nearly 80.0% (48,070) of all open employment service consumers. A further 9.0% (5,450) of consumers were living in Western Australia and 7.5% (4,569) in South Australia. Of the balance, 2.6% (1,610) of consumers were living in Tasmania, 1.1% (678) in the Australian Capital Territory and 0.7% (397) in the Northern Territory. Figure 4.18 shows the state and territory distribution of the open employment services population.

Figure 4.18: All open employment service consumers, by state or territory of usual residence, 2006-07

 

 

Geographic location of usual residence

Major cities were home to the largest percentage of open employment service consumers in 2006-07, accounting for 61.8% (37,577) of all consumers. A further 36.4% (22,119) of consumers were living in regional areas, with 24.6% (14,931) in inner regional areas and 11.8% (7,188) in outer regional areas. Consumers living in remote and very remote areas accounted for 1.7% (1,078) of all consumers. Table 4.9 shows the distribution of the open employment services population by geographic location of usual residence.

Table 4.9: All open employment service consumers, by geographic location of usual residence, 2006-07

Open employment service consumers	Major cities	Inner regional l	Outer regional	Remote	Very remote	Total
No. of consumers	37,577	14,931	7,188	877	201	60,774
% of total	61.8%	24.6%	11.8%	1.4%	0.3%	100%

Living arrangements and accommodation setting

In 2006-07, open employment service consumers were nearly equally as likely to be living alone and living with others, with 29.2% (17,716) and 28.7% (17,439) respectively. Those living with family accounted for 24.5% (14,897) of all consumers. Living arrangements data was not stated for 17.6% (10,722) of consumers.

The accommodation setting of open employment service consumers is shown in Table 4.10. In 2006-07, open employment service consumers were more likely to be living in a private residence than any other setting, accounting for 84.7% (51,483) of all consumers. A further 4.3% (2,586) of consumers were living in a boarding house/private hotel. A very small number of consumers overall (140 or 0.3%) were living in settings where supported accommodation or formal care is provided. Accommodation setting data was not stated for 10.8% (6,566) of consumers.

Table 4.10: All open employment service consumers, by accommodation setting, 2006-07

Accommodation setting	Open employment service consumers
	No. of consumers	% of total
Private residence	51,483	84.7%
Boarding house/private hotel	2,586	4.3%
Supported accommodation	140	0.3%
Not stated	6,566	10.8%
Total	60,774	100%

4.3.4 Disability profile

The disability profile of consumers accessing open employment services in 2006-07 includes information on their primary disability, the presence of any other significant disability, severity of disability, and need for assistance in nine main life areas.

Primary disability

The primary disability profile of open employment service consumers is diverse as shown in Figure 4.19. In 2006-07, consumers with a psychiatric disability were the largest group accessing open employment services, some 29.9% (18,192). Noteworthy is that a further 4.7% (2,850) of consumers had a psychiatric disability as an ‘other significant disability’. In total, 34.6% (21,042) of open employment service consumers had a psychiatric disability.

Consumers with a physical and intellectual disability were the second and third largest groups, accounting for 21.7% (13,171) and 18.4% (11,167) respectively of all open employment service consumers. Together, consumers with a psychiatric, physical and intellectual disability accounted for 70.0% (42,530) of all open employment service consumers.

Of the remaining 18,244 (30.0%) open employment service consumers:

• 10.8% (6,572) had a specific learning disability/ADD;
• 7.3% (4,415) had a sensory disability, of whom 4.0% (2,402) had a hearing disability, 3.3% (2,008) a vision disability and five were deafblind;
• 3.6% (2,194) had an acquired brain injury
• over 2,000 each had a neurological disability (3.6%), autism (3.5%) or an acquired brain injury (3.4%);
• only 283 (0.5%) had a speech disability; and
• the primary disability was not stated for 1.0% (632) of consumers.

Figure 4.19: All open employment service consumers, by primary disability type, 2006-07

 

Other significant disability

In 2006-07, consumers accessing open employment services had on average 1.2 disabilities. In other words, a total of 10,746 (17.7%) open employment service consumers had multiple or other significant disabilities. Among this group, they were more likely to have a psychiatric or physical disability than any other significant disability type, accounting for 26.5% (2,850) and 25.3% (2,722) respectively of all open employment service consumers with other significant disabilities. The third most common other significant disability type was specific learning disability/ADD, accounting for 18.1% (1,945) of all open employment service consumers with other significant disabilities. Figure 4.20 provides information on open employment service consumers with other significant disabilities.

Figure 4.20: All open employment service consumers with an other significant disability, by other significant disability type, 2006-07

 

Severity of disability

As shown in Figure 4.21, the majority of consumers accessing open employment services in 2006-07 had a moderate to no core activity limitation, some 53.8% (32,705). In total, 36.7% (22,307) of consumers had a profound or severe core activity limitation, of whom 2.7% (1,646) had a profound core activity limitation and 34.0% (20,661) had a severe core activity limitation. Severity of disability data was not stated for 9.5% (5,762) of consumers.

Figure 4.21: All open employment service consumers, by severity of disability, 2006-07

Figure 4.21 provides a breakdown, by severity of disability, of consumers of open employment services in 2006 –07.  The breakdown is expressed as numbers and percentages. 

All open employment service consumers, by severity of disability, 2006–07

Moderate to none	32,705Â	53.8%
Non stated	5,762	9.5%
Profound	1,646Â	2.7%
Severe	20,661	34.0%

There were also clear and significant differences in the severity of disability of open employment service consumers by primary disability type in 2006-07. This is shown in Figure 4.22. For instance:

• Open employment service consumers with a hearing disability and autism were equally as likely to need the highest level of support with a core activity. Around 54.0% of consumers with these disabilities had a profound or severe core activity limitation, which is well above the national average of 36.7%.
• A somewhat higher percentage of open employment service consumers with an intellectual disability, speech disability and specific learning disability/ADD than the national average had a profound or severe core activity limitation, with 51.5%, 45.2% and 45.0% respectively.
• Open employment service consumers whose primary disability is neurological, psychiatric, physical, vision or deafblind had a profound or severe core activity limitation lower than the national average, ranging from 20.0% to 29.4%.

Figure 4.22: All open employment service consumers with a profound or severe core activity limitation, by primary disability type, 2006-07

 

Need for assistance

As a group, open employment service consumers needed substantial support across the majority of the main life areas in 2006-07. Table 4.11 provides information on all levels of support needed by open employment service consumer in each main life area, and Figure 4.23 shows the percentage of these consumers who always or sometimes needed support in each main life area.

Table 4.11: All open employment service consumers, by level of support needed in each main life area, 2006-07

Main life area	Level of support needed				Total
	Always needs support	Sometimes needs support	Needs no support (a)	Not stated
Self-care	119	820	54,060	5,775	60,774
Communication	1,405	19,089	34,515	5,765	60,774
Mobility	221	5,699	49,059	5,795	60,774
Interpersonal interactions & relationships	7,874	18,538	27,827	6,535	60,774
Learning & applying knowledge	8,454	17,340	26,619	8,361	60,774
Education	5,251	15,168	34,506	5,849	60,774
Community (civic) & economic life	7,608	17,849	28,725	6,592	60,774
Domestic life	539	3,046	51,377	5,812	60,774
Working	5,667	15,744	33,514	5,849	60,774
Â
Self-care	0.2%	1.3%	89.0%	9.5%	100%
Communication	2.3%	31.4%	56.8%	9.5%	100%
Mobility	0.4%	9.4%	80.7%	9.5%	100%
Interpersonal interactions & relationships	13.0%	30.5%	45.8%	10.8%	100%
Learning & applying knowledge	13.9%	28.5%	43.8%	13.8%	100%
Education	8.6%	25.0%	56.8%	9.6%	100%
Community (civic) & economic life	12.5%	29.4%	47.3%	10.8%	100%
Domestic life	0.9%	5.0%	84.5%	9.6%	100%
Working	9.3%	25.9%	55.2%	9.6%	100%

(a) The ‘needs no support’ category includes ‘needs no support, but uses aids’ and ‘needs no support and does not uses aids. The disaggregated data for ‘needs no support’ category is provided in the Appendices at Table 9A.

The main life areas in which open employment service consumers were most likely to need support are interpersonal interactions and relationships, learning and applying knowledge and community (civic) and economic life. The corresponding percentage and number of consumers who always or sometimes needed support in these life areas are 43.5% (26,412), 42.4% (25,794) and 41.9% (25,457). The uppermost important aspect of interpersonal interactions and relationships is that of communication. Just over a third (20,494) of consumers always or sometimes needed support in this life area, that is with understanding or being understood. Importantly, when the ‘not stated’ category in these main life areas is excluded from the overall count, the percentage of open employment service consumers who always or sometimes needed support in these life areas is 48.7% for interpersonal interactions and relationships, 49.2% for learning and applying knowledge, 47.0% for community (civic) and economic life and 37.3% for communication.

These limitations together mean that open employment service consumers needed substantial support with social engagement in the community, as well as with understanding new ideas, coping with feelings or emotions, making sound decisions, remembering and undertaking daily tasks. These limitations, in turn, impact upon their ability to undertake actions and behaviours needed to obtain and retain employment. Some 35.2% (21,411) of consumers always or sometimes needed support in the main life area of working. This percentage rises to 39.0% when the ‘not stated’ category is excluded from the overall count.

Figure 4.23: All open employment service consumers who always or sometimes needed support, by main life area, 2006-07

Open employment service consumers, on the other hand, were least likely to need support in the home environment, including attending to their self-care needs and walking and moving about. Moreover, the vast majority of consumers needed no support with the main life areas of domestic life, self-care and mobility, with 84.5% (51,377), 89.0% (54,060) and 80.7% (49,059) respectively. These percentages rise to 93.5%, 98.3% and 89.2% respectively when the ‘not stated’ category is excluded from the overall count.

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4.3.5 Informal carer arrangements

In 2006-07, a total of 5,435 open employment service consumers had an informal carer. As a group, they accounted for 8.9% of all open employment service consumers. The relationship of the informal carer to the open employment service consumer for whom they care is shown in Figure 4.24. Of the 5,435 open employment service consumers with an informal carer, the majority were being cared for by a parent, some 72.8% (3,959). A further 16.3% (884) of consumers had a spouse/partner caring for them, 6.2% (338) were being assisted by other relatives and 3.9% (214) by a friend or neighbour. Relationship of informal carer to consumer data was not stated for 0.7% (40) of consumers.

Figure 4.24: All open employment service consumers, by relationship of informal carer to consumer, 2006-07

 

4.3.6 Income

The main source of income is known for 90.1% (54,785) of consumers accessing open employment services in 2006-07. A government pension or allowance was the main source of income for more than two-thirds (68.2% or 41,467) of consumers, with 40.9% (24,858) receiving a disability support pension and 27.3% (16,609) some other pension or allowance. Paid employment was the main source of income for 8.5% (5,195) of consumers. A further 12.6% (7,660) of consumers were receiving income from other sources such as compensation and superannuation. Less than 1.0% (463) of consumers had no income. Figure 4.25 shows the breakdown of the main source of income for open employment service consumers.

Figure 4.25: All open employment service consumers, by main source of income, 2006-07

Figure 4.24 shows the distribution of employment service consumers, by relationship to their informal carer. 

Disability support pension	24,858	40.9%
Other pension	16,609Â	27.3%
Other income	7,461	12.3%
Paid employment	5,195	8.5%
Nil income	463	0.8%
Compensation payment	199	0.3%
Not stated	5,989	9.9%

4.3.7 Employment outcomes

‘Employment outcomes’ refers to those consumers in open employment services who were employed for some or all of the time during 2006-07. Of the 60,774 consumers who accessed open employment services in 2006-07, a total of 29,794 consumers attained an employment outcome. As a group, they accounted for 49.0% of all open employment service consumers.

Equity groups

In 2006-07, the employment outcomes of consumers accessing open employment services varied by equity group, as shown in Figure 4.26. For instance:

• Female consumers represented 37.3% of all consumers, and attained a marginally lower employment outcome than their male counterparts (47.5% compared with 49.9%). Women, however, remain significantly under-represented in open employment services.
• Indigenous consumers who represented 2.4% of all consumers faced significant challenges in obtaining employment. As a group, 32.5% attained an employment outcome, which is considerably lower than the national average of 49.0%.
• Consumers born in non-English speaking countries who represented 10.5% of all consumers faced significant challenges in obtaining employment. As a group, 32.9% attained an employment outcome, some 16.1 percentage points below the national average.
• Consumers living in regional and remote areas represented 38.2% of all consumers, and attained an employment outcome equal to their counterparts in major cities, around 49.0%.

Figure 4.26: All open employment service consumers, by equity group and employment outcome, 2006-07

Figure 4.26 shows the percentages of consumers of open employment services in each equity group who attained an employment outcome.

Women - 47.5%
Indigenous - 32.5%
NESB - 32.9%
Regional and remote - 49.1%

Age

Figure 4.27 shows the employment outcomes for open employment service consumers by age in 2006-07.

Figure 4.27: All open employment service consumers, by age and employment outcome, 2006-07

Figure 4.27 shows the percentages of consumers of open employment services in each age group who attained an employment outcome.

65+ , 64.5%
55-64, 34.6%
45-54, 41.6%
35-44, 47.9%
25-34, 56.2%
14-24, 53.3%

With the exception of open employment services consumers aged 65 years and older, employment outcomes declined with age. This decline is particularly discernible among consumers aged 55-64 years. The highest employment outcome attained by consumers aged 65 years and older (64.5%) reflects a capacity for paid work and a desire to keep working beyond retirement age. The lower employment outcome attained by consumers aged 45-54 years (41.6%) and 55-64 years (34.6%) reflect both greater employment restrictions experienced by this group and greater difficulty in accommodating their needs in the workplace in respect of the type of work they can do and the number of hours they can work.

Primary disability type

In the open employment services population, the employment outcomes of consumers in 2006-07 varied significantly by primary disability type as shown in Table 4.12.

Table 4.12: All open employment service consumers, by primary disability type and employment outcome, 2006-07

Primary disability type	Open employment service consumers
	Attained employment outcome		Not attained employment outcome		Total
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
Psychiatric	7,305	40.2%	10,887	59.8%	18,192	100%
Physical	4,535	34.4%	8,636	65.6%	13,171	100%
Intellectual	7,788	69.7%	3,379	30.3%	11,167	100%
Specific learning/ADD	3,664	55.8%	2,908	44.2%	6,572	100%
Hearing	1,441	60.0%	961	40.0%	2,402	100%
Autism	1,168	55.4%	940	44.6%	2,108	100%
Acquired brain injury	1,140	55.9%	900	44.1%	2,040	100%
Neurological	1,107	50.5%	1,087	49.5%	2,194	100%
Vision	1,110	55.3%	898	44.7%	2,008	100%
Speech	157	55.5%	126	44.5%	283	100%
Not stated	379	59.7%	254	40.3%	632	100%
Total	29,794	49.0%	30,976	51.0%	60,774	100%

(a) The deafblind primary disability group is not publishable due to the small number of consumers.
(b) The data is ‘not stated’ for 4 open employment service consumers.

Notably, open employment service consumers with an intellectual disability attained the highest employment outcomes at 69.7%. This is well above the national average of 49.0%. Consumers with a hearing disability attained the second highest employment outcome, with 60.0% in employment. Consumers with an acquired brain injury, specific learning disability/ADD, speech disability, autism and vision disability also had higher employment outcomes than the national average. All these primary disability consumer groups had around 55.0% of consumers in employment.

By contrast, open employment service consumers with a physical disability and those with a psychiatric disability faced the greatest challenges in obtaining employment. The employment outcome attained by consumers with a physical disability was 34.4%, some 14.6 percentage points lower than the national average. The employment outcome attained by consumers with a psychiatric disability was slightly higher at 40.2%.

The lower employment outcome among open employment service consumers with a physical disability is related to their older age profile and the discernible lower levels of employment among older consumers generally. The median age of this group was 46 years, some 12 years older than the median age for all open employment service consumers (34 years). As a group, they accounted for 42.5% (7,150) of all open employment service consumers aged 45-64, yet made up only 21.7% of all open employment service consumers.

The lower employment outcome among open employment service consumers with a psychiatric disability, on the other hand, is related to the episodic nature of this disability, which limits employment options, can affect work behaviour and performance, and can lead to reluctance by employers to hire a person with this disability (Mental Health Council of Australia 2007).

Severity of disability

In 2006-07, the highest employment outcome was attained by open employment service consumers with a moderate to none core activity limitation at 60.7%. As a group, they were considerably more likely to be employed than consumers with a profound or severe core activity limitation, with a gap of almost 20 percentage points. There was barely any difference in the employment outcome attained by consumers with a profound core activity limitation (40.8%) and those with a severe core activity limitation (40.3%). Their employment outcome was somewhat lower than the national average of 49.0%.

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4.4 Supported employment services population

4.4.1 What are supported employment services
4.4.2 Number of consumers assisted
4.4.3 Demographics
4.4.4 Disability profile
4.4.5 Informal carer arrangements
4.4.6 Income
4.4.7 Employment outcomes
4.4.8 Employment characteristics
4.4.9 Industrial relations arrangements

 

4.4.1 What are supported employment services

Supported employment services have a unique and dual role as both employers and providers of government-funded employment support. The core business of supported employment services is helping people with disability to take part in quality, appropriately paid employment, develop their capabilities and promote their participation in community life.

The target group for supported employment services is people with disability who are unlikely to be able to work in the open labour market at or above the Federal Minimum Wage and who need ongoing support for a substantial period to obtain and retain paid employment.

Supported employment services are commercial enterprises enabling people with disability to engage in a wide variety of work tasks such as packaging, assembly, production, recycling, garden maintenance and landscaping, plant nursery, laundry services, cleaning services and catering services and screen printing. People working in supported employment services enjoy working conditions comparable to those in the general Australian workforce. This includes the payment of pro rata wages in accordance with their productive capacity.

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4.4.2 Number of consumers assisted

All consumers

In 2006-07, a total of 21,993 consumers were assisted by supported employment services nationally. This is an increase of 744 (3.5%) supported employment service consumers on 2005-06, up from 21,249.

Consumers 'on the books'

On Census Day at 29 June 2007, there were 18,513 consumers 'on the books' in supported employment services. This is an increase of 952 (5.4%) supported employment service consumers on 2005-06, up from 17,561.

New starters and leavers

During 2006-07, 3,186 (14.5%) consumers commenced in supported employment services and 3,480 (15.8%) consumers transferred to another supported employment service outlet or left the supported employment sector altogether. Table 4.13 shows the main reason consumers left their supported employment service.

Table 4.13: All supported employment service consumers, by main reason for leaving the supported employment service, 2006-07

Main reason for leaving	Open employment service leavers
	No. of consumers	% of total
Consumer no longer needs assistance	968	27.8%
- Moved to mainstream service	192	5.5%
- Other	776	22.3%
Consumer terminated service	960	27.6%
Consumer needs have increased	476	13.7%
Consumer moved out of area	286	8.2%
Consumer died	73	2.1%
OH&S reasons	39	1.1%
Consumer moved to accommodation setting	29	0.8%
Budget/staffing constraints	20	0.6%
Other	579	16.6%
Not stated	50	1.4%
Total	3,480	100%

The main reason for leaving was evenly split between 'consumer no longer needs assistance' (27.8% or 968) and 'consumer terminated service' (27.6% or 960). The other main reasons for leaving included 'consumer needs have increased' (13.7% or 476) and 'consumer moved out of area' (8.2% or 286). Together, these four main reasons accounted for 77.3% (2,690) of all reasons consumers left their supported employment service. The main reason for leaving was inconclusive for 16.6% (579) of consumers as the service provider recorded 'other' as the main reason.

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4.4.3 Demographics

The demographic characteristics of consumers accessing supported employment services in 2006-07 include information on their gender, age, Indigenous status, country of birth, the state and geographical location of their usual residence, living arrangements and accommodation setting.

Gender

Consistent with previous years, more males than females accessed supported employment assistance in 2006-07, 63.8% (14,024) compared with 36.2% (7,969).

Age

Figure 4.28 shows the age distribution of the supported employment services population in 2006-07. Figure 4.28: All supported employment service consumers, by age group, 2006-07

Figure 4.28: All supported employment service consumers, by age group, 2006-07

Figure 4.28 shows the age distribution of supported employment service consumers in 2006–07. 

65+ , 277
55-64, 2,041
45-54, 4,986
35-44, 6,227
25-34, 5,085
14-24, 3,377

 

Supported employment service consumers were most likely to be aged 35-44 years, some 28.3% (6,227). A further 38.5% (8,462) of consumers were younger than this and around a third (7,304) older than this.

Of the supported employment service consumers under the age of 35 years, 23.1% (5,085) were aged 25-34 years and 15.4% (3,377) aged 14-24 years. Among young consumers aged 14-24 years, the data points to a sharp increase in the number entering supported employment services upon the completion of Year 12 secondary education or its equivalent (e.g. special school). The 2,528 young consumers aged 20-24 years accounted for nearly three-quarters of all young consumers aged 14-24 years and 11.5% of all supported employment service consumers. Notably, 46.1% (135) of all consumers with a specific learning disability/ADD and 43.1% (233) of all consumers with autism were aged 20-24 years.

Of the supported employment service consumers aged 45 years and older, 22.7% (4,986) were aged 45-54, 9.3% (2,041) aged 55-64 and 1.3% (277) aged 65 years and older. The median age of the supported employment services population was 39 years.

Indigenous status

In 2006-07, a total of 453 Indigenous consumers were assisted by supported employment services. The Indigenous status of consumers was not stated for 0.6% (133) of consumers. The representation of Indigenous consumers in the supported employment services population was 2.1%.

Country of birth

In 2006-07, the overwhelming majority of supported employment service consumers were born in Australia, some 20,438 (92.9%). A total of 1,404 (6.4%) consumers were born overseas, of whom 922 (4.2%) were born in non-English speaking countries and 482 (2.2%) in English speaking countries. Country of birth data was not stated for 0.7% (151) of consumers.

Of the 1,404 supported employment service consumers born overseas, the most common countries of birth were the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Italy, Viet Nam and the Phillipines. They accounted for 262 (18.7%), 158 (11.3%), 77 (5.5%), 76 (5.4%) and 58 (4.1%) respectively of all supported employment service consumers born overseas.

Among the 922 supported employment service consumers born in non-English speaking countries, 367 consumers needed interpreter assistance. As a group, they accounted for 39.8% of all non-English speaking born supported employment service consumers and 1.7% of all supported employment service consumers.

State or territory of usual residence

The state and territory distribution of the supported employment services population in 2006-07 is shown in Figure 4.29. The state with the largest supported employment services population was New South Wales, accounting for 37.7% (8,297) of all consumers. A further 22.7% (4,991) of consumers were living in Victoria, 13.6% (2,981) in South Australia, 11.2% (2,453) in Queensland, and 10.5% (2,304) in Western Australia. Of the balance, 2.7% (598) of consumers were living in Tasmania, 1.1% (246) in the Australian Capital Territory and 0.6% (123) in the Northern Territory.

Figure 4.29: All supported employment service consumers, by state or territory of usual residence, 2006-07

The state and territory distribution of supported employment service consumers in 2006–07 is shown in Figure 4.29.

NSW: 8,297
VIC: 4,991
QLD: 2,453
WA: 2,304
SA: 2,981
TAS:598
ACT: 246
NT: 123

Geographic location of usual residence

Major cities were home to the largest percentage of supported employment service consumers in 2006-07, accounting for 67.0% (14,733) of all consumers. A further 32.2% (7,077) of consumers were living in regional areas, with 23.1% (5,078) in inner regional areas and 9.1% (1,999) in outer regional areas. The remaining 182 (0.9%) consumers were living in remote and very remote areas. The distribution of the supported employment services population by geographic location of usual residence is shown in Table 4.14.

Table 4.14: All supported employment service consumers, by geographic location of usual residence, 2006-07

Supported employment service consumers	Major cities	Inner regional l	Outer regional	Remote	Very remote	Total
No. of consumers	14,733	5,078	1,999	149	33	21,993
% of total	67.0%	23.1%	9.1%	0.7%	0.2%	100%

Living arrangements and accommodation setting The living arrangements of supported employment service consumers in 2006-07 are shown in Table 4.15.

Table 4.15: All supported employment service consumers, by living arrangements, 2006-07

Supported employment service consumers	Lives alone	Lives with family	Lives with others	Not stated	Total
No. of consumers	3,491	11,493	5,796	1,213	21,993
% of total	15.9%	52.3%	26.4%	5.5%	100%

The majority of supported employment service consumers were living with family, some 52.3% (11,493). A further 26.4% (5,796) of consumers were living with others and 15.9% (3,491) living alone. Living arrangements data was not stated for 5.5% (1,213) of consumers.

Further, supported employment service consumers were more likely to be living in a private residence than any other setting in 2006-07, accounting for 72.8% (16,018) of all consumers. Some 23.1% (5,089) of consumers were living in settings where supported accommodation or formal care is provided, of whom 16.2% were living in a supported accommodation facility. Less than 1.0% of consumers were living in other settings. Accommodation setting data was not stated for 2.4% (532) of consumers. Table 4.16 shows the accommodation setting of supported employment service consumers, and Figure 4.30 shows the supported accommodation type for this consumer group.

Table 4.16: All supported employment service consumers, by accommodation setting, 2006-07

Accommodation setting	Supported employment service consumers
	No. of consumers	% of total
Private residence	16,018	72.8%
Supported accommodation	5,089	23.1%
Boarding house/private hotel	154	0.7%
Other	200	0.9%
Not stated	532	2.4%
Total	21,993	100%

Figure 4.30: All supported employment service consumers that are in supported accommodation, by supported accommodation setting, 2006-07

Figure 4.30 shows the numbers and percentages of supported employment service consumers in supported accommodation in each particular accommodation type.

Supported accommodation facility	3,570	70.2%
Domestic scale supported living facility	1,286Â	25.3%
Psychiatric community care centre facility	133	2.6%
Residential age care facility	74	1.5%
Emergency / transitional accommodation facility	26	0.5%

4.4.4 Disability profile

The disability profile of consumers accessing supported employment services in 2006-07 includes information on their primary disability, the presence of any other significant disability, severity of disability, method of communication, need for assistance in nine main life areas and transport needs.

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Primary disability

Figure 4.31 shows the primary disability of supported employment service consumers in 2006-07.

Figure 4.31: All supported employment service consumers, by primary disability type, 2006-07

Figure 4.31 shows the numbers of supported employment service consumers in each primary disability type.

Deafblind: 19
Speech: 26
Hearing: 233
Specific learning / ADD: 293
Vision: 308
Neurological: 462
Autism: 541
Acquired brain injury: 640
Physical: 1,443
Psychiatric: 2,600
Intellectual: 15,428

Consumers with an intellectual disability were the largest group accessing supported employment services, some 70.1% (15,428). A further 5.0% (1,097) of consumers had an intellectual disability as an 'other significant disability'. In total, three-quarters (16,525) of all supported employment service consumers had an intellectual disability.

Supported employment service consumers with a psychiatric and physical disability were the second and third largest groups, accounting for 11.8% (2,600) and 6.6% (1,443) respectively of all consumers. Together, consumers with an intellectual, psychiatric and physical disability accounted for 88.5% (19,471) of all consumers.

Of the remaining 2,522 (11.5%) supported employment service consumers:

• 2.9% (640) had an acquired brain injury;
• 2.6% (560) had a sensory disability, of whom 308 had a vision disability, 233 a hearing disability and 19 were deafblind;
• 2.5% (541) had autism;
• 2.1% (462) had a neurological disability;
• 1.3% (293) had a specific learning disability/ADD; and
• 0.1% (26) had a speech disability.

Other significant disability

Figure 4.32 provides information on the supported employment service consumers with other significant disabilities.

Figure 4.32: All supported employment service consumers with an other significant disability, by other significant disability type, 2006-07

Figure 4.32 provides a breakdown of the supported employment service consumers with other significant disabilities.

Deafblind: 112
Acquired brain injury: 131
Autism: 272
Vision: 297
Hearing: 233
Neurological: 572
Speech: 751
Specific learning / ADD: 875
Psychiatric: 898
Intellectual: 1,097
Physical: 1,275
 

In 2006-07, consumers accessing supported employment services had on average 1.3 disabilities. In other words, some 6,488 (29.5%) supported employment service consumers had multiple or other significant disabilities. Among this group, consumers were much more likely to have a physical disability than any other significant disability type, some 19.3% (1,275). The second most common other significant disability type was intellectual disability, accounting for 16.6% (1,097) of all consumers with other significant disabilities. The third and fourth most common other significant disability types were psychiatric disability and specific learning disability/ADD. They accounted for 13.6% (898) and 13.3% (875) respectively of all consumers with other significant disabilities.

Notably, supported employment service consumers were far more likely to have a specific learning disability/ADD, speech disability and deafblindness as an other significant disability than as a primary disability. For instance:

• Specific learning disability/ADD was the fourth most common disability type overall when the primary disability and other significant disability are combined, accounting for 5.3% (1,168) of all supported employment service consumers;
• A total of 777 (3.5%) of supported employment service consumers had a speech disability, with 26 (0.1%) as a primary disability and 751 (3.4%) as an other significant disability;
• Supported employment service consumers were six times more likely to have deafblindness as an other significant disability than as a primary disability (112 compared with 19).

Also, supported employment service consumers were more likely to have a neurological and hearing disability as an other significant disability than as a primary disability. A total of 1,034 (4.7%) consumers had a neurological disability and 554 (2.5%) had a hearing disability when the primary disability and other significant disability are combined.

Severity of disability

The severity of disability among supported employment service consumers is shown in Figure 4.33. In 2006-07, some 25.2% (5,552) of consumers had a profound core activity limitation. Those with a severe core activity limitation accounted for some 48.5% (10,671) of all consumers. Together, 73.8% (16,223) of consumers had a profound or severe core activity limitation. A further 24.7% (5,430) of consumers had a moderate to no core activity limitation. Severity of disability data was not stated for 1.5% (340) of consumers.

Figure 4.33: All supported employment service consumers, by severity of disability, 2006-07

Figure 4.33 shows the number and percentages of supported employment service consumers in each category of core activity limitation.

Profound	5,552	25.2%
Severe	10,671	48.5%
Moderate to none	5,430Â	24.7%
Not stated	340	1.5%

There are also clear and significant differences in the severity of disability of supported employment service consumers by primary disability type. These differences are shown in Figure 4.34.

Figure 4.34: All supported employment service consumers with a profound or severe core activity limitation, by primary disability type, 2006-07

Figure 4.34 shows the percentages of supported employment consumers with a profound or severe core activity limitation in particular primary disability types.

Psychiatric: 53.8%
Speech: 61.9%
Specific learning  / ADD : 62.4%
Hearing : 63.8%
Acquired brain injury: 72.2%
Neurological: 78.1%
Deaf blind: 78.9%
Autism: 82.5%
Vision: 82.8%
Physical: 83.7%
Intellectual: 92.3%
 

For instance:

• Supported employment service consumers with an intellectual disability needed the highest level of support with a core activity. Some 92.3% of these consumers had a profound or severe core activity limitation, which is considerably higher than the national average of 73.8%.
• Supported employment service consumers with a physical disability, vision disability and autism were somewhat more likely than the national average to have a profound or severe core activity limitation, with 83.7%, 82.7% and 82.5% respectively.
• Supported employment service consumers whose primary disability is hearing, specific learning/ADD and speech had a profound or severe core activity limitation somewhat lower than the national average, with 63.8%, 62.4% and 61.9% respectively.
• While over half (53.8%) of the supported employment service consumers with a psychiatric disability had a profound or severe core activity limitation, the level of support they needed was the lowest across the primary disability consumer groups.

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Method of communication

In 2006-07, the overwhelming majority of supported employment service consumers had effective spoken communication, some 88.3% (19,418). A further 2.2% (514) of consumers were able to communicate effectively using non-spoken communication methods such as sign language. Notably, nearly 10.0% (2,001) of consumers had no effective way of communicating with others. Method of communication data was not stated for 0.4% (80) of consumers.

Need for assistance

As a group, supported employment service consumers needed considerable support across all main life areas in 2006-07. Table 4.17 provides information on all levels of support needed by supported employment service consumers in each main life area, and Figure 4.35 shows the percentage of supported employment service consumers who always or sometimes needed support in each main life area.

Table 4.17: All supported employment service consumers, by level of support needed in each main life area, 2006-07

Main life area	Level of support needed				Total
	Always needs support	Sometimes needs support	Needs no support (a)	Not stated
Self-care	2,368	7,336	10,645	1,644	21,993
Communication	3,124	10,367	8,089	413	21,993
Mobility	3,140	5,742	12,148	963	21,993
Interpersonal interactions & relationships	4,602	13,144	3,501	746	21,993
Learning & applying knowledge	8,709	11,895	1,050	339	21,993
Education	8,977	9,639	1,137	2,240	21,993
Community (civic) & economic life	6,549	8,478	2,694	4,272	21,993
Domestic life	5,432	8,316	3,152	5,093	21,993
Working	10,905	10,401	427	260	21,993
Â
Self-care	10.8%	33.4%	48.4%	7.5%	100%
Communication	14.2%	47.1%	36.8%	1.9%	100%
Mobility	14.3%	26.1%	55.2%	4.4%	100%
Interpersonal interactions & relationships	20.9%	59.8%	15.9%	3.4%	100%
Learning & applying knowledge	39.6%	54.1%	4.8%	1.5%	100%
Education	40.8%	43.8%	5.2%	10.2%	100%
Community (civic) & economic life	29.8%	38.5%	12.3%	19.4%	100%
Domestic life	24.7%	37.8%	14.3%	23.2%	100%
Working	49.6%	47.3%	1.9%	1.2%	100%

(a) The 'needs no support' category includes 'needs no support, but uses aids' and 'needs no support and does not uses aids. The disaggregated data for 'needs no support' category is provided in the Appendices at Table 9A.

Figure 4.35: All supported employment service consumers who always or sometimes needed support, by main life area, 2006-07

Figure 4.35 shows the percentage of supported employment service consumers who always or sometimes needed support in particular main life areas.

Â	Always	Sometimes
Self – care	33.4%	10.8%
Communication	47.1%	14.2%
Mobility	26.1%	14.3%
Interpersonal interactions and relationships	59.8%	20.9%
Learning and applying knowledge	54.1%	39.6%
Education	43.8%	40.8%
Community (civic ) and economic life	38.5%	29.8%
Domestic life	37.8%	24.7%
Working	47.3%	49.6%

 

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While most (48.4% or 10,645) supported employment service consumers who needed no support with self-care, there were 44.1% (9,704) who always or sometimes needed support in this area. Some 10.8% (2,368) of consumers always needed support in this area. Self-care data was not stated for 7.5% (1,644) of consumers.

Around three in every five (13,491) supported employment service consumers always or sometimes needed support with communication, that is with understanding or being understood. Some 14.2% (3,124) of consumers always needed support in this area. Communication data was not stated for 1.9% (413) of consumers. Further, a considerably higher percentage (80.7% or 17,746) of consumers always or sometimes needed support with interpersonal interactions and relationships, with 20.9% (4,602) always needing support in this area. Interpersonal interactions and relationships data was not stated for 3.4% (746) of consumers.

While the majority - 55.2% or 12,148 - of supported employment service consumers needed no support with walking and moving about, there were 40.4% (8,882) who always or sometimes needed support in this area. Notably, 14.3% (3,140) of consumers always needed support in this area. Mobility data was not stated for 4.4% (963) of consumers.

A very high percentage of supported employment service consumers always or sometimes needed support with learning and applying knowledge, some 93.7% (20,604). Learning and applying knowledge data was not stated for 1.5% (339) of consumers. Similarly, even though education data was not stated for 10.2% (2,240) of consumers, some 84.6% (18,616) always or sometimes needed support in this area.

The percentage of supported employment service consumers who always or sometimes needed support to participate in domestic life and community (civic) and economic life is considerably understated due to the high percentage in the 'not stated' category, with 23.2% and 19.4% respectively. When the 'not stated' category is excluded from the overall count, 81.3% of consumers always or sometimes needed support with undertaking domestic activities in the home and 84.8% always or sometimes needed support to participate in community (civic) and economic life.

With the main life area of working, nearly all supported employment service consumers always or sometimes needed support with undertaking actions and behaviours needed to obtain and retain employment, some 96.9% (21,306). Life area data for working was not stated for 1.2% (260) of consumers.

Transport needs

In 2006-07, supported employment service consumers used a range of transport options to get to their place of work. The most common means of transportation involved a motor vehicle. Some 42.3% (9,307) of consumers relied on this mode of transport, with 22.8% (5,020) travelling by private car and 19.5% (4,287) using outlet organised transport. Public transport was used by 38.3% (8,427) of consumers. The percentage of consumers walking, cycling or using their wheelchair to get to their place of work was 8.7% (1,921) and 6.6% (1,459) relied on taxis. Mode of transport data was not stated for 4.0% (879) of consumers. The mode of transport used by supported employment service consumers to get to their place of work is shown in Figure 4.36.

Figure 4.36: All supported employment service consumers, by mode of transport used to get to their place of work, 2006-07

Figure 4.36 shows the numbers and percentages of supported employment service consumers using each particular mode of transport to get to their place of work.

Public transport	8,427Â	38.3%
Outlet organised transport	4,287	19.5%
Private car	5,020	22.8%
Taxi	1,459	6.6%
Walk/bicycle/wheelchair	1,921Â	8.7%
Not stated	879	4.0%

 

As shown in Figure 4.37, the mode of transport used by supported employment service consumers to get to their place of work varied between different geographic locations in 2006-07.

Figure 4.37: All supported employment service consumers, by geographic location of usual residence and mode of transport used to get to their place of work, 2006-07

Figure 4.37 shows, for different categories of geographic location, the percentages of supported employment service consumers using specified modes of transport to get to their place of work.  Geographic location is categorised as major city / inner regional / outer regional /remote.

For instance:

• Supported employment service consumers in major cities were much more likely than their counterparts outside major cities to use public transport to travel to work. Moreover, nearly half of the consumers in major cities used public transport, compared with 17.8% in inner regional areas, 10.2% in outer regional areas and 8.3% in rural areas. The data point to a clear gradation of decreasing use of public transport from major cities to rural areas.
• Supported employment service consumers in regional areas were the highest users of outlet organised transport to get to their place of work, around 30.0%. Notably, they were twice as likely as their counterparts in major cities to rely on this form of transport
• Supported employment service consumers in remote areas were considerably more likely than their counterparts in major cities to travel to work in a private car and were much more likely than their counterparts in major cities and regional areas to walk, cycle or use their wheelchair to get to their place of work. Some 68.0% of remote consumers relied on these two modes of transport. This compares with 25.6% of consumers in major cities, 41.9% in inner regional areas and 46.1% in outer regional areas.

4.4.5 Informal carer arrangements

In supported employment services, the presence of an informal carer is known for 20,224 (92.0%) of the 21,993 consumers assisted in 2006-07. Notably, supported employment service consumers were more likely to have an informal carer than not, 10,962 (49.8%) compared with 9,262 (42.1%).

Of the 10,962 supported employment service consumers with an informal carer, the vast majority were being cared for by a parent, some 70.8% (7,757). For a small percentage (5.6%) of consumers, the spouse/partner was providing the care. A further 11.3% (1,239) of consumers were being assisted by other relatives and 2.7% (301) by a friend or neighbour. Relationship of informal carer to consumer data was not stated for 9.6% (1,054) of consumers. The relationship of the informal carer to the supported employment service consumer for whom they care is shown in Figure 4.38.

Figure 4.38: All supported employment service consumers, by relationship of informal carer to consumer, 2006-07

Figure 4.38 shows the breakdown of supported employment consumers according to their relationship to their informal carer. 

Parent	7,757Â	70.8%
Spouse / partner	611	5.6%
Other relative	1,239	11.3%
Friend / neighbour	301	2.7%
Not stated	1,054	9.6%

 

4.4.6 Income

The main source of income is known for 93.9% (20,661) of supported employment service consumers in 2006-07. A disability support pension was the main source of income for the overwhelming majority of consumers, some 90.7% (19,958). Less than 1.0% (161) of consumers were receiving other pensions or allowances. Paid employment was the main source of income for 2.1% (470) of consumers. The remaining consumers were receiving compensation (29) and other income (27), while eight consumers had no income.

4.4.7 Employment outcomes

'Employment outcomes' refers to those consumers in supported employment services who were employed for some or all of the time during 2006-07. Of the 21,993 consumers who accessed supported employment services in 2006-07, a total of 20,735 attained an employment outcome. As a group, they accounted for 94.3% of all supported employment service consumers.

Equity groups

In 2006-07, the employment outcomes of supported employment service consumers varied by equity group. For instance:

• Female consumers represented 36.2% of all consumers, and attained an employment outcome equal to their male counterparts, around 94.0%. Women, however, remain significantly under-represented in supported employment services.
• Indigenous consumers represented 2.1% of all consumers, and attained an employment outcome slightly lower than the national average (89.0% compared with 94.3%).
• Consumers from non-English speaking backgrounds represented 4.2% of all consumers, and attained a marginally higher employment outcome than the national average (95.7% compared with 94.3%).
• Consumers living in regional and remote areas who represented a third of all consumers attained an employment outcome marginally lower than their major city counterparts (93.0% compared with 94.9%).

Age

The employment outcomes of supported employment service consumers by age is shown in Figure 4.39.

Figure 4.39: All supported employment service consumers, by age and employment outcome, 2006-07

Figure 4.39 shows the age breakdown of employment outcomes for supported employment service consumers.  The breakdown is expressed in terms of the percentage of supported employment service consumers within the age cohort attaining an employment outcome.

65+ : 93.1%
55-64: 93.0%
45-54: 94.9%
35-44: 93.7%
25-34: 94.4%
15-24: 95.1%

The differences in the employment outcomes across the age groups were marginal, a difference of 2.1 percentage points overall. The highest employment outcome was attained by young consumers aged 15-24 (95.1%) and the lowest by consumers aged 55-64 years (93.0%).

Primary disability type

The employment outcomes of supported employment service consumers by primary disability type in 2006-07 are shown in Figure 4.40. Notably, consumers with a vision disability attained the highest employment outcome (99.0%) and the lowest was attained by consumers with a psychiatric disability (91.7%).

Figure 4.40: All supported employment service consumers, by primary disability type and employment outcome, 2006-07

Figure 4.40 shows the percentage of supported employment service consumers attaining an employment outcome in each primary disability type. .

Psychiatric: 91.7%
Speech: 92.3%
Specific learning  / ADD : 93.9%
Acquired brain injury: 93.9%
Intellectual: 94.4%
Deaf blind: 94.7%
Physical: 95.3%
Neurological: 95.7%
Hearing : 95.7%
Autism: 96.5%
Vision: 99.9%

Severity of disability

In 2006-07, the lowest employment outcome was attained by supported employment service consumers with a profound core activity limitation (90.8%). Their employment outcome was slightly lower than the national average of 94.3%. There was barely any difference in the employment outcomes between consumers with a severe core activity limitation (95.6%) and consumers with a moderate to none core activity limitation (96.0%).

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4.4.8 Employment characteristics

Data on the employment characteristics of supported employment service consumers is collected on a 'snapshot' or 'on the books' basis. This information is based on the 18,513 consumers 'on the books' at 29 June 2007 who have a status of 'worker' or 'independent worker'. The employment characteristics' information includes the consumer's employment phase, basis of employment, hours of employment and wages.

Employment phase

The employment phase or status of supported employment service consumers is based on the following classification:

• Worker - a consumer who has been offered a contract of employment and has accepted that contract with a supported employment service;
• Work experience - a consumer who is undertaking paid or unpaid work experience or work trial in a supported employment service;
• Job seeker - a consumer who receives support from a supported employment service to prepare them for employment and/or to help place them in employment;
• Independent worker - a consumer who the supported employment service assisted to obtain employment during 2005-06, who then continues to work but received no employment assistance from the supported employment service during 2006-07; and
• Other - a consumer who is engaging in non-vocational activities in a supported employment service (FaCS 2005).

Table 4.18 shows the employment phase of consumers accessing supported employment services at 29 June 2007. Nearly all supported employment service consumers were workers, some 17,827 (96.3%). The remaining 152 consumers were engaged in activities such as job search (13), work experience (5) and other activities (134) (e.g. non-vocational activities). Employment phase data was not stated for 2.9% (534) of consumers.

Table 4.18: Supported employment service consumers 'on the books', by employment phase, 29 June 2007

Employment phase	Supported employment service consumers
	No. of consumers	% of total
Worker	17,821	96.3%
Independent worker	6	0.0%
Job seeker	13	0.1%
Work experience	5	0.0%
Other	134	0.7%
Not stated	534	2.9%
Total	18,513	100%

Basis of employment

The basis on which supported employment service consumers are employed indicates the permanency of the position held. The basis of employment is based on the following classification:

• Full-time employment - Full-time employees work the agreed or award hours for a full-time employee in their occupation. If agreed or award hours do not apply, employees are regarded as full-time if they ordinarily work 35 hours or more per week;

• Part-time employment - Part-time employees work fewer hours than full-time employees, and are employed on a permanent or continuing basis. They accrue paid holidays, sick leave and long service leave entitlements on a pro rata basis. Employment of less than 35 hours per week is considered to be part-time;

• Casual employment - Casual employees are not usually entitled to paid holiday or sick leave. They will generally have a higher hourly rate or loading to compensate for the lack of leave and other entitlements. They may be either permanent or temporary employees and have either fixed or irregular hours of work;

• Seasonal employment - Seasonal work is work in a position or industry that experiences a dramatic employment increase or build up for a defined period of time each year, after which the employment ceases or is greatly reduced until the following season;

• Permanent employment - Permanent employees are employed on a continuing basis, and are entitled to paid holiday leave, sick leave and long service leave. There is a qualifying period; and

• Temporary employment - Temporary employees are employed for a short or fixed term and are entitled to paid holiday and sick leave. There is usually a qualifying period (FaCS 2005).

Table 4.19 shows the basis on which supported employment service consumers were employed at 29 June 2007.

Table 4.19 shows the basis on which supported employment service consumers were employed at 29 June 2007.

Basis of employment	Supported employment service consumers
	No. of consumers	% of total
Full-time permanent	5,562	31.2%
Part-time permanent	11,450	64.2%
Casual permanent	714	4.0%
Seasonal permanent	2	0.0%
Full-time temporary	15	0.1%
Part-time temporary	77	0.4%
Not stated	7	0.0%
Total	17,827	100%

Of the 17,827 employed supported employment service consumers, nearly all (99.4% or 17,728) had permanent work, of whom 31.2% (5,562) were working full-time, 64.2% (11,450) part-time and 4.0% (716) on a casual or seasonal basis. Among the 92 consumers who were employed on a temporary basis, 15 were working full-time and 77 part-time. Basis of employment data was not stated for seven consumers.

Hours of employment

The standard hours worked per week by supported employment service consumers refers to the normal working pattern over 2006-07, including overtime if that has been a regular part of work over that period. The standard hours worked is based on five hour range categories: less than 8 hours per week; 8-15 hours per week; 16-30 hours per week; 31-40 hours per week; and over 40 hours per week.

The standard hours worked by supported employment service consumers at 29 June 2007 is shown in Figure 4.41. As a group, they were most likely to work 31-40 hours per week, some 48.5% (8,646). Less than 1.0% (84) of consumers worked longer hours. Of the 51.0% (9,097) of consumers who worked 30 or fewer hours per week, 30.2% (5,377) worked 16-30 hours and 20.3% (3,611) 8-15 hours, while only 0.6% (109) worked less than eight hours.

Figure 4.41: Supported employment service consumers 'on the books', by standard hours worked per week, 29 June 2007

Figure 4.41 shows the standard hours worked by supported employment service consumers at 29 June 2007.

> 40 hours	84Â	0.5%
31 – 40 hours	8,646Â	48.5%
16 – 30 hours	5,377	30.2%
8 – 15 hours	3,611Â	20.3%
< 8 hours	190Â	0.6%

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Further, the full-time and part-time status of supported employment service consumers is defined in terms of hours worked. The ABS (2007c) defines full-time workers as persons who usually work 35 or more hours per week and part-time workers as those who usually work less than 35 hours per week. Importantly, the full-time/part-time classification differs from, and should not be confused with, the basis of employment classification. The full-time/part-time classification is based on hours worked and the basis of employment is based on the permanency of the position held, including leave entitlements.

In the supported employment sector, 32.4% (5,779) of consumers worked full-time hours and 67.6% (12,048) part-time hours at 29 June 2007. The median hours worked per week by supported employment service consumers was 29 hours, while the mean (average) hours worked per week was 26.4. The mean (average) hours worked per week is lower than the median hours worked per week because it is highly influenced by those consumers who worked fewer than eight hours per week. For this reason, the median provides a more meaningful analysis as it is not affected by extreme data values. The more robust median measure is the middle number when data values are sorted lowest to highest.

The data indicate that the nature of the disability can have an effect on the number of hours worked. The full-time/part-time status and average hours worked per week by supported employment service consumers at 29 June 2007 varied by primary disability type, as shown in Table 4.20. For instance:

• Consumers with an intellectual disability were most likely to work full-time (36.2%), followed by consumers with a specific learning disability/ADD. Conversely, consumers who are deafblind were most likely to work part-time (100%), followed by consumers with a psychiatric disability (86.0%).
• The median hours worked per week ranged from 20 hours per week by consumers with a psychiatric disability to 25 hours per week by consumers with a physical disability to 30 hours per week by consumers with an intellectual and hearing disability.
• The mean (average) worked per week ranged from 20.3 hours per week by consumers with a psychiatric disability to 24.2 hours per week by consumers with a neurological disability to 27.6 hours per week by consumers with an intellectual disability.

Table 4.20: Supported employment service consumers 'on the books', by full-time/part-time status and average hours worked per week and primary disability type, 29 June 2007

Primary disability type	Hours worked per week
	Full-time/part-time status (%)		Average hours (no.)
	Part-time	Full-time	Median	Mean (average)
Intellectual	63.8%	36.2%	30	27.6
Hearing	67.5%	32.5%	30	27.2
Specific learning/ADD	65.9%	34.1%	28	26.2
Speech	77.3%	22.7%	28	25.7
Vision	66.4%	33.6%	26	26.5
Physical	70.7%	29.3%	25	25.5
Neurological	75.0%	25.0%	24	24.2
Autism	80.3%	19.7%	23	23.1
Acquired brain injury	77.6%	22.4%	22	22.9
Deafblind	100.0%	0.0%	22	22.0
Psychiatric	86.0%	14.0%	20	20.3
National average	67.6%	32.4%	29	26.4

Also impacting upon the average weekly hours worked by supported employment service consumers were variations in state and territory supported employment service outlet operations. Table 4.21 points to clear and significant differences in the average weekly hours worked by supported employment service consumers by state at 29 June 2007.

Notably, consumers in Queensland worked the longest hours on average each week, with 45.7% working full-time. This is considerably higher than the national average of 32.4%. By contrast, consumers in the ACT worked the least number of hours on average each week, with only 6.8% working full-time.

Table 4.21: Supported employment service consumers 'on the books', by full-time/part-time status and average hours worked per week and state, 29 June 2007

Primary disability type	Hours worked per week
	Full-time/part-time status (%)		Average hours (no.)
	Part-time	Full-time	Median	Mean (average)
New South Wales	66.3%	33.7%	29.5	26.5
Victoria	74.5%	25.5%	26	24.8
Queensland	54.3%	45.7%	32	29.0
South Australia	62.3%	37.7%	32	27.6
Western Australia	76.3%	23.7%	29	26.1
Tasmania	60.2%	39.8%	30	28.0
ACT	93.2%	6.8%	14	16.0
Northern Territory	81.1%	18.9%	20	21.0
National average	67.6%	32.4%	29	26.4

Wages

The measure of income used in this report relates to weekly gross income from wages earned by consumers in the supported employment sector, that is before any deduction for income tax and the Medicare levy.

At 29 June 2007, the vast majority of supported employment service consumers were earning $100 or less a week, some 76.9% (13,717). A further 18.5% (3,311) of consumers were earning $101-$200 a week and 4.4% (772) were earning over $200 a week. A small number (27) of consumers were receiving no wage.

Across the gross weekly wage categories, supported employment service consumers were most likely to earn $21-$40 a week (21.0% or 3,746), followed by $61-$80 (19.5% or 3,482), $41-$60 (17.3% or 3,078) and $101-$150 (13.5% or 2,414). The earnings distribution of the supported employment services population is shown in Figure 4.42.

Further, the median gross weekly earnings of supported employment service consumers was $62.50 and the mean (average) gross weekly earnings was $76.40 at 29 June 2007. While the median gross weekly earnings is somewhat lower than the mean (average) gross weekly earnings, this difference reflects the typically uneven distribution of wage levels where a small number of supported employment service consumers have relatively high wages and a large number of consumers have lower wages. For this reason, the median provides a more meaningful analysis as it is not affected by extreme data values. The more robust median measure is the middle number when data values are sorted lowest to highest.

Figure 4.42: Supported employment service consumers 'on the books', by gross weekly wage category, 29 June 2007

Gross weekly wage category	Supported employment service consumers
	No.	%
No Wage	27	0.2%
$1-$20	1,639	9.2%
$21-$40	3,746	21.0%
$41-$60	3,078	17.3%
$61-$80	3,482	19.5%
$81-$100	1,772	9.9%
$101-$150	2,414	13.5%
$151-$200	897	5.0%
$201-$250	370	2.1%
$251-$300	171	1.0%
$301-$350	92	0.5%
$351-$400	70	0.4%
$401-$450	24	0.1%
$451-$500	10	0.1%
›$500	35	0.2%
Total	17,827	100%

The nature of the disability can have an effect on wage outcomes. Table 4.22 shows that there were clear and significant differences in the gross weekly wages of supported employment service consumers at 29 June 2007 by primary disability type. For instance:

• With the exception of consumers with a vision disability, the majority of all other primary disability consumer groups were earning $100 or less a week. The percentage earning $100 or less a week ranged from 48.9% of consumers with a vision disability to 75.6% of consumers with a psychiatric disability to 84.5% of consumers with autism.

• Consumers with a sensory disability had the highest percentage earning $101-$300 a week, with 37.4% with a vision disability and 37.2% with a hearing disability. This is consider-ably higher than the national average of 21.6%.

• Additionally, consumers with a vision disability were almost three times as likely as any other primary disability consumer group to earn $300 or more a week (13.7% compared with 4.9% or less).

• The highest median gross weekly wage was earned by consumers with a vision disability ($103.22), followed by those with a hearing disability ($87.00). Consumers with a specific learning disability/ADD and physical disability also had median gross weekly earnings higher than the national average ($71.00 and $67.25, compared with $62.50).

• The lowest median gross weekly wage was earned by consumers with autism ($50.00), deafblindness ($54.57) and an acquired brain injury ($58.50).

Table 4.22: Supported employment service consumers 'on the books', by gross weekly wage and primary disability type, 29 June 2007

Primary disability type	Gross weekly wage
	Wage range category (%)(a)			Average wage ($)
	$1-$100	$101-$300	> $300	Median	Mean (average)
Vision	48.9%	37.4%	13.7%	$103.22	$144.93
Hearing	58.6%	37.2%	4.2%	$87.00	$103.28
Specific learning/ADD	70.2%	24.9%	4.9%	$71.00	$97.01
Physical	67.5%	28.2%	4.4%	$67.25	$101.07
Neurological	78.0%	21.0%	1.1%	$63.83	$75.47
Psychiatric	75.6%	22.8%	1.5%	$62.60	$78.53
Speech	72.7%	27.3%	Â	$62.40	$73.36
Intellectual	78.7%	20.5%	0.6%	$61.50	$72.42
Acquired brain injury	76.2%	21.2%	2.2%	$58.50	$73.55
Deafblind	66.7%	33.3%	Â	$54.57	$75.36
Autism	84.5%	14.4%	0.4%	$50.00	$62.23
National average	76.9%	21.6%	1.3%	$62.50	$76.40

(a) Excluded from the wage range category is the 'No wage' category.

These differences in wage outcomes reflect both the average productive capacity and number of hours worked by supported employment service consumers with particular disabilities. Accordingly, while consumers with an intellectual disability worked the most median hours per week (30), their median gross weekly earnings was the fourth lowest ($61.50). Similarly, while consumers with a psychiatric disability worked the least median hours per week (20), their median gross weekly earnings was in line with the national average ($62.60).

The productive capacity of supported employment service consumers is measured by their gross hourly rate of pay. The median gross hourly rate of pay of supported employment service consumers was $2.29 and the mean (average) gross weekly earnings was $3.03 at 29 June 2007. As stated earlier, the median provides a more meaningful analysis as it is not affected by extreme data values.

The gross hourly rates of pay of supported employment service consumers by primary disability type at 29 June 2007 are shown in Table 4.23. The data point to consumers with a vision disability as having the highest productive capacity, earning $4.21 (median) and $5.15 (mean) on average per hour. The next highest gross hourly rate of pay was attained by consumers with a psychiatric disability. As a group, they earned $3.00 (median) and $4.45 (mean) on average per hour.

By contrast, supported employment service consumers with an intellectual disability had the lowest productive capacity, earning $2.11 (median) and $2.68 (mean) on average per hour. Consumers with autism closely followed, earning $2.13 (median) and $2.76 (mean) on average per hour.

Table 4.23: Supported employment service consumers 'on the books', by gross hourly wage rate and primary disability type, 29 June 2007

Primary disability type	Average gross hourly wage rate ($)
	Median	Mean (average)
Vision	$4.21	$5.15
Hearing	$2.97	$3.77
Specific learning/ADD	$2.79	$3.74
Physical	$2.81	$4.03
Neurological	$2.45	$3.23
Psychiatric	$3.00	$4.45
Speech	$2.39	$3.38
Intellectual	$2.11	$2.68
Acquired brain injury	$2.50	$3.28
Deafblind	$2.92	$3.28
Autism	$2.13	$2.76
National average	$2.29	$3.03

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4.4.9 Industrial relations arrangements

The industrial relations arrangements in the supported employment sector operate within existing Federal and State industrial relations regulatory frameworks. Amendments to the Disability Services Act 1986 (Cth) in 2002 resulted in a requirement that supported employment services pay award based wages and use a transparent tool to determine pro rata wages (Australian Fair Pay Commission n.d.).

The industrial relations arrangements' information include the method used to set the pay of consumers in the supported employment sector and the wage assessment tool used to determine their pro rata wages. This information is based on the 17,827 consumers 'on the books' in employment at 29 June 2007.

Method used to set pay for employees

The methods used to set consumers' pay in the supported employment sector are: respondent to an award; pay in reference to an award; ratified enterprise/certified agreement; Australian workplace agreement; the Supported Wage System; and other.

The method used to set the pay of consumers in the supported employment sector at 29 June 2007 is shown in Table 4.24. Supported employment service consumers were most likely to have their pay set by an award, with just over a third (5,963) of consumers a respondent to an award. A further 15.5% (2,755) of consumers had their pay set in reference to an award. Also, nearly a third (5,791) of consumers had a ratified enterprise/certified agreement with their employer. The Supported Wages System was used to set the pay for 11.5% (2,054) of consumers and 6.6% (1,173) of consumers had an Australian workplace agreement with their employer. Less than 1.0% (91) had their pay set by some other method.

Table 4.24: Supported employment service consumers 'on the books', by method used to set pay, 29 June 2007

Method used to set pay	Supported employment service consumers
	No.	%
Respondent to an award	5,963	33.4%
Ratified enterprise/certified agreement	5,791	32.5%
Pay set in reference to an award	2,755	15.5%
Supported Wage System	2,054	11.5%
Australian workplace agreement	1,173	6.6%
Other	91	0.5%
Total	17,827	100%

Wage tool used to determine wage

A wage assessment tool is a wage-setting mechanism which provides a method to determine pro rata minimum wages. Wage assessment tools measure the productive capacity of each individual supported employment service consumer in employment and determine a corresponding pro rata wage for each individual (AFPC n.d.).

At 29 June 2007, the wages of supported employment service consumers were determined using a range of wage assessment tools based on the consumer's productivity, competency or both productivity and competency. Productivity-based wage assessment tools measure the output of consumers against an established benchmark, i.e. the co-worker without a disability. Competency-based wage assessment tools measure the work performance of consumers against set criteria (such as knowledge, understanding and skills) to a defined standard or benchmark. Hybrid wage assessment tools measure both productivity and competency (FaCS 2004).

Figure 4.43 shows the method used to determine the wages of consumers in the supported employment sector. Notably, the vast majority of supported employment service consumers had their wages determined using hybrid wage assessment tools, some 77.4% (13,797). The most common of these tools are the Business Services Wage Assessment Tool (BSWAT) and the Greenacres Wage Assessment Tool, which were used to determine the wages of 37.0% (6,590) and 18.6% (3,323) of all consumers respectively.

A further 9.7% (1,727) of supported employment service consumers had their wages determined using productivity-based wage assessment tools. The most common of these tools is the Supported Wage System wage assessment tool, which was used to determine the wages of 9.3% (1,657) of all consumers. This tool is also used by employers in the open labour market. A small percentage (4.6% or 811) of consumers had their wages determined using competency-based wage assessment tools. The remaining consumers (8.4% or 1,492) had their wages determined using other wage assessment tools.

Figure 4.43: Supported employment service consumers 'on the books', by measure used to determine wage, 29 June 2007

Figure 4.43 shows the incidence of measures used to determine the wages of supported employment service consumers. 

Hybrid tool	13,797	77.4%
Productivity – based tool	1,727	9.7%
Competency – based tool	811	4.5%
Other tools	1,492	8.4%

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4.5 Comparison between open and supported employment service consumers

 

There were clear and significant differences in the characteristics of open and supported employment service consumers in 2006-07. For instance:

• The open employment services population had a younger age profile than the supported employment services population. The median age of open employment service consumers was 34 years, compared with a median age of 39 years for supported employment service consumers. Moreover, more open employment service consumers fell into younger age groups of as shown in underline: Just over half (51.7%) of all consumers in open employment services were under the age 35 years, compared with 38.5% of consumers in supported employment services.

• The representation of Indigenous Australians was higher in open than in supported employment services (2.4% compared with 2.1%).

• While open employment services were more than twice as likely as supported employment services to assist consumers born in non-English-speaking countries (10.5% compared with 4.2%), non-English speaking born consumers in supported employment service were more than four times as likely to need interpreter assistance (39.8% compared with 9.3% of non-English speaking born consumers in open employment services).

• A slightly higher percentage of open than supported employment service consumers were living in regional and remote areas (38.2% compared with 33.0%).

• Consumers with a psychiatric disability were the largest group in open employment services (29.9%), whereas consumers with an intellectual disability were the largest group in supported employment services (70.1%).

• A considerably higher percentage of supported than open employment service consumers had multiple or other significant disabilities (29.5% compared with 17.7%).

• The percentage of consumers with a profound or severe core activity limitation was much higher among supported than open employment service consumers (73.8% compared with 36.7%).

• Open employment service consumers were most likely to need support with interpersonal interactions and relationships (43.5%), whereas supported employment service consumers were most likely to need support with working (96.9%).

• Supported employment service consumers were much more likely to have in place formal and informal care arrangements than open employment service consumers.

  • Some 23.1% of supported employment service consumers were living in settings where supported accommodation or formal care is provided, compared with 0.3% of open employment service consumers.
  • Supported employment service consumers were more than five times as likely as open employment service consumers to have an informal carer (49.8% compared with 8.9%).

• Supported employment service consumers were much more likely than open employment service consumers to receive a government pension or allowance as their main source of income (93.9% compared with 68.2%).

• Consumers with an intellectual disability using open employment services attained the highest employment outcome at 69.7%. By contrast, consumers with a vision disability in a supported employment setting attained the highest employment outcome at 99.0%.

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5 Trend series - Disability employment service consumers

5.1 Trend series - All disability employment service consumers assisted

In 2006-07, disability employment services assisted a total of 82,767 consumers nationally. Of these, 60,774 (73.4%) accessed open employment services and 21,993 (26.6%) accessed supported employment services.

As shown in Figure 5.1, there has been strong growth in the number of consumers assisted by disability employment services between 2000-01 and 2006-07, particularly over the last two financial years. Over this period, the number of consumers assisted has grown 37.1% (22,415). This equates to an average annual growth rate of 6.2% or 3,736 more disability employment service consumers each year.

Figure 5.1: Consumers accessing specialist disability employment assistance, 2000-01 to 2006-07

Much of this net growth can be attributed to the expansion of the open employment sector with the full implementation of the case based funding model from July 2005 and the introduction of initiatives related to Welfare to Work reforms from July 2006. The number of consumers assisted by open employment services has grown 61.8% (23,215) between 2000-01 and 2006-07. This equates to an average annual growth rate of 10.3% or 3,869 more open employment service consumers each year. Notably, the growth over the last two financial years accounted for 63.6% (14,771) of the net growth in the open employment services population over the period 2000-01 to 2006-07.

The number of consumers assisted by supported employment services, on the other hand, has grown 27.9% (4,802) between 2000-01 and 2006-07. This equates to an average annual growth rate of 4.7% or 800 more supported employment service consumers each year. Major sources of growth have occurred through the allocation of new employment places to help meet the demand for supported employment assistance and the increase in the take-up of this type of assistance.

The Machinery of Government changes in 2004-05 saw the cessation of dual employment services as a separate employment service type. In the lead up to these changes, these services were increasingly opting to specialise in either open or supported employment assistance rather than both streams of assistance. This resulted in a net decrease of -43.3% (-2,428) consumers in dual employment services over the period 2000-01 to 2004-05. The 2,480 remaining consumers in dual employment services at 30 June 2005 were transferred to either an open or supported employment service on the basis of the stream of assistance they were accessing at that time. Figure 5.2 shows the change in the disability employment services population, by employment service type between 2000-01 and 2006-07. Figure 5.2: Consumers accessing specialist disability employment assistance, by employment service type, 2000-01 to 2006-07.

Figure 5.2: Consumers accessing specialist disability employment assistance, by employment service type, 2000-01 to 2006-07

Table 5.1: Change in the disability employment services population, by employment service type, 2000-01 to 2006-07

Year	Employment service type
	Open	Supported	Dual	Total
All consumers of disability employment services - number
2000-01	37,559	17,191	5,602	60,352
2001-02	41,863	17,790	4,986	64,639
2002-03	45,189	19,157	3,791	68,137
2003-04	45,717	19,690	3,466	68,873
2004-05	46,003	19,193	3,174	68,370
2005-06	56,064	21,249	-	77,313
2006-07	60,774	21,993	-	82,767
Percentage of total
2000-01	62.2%	28.5%	9.3%	100%
2001-02	64.8%	27.5%	7.7%	100%
2002-03	66.3%	28.1%	5.6%	100%
2003-04	66.4%	28.6%	5.0%	100%
2004-05	67.3%	28.1%	4.6%	100%
2005-06	72.5%	27.5%	-	100%
2006-07	73.4%	26.6%	-	100%
Annual change - number
2000-01	-	-	-	-
2001-02	4,304	599	-616	4,287
2002-03	3,326	1,367	-1,195	3,498
2003-04	528	533	-325	736
2004-05	286	-497	-292	-503
2005-06	10,061	2,056	-3,174	8,943
2006-07	4,710	744	-	5,454
Total	23,215	4,802	-5,602	22,415
Annual change - per cent
2000-01	-	-	-	-
2001-02	11.5%	3.5%	-11.0%	7.1%
2002-03	7.9%	7.7%	-24.0%	5.4%
2003-04	1.2%	2.8%	-8.6%	1.1%
2004-05	0.6%	-2.5%	-8.4%	-0.7%
2005-06	21.9%	10.7%	-100.0%	13.1%
2006-07	8.4%	3.5%	-	7.1%
Total	61.8%	27.9%	-100.0%	37.1%

5.2 Trend series - Equity groups

5.2.1 Female consumers
5.2.2 Indigenous consumers
5.2.3 Consumers from non-English speaking backgrounds

5.2.1 Female consumers

Female consumers accessing disability employment services

In 2006-07, disability employment services assisted a total of 30,620 female consumers nationally. As a group, they represented 37.0% of all disability employment service consumers. This compares with 46.1% of females in the general Australian labour force population aged 15 years and older (ABS 2007a).

As shown in Figure 5.3, there has been strong growth in the number of female consumers assisted by disability employment services over the period 2000-01 to 2006-07, some 42.1% (9,071). This equates to an average annual growth rate of 7.0%. Importantly, the net growth in the number of female consumers assisted has increased at a slightly faster rate than the total disability employment service population (42.1% compared with 37.1%). This growth has translated into a marginal increase in the representation of female consumers in the disability employment services population, from 35.7% to 37.0%.

Figure 5.3: Female consumers accessing specialist disability employment assistance, 2000-01 to 2006-07

Female consumers accessing open employment services

In 2006-07, a total of 22,651 female consumers were assisted by open employment services nationally, accounting for 37.3% of all open employment service consumers. Between 2000-01 and 2006-07, there has been strong growth in the number of female consumers accessing open employment assistance as shown in Figure 5.4, some 69.0% (9,247). This equates to an average annual growth rate of 11.5%. Importantly, the net growth in the female consumer group has increased at a faster rate than the open employment services population as a whole (69.0% compared with 61.8%). This growth has translated into a marginal increase in the representation of female consumers in the open employment services population, from 35.7% to 37.3%.

Figure 5.4: Female consumers accessing open employment services, 2000-01 to 2006-07

Female consumers accessing supported employment services In 2006-07, a total of 7,969 female consumers were assisted by supported employment services nationally, accounting for 36.2% of all supported employment service consumers. Between 2000-01 and 2006-07, there has been reasonable growth in the number of female consumers accessing supported employment assistance as shown in Figure 5.5, some 28.8% (1,781). This equates to an average annual growth rate of 4.8%. The net growth in the female consumer group has increased at a marginally higher rate than the supported employment services population as a whole (28.8% compared with 27.9%). This growth has translated into barely any increase in the representation of female consumers in the supported employment services population, from 36.0% to 36.2%.

Figure 5.5: Female consumers accessing supported employment services, 2000-01 to 2006-07

Table 5.2: Change in the female disability employment services population, by employment service type, 2000-01 to 2006-07

Year	Employment service type
	Open	Supported	Dual	Total
All female consumers of disability employment services - number
2000-01	13,404	6,188	1,957	21,549
2001-02	14,794	6,419	1,698	22,911
2002-03	15,882	6,880	1,211	23,973
2003-04	16,208	7,070	1,166	24,444
2004-05	16,621	6,916	1,065	24,602
2005-06	20,745	7,703	-	28,448
2006-07	22,651	7,969	-	30,620
Percentage of all disability employment service consumers
2000-01	35.7%	36.0%	34.9%	35.7%
2001-02	35.3%	36.1%	34.1%	35.4%
2002-03	35.1%	35.9%	31.9%	35.2%
2003-04	35.5%	35.9%	33.6%	35.5%
2004-05	36.1%	36.0%	33.6%	36.0%
2005-06	37.0%	36.3%	-	36.8%
2006-07	37.3%	36.2%	-	37.0%
Annual change - number
2000-01	-	-	-	-
2001-02	1,390	231	-259	1,362
2002-03	1,088	461	-487	1,062
2003-04	326	190	-45	471
2004-05	413	-154	-101	158
2005-06	4,124	787	-1,065	3,846
2006-07	1,906	266	-	2,172
Total	9,247	1,781	-1,957	9,071
Annual change - per cent
2000-01	-	-	-	-
2001-02	10.4%	3.7%	-13.2%	6.3%
2002-03	7.4%	7.2%	-28.7%	4.6%
2003-04	2.1%	2.8%	-3.7%	2.0%
2004-05	2.5%	-2.2%	-8.7%	0.6%
2005-06	24.8%	11.4%	-100.0%	15.6%
2006-07	9.2%	3.5%	-	7.6%
Total	69.0%	28.8%	-100.0%	42.1%

5.2.2 Indigenous consumers

Indigenous consumers accessing disability employment services

In 2006-07, a total of 1,922 Indigenous consumers were assisted by disability employment services nationally. As a group, they represented 2.3% of all disability employment service consumers. This compares with 1.8% in the general Australian population aged 15 years and older (ABS 2007a).

Over the period 2000-01 to 2006-07, there has been strong growth in both the number and representation of Indigenous consumers accessing specialist disability employment assistance as shown in Figure 5.6:

• The number of Indigenous consumers assisted has grown 65.7% (762), from 1,160 to 1,922. This equates to an average annual growth rate of 10.9%. Importantly, the net growth in the Indigenous consumer group has increased at a much faster rate than the disability employment services population as a whole (65.7% compared with 37.1%).
• The representation of Indigenous consumers in the disability employment services population has increased from 1.9% to 2.3%.

Figure 5.6: Indigenous consumers accessing specialist disability employment assistance, 2000-01 to 2006-07

Figure 5.6 shows the growth in the number and proportions of Indigenous consumers accessing specialist disability employment assistance over the period 2000-01 to 2006-07. 

2000 – 01	1,160	1.9%
2001 – 02	1,274	2.0%
2002-03	1,453	2.1%
2003-04	1,546	2.2%
2004-05	1,625	2.4%
2005-06	1,776	2.3%
2006-07	1,922	2.3%

Indigenous consumers accessing open employment services

In 2006-07, a total of 1,469 Indigenous consumers were assisted by open employment services nationally. As a group, they represented 2.4% of all open employment service consumers. This compares with 1.8% in the general Australian population aged 15 years and older (ABS 2007a).

Over the period 2000-01 to 2006-07, there has been strong growth in both the number and representation of Indigenous consumers accessing open employment assistance as shown in Figure 5.7:

• The number of Indigenous consumers assisted has grown 85.2% (676), from 793 to 1,469. This equates to an average annual growth rate of 14.2%. Importantly, the net growth in the Indigenous consumer group has increased at a much faster rate than the open employment services population as a whole (85.2% compared with 61.8%).
• The representation of Indigenous consumers in the open employment services population has increased from 2.1% to 2.4%.

Figure 5.7: Indigenous consumers accessing open employment services, 2000-01 to 2006-07

 Figure 5.7 shows the growth in the number and proportion of Indigenous consumers accessing open employment assistance.

2000 – 01	793	2.1%
2001 – 02	888	2.1%
2002-03	1,010	2.1%
2003-04	1,133	2.4%
2004-05	1,211	2.6%
2005-06	1,370	2.4%
2006-07	1,469	2.4%

Indigenous consumers accessing supported employment services

In 2006-07, a total of 453 Indigenous consumers were assisted by supported employment services nationally. As a group, they represented 2.1% of all supported employment service consumers. This compares with 1.8% in the Indigenous Australian population aged 15 years and older (ABS 2007a).

Over the period 2000-01 to 2006-07, there has been strong growth in both the number and representation of Indigenous consumers accessing supported employment assistance as shown in Figure 5.8:

• The number of Indigenous consumers assisted has grown 72.9% (191), from 262 to 453. This equates to an average annual growth rate of 12.2%. Importantly, the net growth in the Indigenous consumer group has increased at a much faster rate than the supported employment services population as a whole (72.9% compared with 27.9%).
• The representation of Indigenous consumers in the supported employment services population has increased from 1.5% to 2.1%.

Figure 5.8: Indigenous consumers accessing supported employment services, 2000-01 to 2006-07

 Figure 5.7 shows the growth in the number and proportion of Indigenous consumers accessing open employment assistance.

2000 – 01	262	1.5%
2001 – 02	280	1.6%
2002-03	331	1.7%
2003-04	337	1.7%
2004-05	371	1.9%
2005-06	406	1.9%
2006-07	453	2.1%

Table 5.3: Change in the Indigenous disability employment services population, by employment service type, 2000-01 to 2006-07

Year	Employment service type
	Open	Supported	Dual	Total
All Indigenous consumers of disability employment services - number
2000-01	793	262	105	1,160
2001-02	888	280	106	1,274
2002-03	1,010	331	112	1,453
2003-04	1,133	337	76	1,546
2004-05	1,211	371	43	1,625
2005-06	1,370	406	-	1,776
2006-07	1,469	453	-	1,922
Percentage of all disability employment service consumers
2000-01	2.1%	1.5%	1.9%	1.9%
2001-02	2.1%	1.6%	2.1%	2.0%
2002-03	2.2%	1.7%	3.0%	2.1%
2003-04	2.4%	1.7%	2.2%	2.2%
2004-05	2.6%	1.9%	1.4%	2.4%
2005-06	2.4%	1.9%	-	2.3%
2006-07	2.4%	2.1%	-	2.3%
Annual change - number
2000-01	-	-	-	-
2001-02	95	18	1	114
2002-03	122	51	6	179
2003-04	123	6	-36	93
2004-05	78	34	-33	79
2005-06	159	11	-43	127
2006-07	99	47	-	146
Total	676	191	-105	762
Annual change - per cent
2000-01	-	-	-	-
2001-02	12.0%	6.9%	1.0%	9.8%
2002-03	13.7%	18.2%	5.7%	14.1%
2003-04	12.2%	1.8%	-32.1%	6.4%
2004-05	6.9%	10.1%	-43.4%	5.1%
2005-06	13.1%	3.0%	-100.0%	7.8%
2006-07	7.2%	11.6%	-	8.2%
Total	85.2%	72.9%	-100.0%	65.7%

5.2.3 Consumers from non-English speaking backgrounds

Consumers from non-English speaking backgrounds accessing disability employment services

In 2006-07, disability employment services assisted a total of 7,294 consumers from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB) nationally. As a group, they accounted for 8.8% of all disability employment service consumers.

Over the period 2000-01 to 2006-07, there has been strong growth on balance in both the number and representation of NESB consumers accessing disability employment services as shown in Figure 5.9:

• The number of NESB consumers assisted has fluctuated, peaking at 7,839 in 2005-06 and declining to its largest net loss of 545 (7.0%) in 2006-07. Despite fluctuations between years, the overall number of NESB consumers assisted by disability employment services has grown 96.1% (3,574), from 3,720 to 7,294. This equates to an average annual growth rate of 10.9%. Importantly, the net growth in the NESB consumer group has increased at a much faster rate than the disability employment services population as a whole (96.1% compared with 37.1%).
• The representation of NESB consumers in the disability employment services population has increased from 6.2% to 8.8%. Figure 5.9: Consumers from non-English speaking backgrounds accessing specialist disability employment assistance, 2000-01 to 2006-07

Figure 5.9: Consumers from non-English speaking backgrounds accessing specialist disability employment assistance, 2000-01 to 2006-07

Figure 5.9 shows the growth in the number of disability employment service consumers from non-English speaking backgrounds obtaining access to specialist disability employment services over the period 2000–01 to 2006–07.

2000-01: 3,720
2001-02: 4,091
2002-03: 4,741
2003-04: 5,011
2004-05: 4,663
2005-06: 7,831
2006-07: 7,294

Consumers from non-English speaking backgrounds accessing open employment services

In 2006-07, open employment services assisted a total of 6,372 consumers from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB) nationally. As a group, they accounted for 10.5% of all open employment service consumers.

Over the period 2000-01 to 2006-07, there has been very strong growth overall in both the number and representation of NESB consumers accessing open employment services as shown in Figure 5.10:

• The number of NESB consumers assisted has fluctuated, peaking at 6,912 in 2005-06 and declining to its largest net loss of 540 (7.8%) in 2006-07. Despite fluctuations between years, the overall number of NESB consumers assisted by open employment services has grown a remarkable 135.8% (3,670), from 2,702 to 6,372. This equates to an average annual growth rate of 22.6%. Importantly, the net growth in the NESB consumer group has increased at a much faster rate than the open employment services population as a whole (135.8% compared with 61.8%).
• The representation of NESB consumers in the open employment services population has increased from 7.2% to 10.5%.

Figure 5.10: Consumers from non-English speaking backgrounds accessing open employment services, 2000-01 to 2006-07

Consumers from non-English speaking backgrounds accessing supported employment services

In 2006-07, supported employment services assisted a total of 922 consumers from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB) nationally. As a group, they accounted for 4.2% of all supported employment service consumers.

As shown in Figure 5.11, the number of NESB consumers accessing supported employment services has fluctuated over the period 2000-01 to 2006-07, peaking at 927 in 2005-06. Despite fluctuations between years, the overall number of NESB consumers assisted by supported employment services has grown 27.9%, from 721 to 922. This equates to an average annual growth rate of 4.6%. The net growth in the NESB consumer group has increased at the same rate as the supported employment services population as a whole. The representation of NESB consumers in the supported employment services population has remained stable on 4.2%.

Figure 5.11: Consumers from non-English speaking backgrounds accessing supported employment services, 2000-01 to 2006-07

(a) The 2004-05 data has been amended to rectify an anomaly in the 2005 Disability Services Census report.

Table 5.4: Change in the non-English speaking background disability employment services population, by employment service type, 2000-01 to 2006-07

Year	Employment service type
	Open	Supported	Dual	Total
All NESB consumers of disability employment services - number
2000-01	2,702	721	297	3,720
2001-02	3,060	710	321	4,091
2002-03	3,604	795	342	4,741
2003-04	3,937	825	249	5,011
2004-05	3,710	709	244	4,663
2005-06	6,912	927	-	7,839
2006-07	6,372	922	-	7,294
Percentage of all disability employment service consumers
2000-01	7.2%	4.2%	5.3%	6.2%
2001-02	7.3%	4.0%	6.4%	6.3%
2002-03	8.0%	4.1%	9.0%	7.0%
2003-04	8.6%	4.2%	7.2%	7.3%
2004-05	8.1%	3.7%	7.7%	6.8%
2005-06	12.3%	4.4%	-	10.1%
2006-07	10.5%	4.2%	-	8.8%
Annual change - number
2000-01	-	-	-	-
2001-02	358	-11	24	371
2002-03	544	85	21	650
2003-04	333	30	-93	270
2004-05	-227	-116	-5	-348
2005-06	3,202	199	-244	3,176
2006-07	-540	-5	-	-545
Total	3,670	201	-297	3,574
Annual change - per cent
2000-01	-	-	-	-
2001-02	13.2%	-1.5%	8.1%	10.0%
2002-03	17.8%	12.0%	6.5%	15.9%
2003-04	9.2%	3.8%	-27.2%	5.7%
2004-05	-5.8%	-14.1%	-2.0%	-6.9%
2005-06	86.3%	27.3%	-100.0%	68.1%
2006-07	-7.8%	-0.5%	-	-7.0%
Total	135.8%	27.9%	-100.0%	96.1%

(a) The 2004-05 data has been amended to rectify an anomaly in the 2005 Disability Services Census report.

5.3 Trend series - Primary disability profile

5.3.1 Consumers accessing disability employment services
5.3.2 Consumers accessing open employment services
5.3.3 Consumers accessing supported employment services

'Primary disability' refers to the disability that most clearly expresses the experience of disability by a person. It can also be considered as the disability causing the most difficulty to the person in daily life, compared with any other disability they may also have (FaCS 2005).

A factor impacting on the primary disability profile of the disability employment services population in recent years has seen changes and improvements to diagnostic, medical and psychosocial assessments. There is evidence to suggest that young consumers are increasingly being diagnosed with autism or specific learning disability/ADD which may lead to an increased number of employment service customers for these disability groups.

5.3.1 Consumers accessing disability employment services

The primary disability profile of the disability employment services population is diverse and has changed over time. In 2006-07, consumers with an intellectual disability continue to be the largest group accessing disability employment services, some 26,595 (32.1%). Consumers with a psychiatric disability (20,792) were the next largest group and grew from 19.1% of customers in 2000-01 to 25.1% of all disability employment service customers in 2006-07.

Table 5.5 shows the change in the disability employment services population by primary disability type between 2000-01 and 2006-07.

Table 5.5: Change in the disability employment services population, by primary disability type, 2000-01 to 2006-07

Primary disability type	2000-01		2006-07		Change between 2000-01 and 2006-07
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
Intellectual disability	27,085	44.9	26,595	32.1	-490	-1.8
Specific learning/ADD	3,133	5.2	6,865	8.3	3,732	119.1
Autism	731	1.2	2,649	3.2	1,918	262.4
Psychiatric	11,507	19.1	20,792	25.1	9,285	80.7
Physical	9,611	15.9	14,614	17.7	5,003	52.1
Hearing	2,108	3.5	2,635	3.2	527	25.0
Vision	2,063	3.4	2,316	2.8	253	12.3
Deafblind	205	0.3	24	0.0	-181	-88.3
Acquired brain injury	2,005	3.3	2,680	3.2	675	33.7
Neurological	1,730	2.9	2,656	3.2	926	53.5
Speech	174	0.3	309	0.4	135	77.6
Not stated	—	—	632	0.8	632	—
Total	60,352	100.0	82,767	100.0	22,415	37.1

Between 2000-01 and 2006-07, the number of consumers accessing disability employment services increased for all primary disability types except for consumers with an intellectual disability and the deafblind group.  These increases were greatest among consumers with a psychiatric disability (9,285) and physical disability (5,003).  This equates to an average annual increase of 1,548 and 834 respectively.  Notably, consumers with a psychiatric disability accounted for 41.4% of the total net growth in the disability employment services population over this period, while consumers with a physical disability accounted for 22.3%.   

Also, the greatest percentage growth between 2000-01 and 2006-07 was recorded for consumers with autism and specific learning disability/ADD primary disability groups.  As a group, consumers with autism have grown 262.4% and consumers with a specific learning disability/ADD have grown 119.1%.  This is well above the national average of 37.1%. 

Strong growth rates were also recorded for consumers with a psychiatric disability (80.7%), speech disability (77.6%), neurological disability (53.5%), and physical disability (52.1%).   

5.3.2 Consumers accessing open employment services

The primary disability profile of the open employment services population is diverse and has changed over time. In 2006-07, there were 11,167 consumers with an intellectual disability but they were no longer the largest group accessing open employment services.  Consumers with a psychiatric disability were the largest group with 18,192 (29.9%) and consumers with a physical disability were the second largest with 13,171 (21.7%) consumers.

Table 5.6 shows the change in the open employment services population by primary disability type between 2000-01 and 2006-07. It shows that the number of consumers accessing open employment services increased for all primary disability types except for people with an intellectual disability and the deafblind group. These increases were greatest among consumers with a psychiatric disability (9,241), physical disability (5,837) and the specific learning disability / ADD group (3,854). This equates to an average annual increase of 1,540, 973 and 642 respectively. Notably, consumers with a psychiatric disability accounted for 39.8% of the total net growth in the open employment services population over this period, while consumers with a physical disability and specific learning disability/ADD accounted for 25.1% and 16.6% respectively.

Also, the greatest percentage growth was recorded for consumers with autism and specific learning disability/ADD. As a group, consumers with autism have grown 393.7% and consumers with a specific learning disability / ADD have grown 141.8%. This is well above the national average of 61.8%.

Strong growth rates were also recorded for consumers with a speech disability (106.6%) and psychiatric disability (103.2%). However, the growth rate of consumers with an acquired brain injury (46.2%), hearing disability (31.3%) and a vision disability (15.4%) were below the national average (61.8%).

Table 5.6: Change in the open employment services population, by primary disability type, 2000-01 to 2006-07

Primary disability type	2000-01		2006-07		Change between 2000-01 and 2006-07
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
Intellectual disability	11,620	30.9	11,167	18.4	-453	-3.9
Specific learning/ADD	2,718	7.2	6,572	10.8	3,854	141.8
Autism	427	1.1	2,108	3.5	1,681	393.7
Psychiatric	8,951	23.8	18,192	29.9	9,241	103.2
Physical	7,334	19.5	13,171	21.7	5,837	79.6
Hearing	1,830	4.9	2,402	4.0	572	31.3
Vision	1,740	4.6	2,008	3.3	268	15.4
Deafblind	145	0.4	5	0.0	-140	-96.6
Acquired brain injury	1,395	3.7	2,040	3.4	645	46.2
Neurological	1,262	3.4	2,194	3.6	932	73.9
Speech	137	0.4	283	0.5	146	106.6
Not stated	—	—	632	1.0	632	—
Total	37,559	100.0	60,774	100.0	23,215	61.8

5.3.3 Consumers accessing supported employment services

The primary disability profile of the supported employment services population has changed little over time.  In 2006-07, consumers with an intellectual disability continue to be the predominant group accessing supported employment services, some 15,428 (70.1%).  Consumers with a psychiatric and physical disability were the next largest groups, with 2,600 (11.8%) and 1,443 (6.6%) respectively. 

Table 5.7 shows the change in the supported employment services population by primary disability type between 2000-01 and 2006-07.  It shows that the number of consumers accessing supported employment services increased for all primary disability types except for the deafblind and speech disability groups.  The increases were greatest among consumers with an intellectual and psychiatric disability, with 2,555 and 1,055 respectively.  This equates to an average annual increase of 426 and 176 respectively.  Notably, consumers with an intellectual disability accounted for 53.2% of the total net growth in the supported employment services population over this period, while consumers with a psychiatric disability accounted for 22.0%. 

Also, the greatest percentage growth between 2000-01 and 2006-07 was recorded for consumers with autism and specific learning disability/ADD (140.4% and 83.4% respectively). This is well above the national average of 27.9%. 

Strong growth rates were also recorded for consumers with a psychiatric disability (68.3%), neurological disability (57.1%) and an acquired brain injury (44.5%).  Overall growth rates for consumers with a physical disability (24.1%), vision disability (21.7 %) and speech disability (-3.7%) were below the national average (27.9%).

Table 5.7: Change in the supported employment services population, by primary disability type, 2000-01 to 2006-07

Primary disability type	2000-01		2006-07		Change between 2000-01 and 2006-07
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
Intellectual disability	12,873	74.9	15,428	70.1	2,555	19.8
Specific learning/ADD	159	0.9	293	1.3	134	84.3
Autism	225	1.3	541	2.5	316	140.4
Psychiatric	1,545	9.0	2,600	11.8	1,055	68.3
Physical	1,163	6.8	1,443	6.6	280	24.1
Hearing	167	1.0	233	1.1	66	39.5
Vision	253	1.5	308	1.4	55	21.7
Deafblind	42	0.2	19	0.1	-23	-54.8
Acquired brain injury	443	2.6	640	2.9	197	44.5
Neurological	294	1.7	462	2.1	168	57.1
Speech	27	0.2	26	0.1	-1	-3.7
Total	17,191	100.0	21,993	100.0	4,802	27.9

[ Return to Top   Return to Section ]

Chapter - 6

This chapter provides summary statistics for all states and territories, and includes information on disability service outlet operations and the characteristics of consumers accessing specialist disability employment assistance in 2006-07.

6.1 New South Wales

6.1.1 Disability service outlet operations
6.1.2 Disability employment service consumer information
6.1.3 Employment outcomes
6.1.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

6.1.1 Disability service outlet operations

In 2006-07, a total of 429 (35.5%) of the 1,210 Australian Government funded disability service outlets were located in New South Wales. Of these:

• 389 (90.7%) provided disability employment services, of which 231 (59.4%) provided open employment services and 158 (40.6%) provided supported employment services;
• 19 (4.4%) provided advocacy services;
• 16 (3.7%) provided respite services;
• 4 (0.9%) provided print disability services; and
• 1 (0.2%) provided information services.

A total of 2,476.3 FTE staff worked in New South Wales disability service outlets. These staff accounted for 27.5% of all FTE staff working in disability service outlets nationally.

6.1.2 Disability employment service consumer information

Consumers assisted

In 2006-07, a total of 25,581 consumers were assisted by New South Wales disability employment services, accounting for 30.9% of all consumers nationally. Of these:

• 67.6% used open employment services;
• 32.4% used supported employment services;
• 36.6% were female consumers;
• 27.3% were young consumers aged 14-24 years;
• 88.9% were born in Australia or another English speaking country; and
• 2.7% were of Indigenous background.

Disability information

Of the 25,581 consumers in New South Wales disability employment services in 2006-07:

• 50.7% had a profound or severe core activity limitation;
• 37.6% had an intellectual disability;
• 23.7% had a psychiatric disability;
• 16.2% had a physical disability;
• 8.3% had a learning disability;
• 3.1% had an acquired brain injury;
• 2.5% had a neurological disability;
• 2.5% had autism;
• 2.7% had a hearing disability; and
• 2.6% had a vision disability.

Main Source of income

In 2006-07, the main source of income for the 25,581 consumers in New South Wales disability employment services was:

• Disability Support Pension 55.0%;
• Newstart/Youth Allowance 21.4%; and
• Paid employment 8.5%.

6.1.3 Employment outcomes

'Employment outcomes' refers to those consumers who were employed for some or all of the time during 2006-07. Some 60.5% of consumers in New South Wales disability employment services attained an employment outcome, of which:

• 43.8% of open employment service consumers attained an employment outcome; and
• 95.2% of supported employment service consumers attained an employment outcome.

6.1.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

At 29 June 2007, 6,752 consumers 'on the books' in New South Wales supported employment services attained an employment outcome: Of these:

• 19.5% worked 8-15 hours a week, 29.1% worked 16-30 hours a week, and 47.8% worked 31-40 hours a week;
• 33.7% worked full-time, with 26.5 hours on average worked each week;
• The most common wage range was $61 to $80 a week, with 20.9% earning this; and
• The average gross weekly wage was $78.15, and the average gross hourly rate of pay was $3.09.

Note: Open employment service providers were not required to provide employment characteristics information in 2006-07.

6.2 Victoria

6.2.1 Disability service outlet operations
6.2.2 Disability employment service consumer information
6.2.3 Employment outcomes
6.2.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

6.2.1 Disability service outlet operations

In 2006-07, a total of 276 (22.8%) of the 1,210 Australian Government funded disability service outlets were located in Victoria. Of these:

• 241 (87.3%) provided disability employment services, of which 139 (57.7%) provided open employment services and 102 (42.3%) provided supported employment services;
• 22 (8.0%) provided advocacy services;
• 10 (3.6%) provided respite services; and
• 3 (1.1%) provided print disability services.

A total of 3,082.7 FTE staff worked in Victorian disability service outlets. These staff accounted for 34.2% of all FTE staff working in disability service outlets nationally.

6.2.2 Disability employment service consumer information

Consumers assisted

In 2006-07, a total of 21,923 consumers were assisted by disability employment services, accounting for 26.5% of all consumers nationally. Of these:

• 77.2% used open employment services;
• 22.8% used supported employment services;
• 38.2% were female consumers;
• 18.5% were young consumers aged 14-24 years;
• 85.0% were born in Australia or another English speaking country; and
• 0.8% were of Indigenous background.

Disability information

Of the 21,581 consumers in Victorian disability employment services in 2006-07:

• 38.3% had a profound or severe core activity limitation;
• 23.3% had an intellectual disability;
• 30.7% had a psychiatric disability;
• 21.9% had a physical disability;
• 7.7% had a learning disability;
• 3.0% had an acquired brain injury;
• 3.6% had a neurological disability;
• 2.4% had autism;
• 3.1% had a hearing disability; and
• 3.2% had a vision disability.

Main source of income

In 2006-07, the main source of income for the 21,923 consumers in Victorian disability employment services was:

• Disability Support Pension 50.3%;
• Newstart/Youth Allowance 23.8%; and
• Paid employment 10.9%.

6.2.3 Employment outcomes

'Employment outcomes' refers to those consumers who were employed for some or all of the time during 2006-07. Some 56.6% of consumers in Victorian disability employment services attained an employment outcome, of which:

• 45.5% of open employment service consumers attained an employment outcome; and
• 94.3% of supported employment service consumers attained an employment outcome.

6.2.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

At 29 June 2007, 3,998 consumers 'on the books' in Victorian supported employment services attained an employment outcome: Of these:

• 24.3% worked 8-15 hours a week, 31.0% worked 16-30 hours a week, and 40.4% worked 31-40 hours a week;
• 25.5% worked full-time, with 26.5 hours on average worked each week;
• The most common wage range was $21 to $40 a week, with 20.3% earning this; and
• The average gross weekly wage was $81.29, and the average gross hourly rate of pay was $3.48.

Note: Open employment service providers were not required to provide employment characteristics information in 2006-07.

6.3 Queensland

6.3.1 Disability service outlet operations
6.3.2 Disability employment service consumer information
6.3.3 Employment outcomes
6.3.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

6.3.1 Disability service outlet operations

In 2006-07, a total of 198 (16.4%) of the 1,210 Australian Government funded disability service outlets were located in Queensland. Of these:

• 182 (91.9%) provided disability employment services, of which 132 (72.5%) provided open employment services and 50 (27.5%) provided supported employment services;
• 8 (4.0%) provided advocacy services;
• 7 (3.5%) provided respite services; and
• 2 (0.5%) provided print disability services.

A total of 1,142.0 FTE staff worked in Queensland disability service outlets. These staff accounted for 12.7% of all FTE staff working in disability service outlets nationally.

6.3.2 Disability employment service consumer information

Consumers assisted

In 2006-07, a total of 16,307 consumers were assisted by Queensland disability employment services, accounting for 19.7% of all consumers nationally. Of these:

• 85.0% used open employment services;
• 15.0% used supported employment services;
• 35.9% were female consumers;
• 28.2% were young consumers aged 14-24 years;
• 94.3% were born in Australia or another English speaking country; and
• 3.3% were identified of Indigenous background.

Disability information

Of the 16,307 consumers in Queensland disability employment services in 2006-07:

• 44.3% had a profound or severe core activity limitation;
• 28.4% had an intellectual disability;
• 25.1% had a psychiatric disability;
• 18.2% had a physical disability;
• 8.4% had a learning disability;
• 3.4% had an acquired brain injury;
• 3.3% had a neurological disability;
• 4.9% had autism;
• 4.3% had a hearing disability; and
• 2.1% had a vision disability.

Main source of income

In 2006-07, the main source of income for the 16,307 consumers in Queensland disability employment services was:

• Disability Support Pension 50.9%;
• Newstart/Youth Allowance 20.7%; and
• Paid employment 11.2%.

6.3.3 Employment outcomes

'Employment outcomes' refers to those consumers who were employed for some or all of the time during 2006-07. Some 58.4% of consumers in Queensland disability employment services attained an employment outcome, of which:

• 52.8% of open employment service consumers attained an employment outcome; and
• 90.0% of supported employment service consumers attained an employment outcome.

6.3.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

At 29 June 2007, 1,939 consumers 'on the books' in Queensland supported employment services attained an employment outcome: Of these:

• 11.1% worked 8-15 hours a week, 28.6% worked 16-30 hours a week, and 48.4% worked 31-40 hours a week;
• 45.7% worked full-time, with 29.0 hours on average worked each week;
• The most common wage range was $61 to $80 a week, with 20.5% earning this; and
• The average gross weekly wage was $83.21, and the average gross hourly rate of pay was $2.89.

Note: Open employment service providers were not required to provide employment characteristics information in 2006-07.

6.4 Western Australia

6.4.1 Disability service outlet operations
6.4.2 Disability employment service consumer information
6.4.3 Employment outcomes
6.4.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

6.4.1 Disability service outlet operations

In 2006-07, a total of 95 (7.9%) of the 1,210 Australian Government funded disability service outlets were located in Western Australia. Of these:

• 87 (81.1%) provided disability employment services, of which 45 (58.4%) provided open employment services and 32 (41.6%) provided supported employment services;
• 9 (9.5%) provided advocacy services;
• 7 (7.4%) were respite services; and
• 2 (2.1%) provided print disability services.

A total of 866.9 FTE staff worked in Western Australian disability service outlets. These staff accounted for 9.6% of all FTE staff working in disability service outlets nationally.

6.4.2 Disability employment service consumer information

Consumers assisted

In 2006-07, a total of 7,754 consumers were assisted by Western Australian disability employment services, accounting for 9.4% of all consumers nationally. Of these:

• 70.3% used open employment services;
• 29.7% used supported employment services;
• 37.7% were female consumers;
• 26.9% were young consumers aged 14-24 years;
• 91.6% were born in Australia or another English speaking country; and
• 2.8% were of Indigenous background.

Disability information

Of the 7,754 consumers in Western Australian disability employment services in 2006-07:

• 51.7% had a profound or severe core activity limitation;
• 36.9% had an intellectual disability;
• 22.6% had a psychiatric disability;
• 14.2% had a physical disability;
• 8.1% had a learning disability;
• 4.1% had an acquired brain injury;
• 3.3% had a neurological disability;
• 4.4% had autism;
• 3.4% had a hearing disability; and
• 2.1% had a vision disability.

Main source of income

In 2006-07, the main source of income for the 7,754 consumers in Western Australian employment services was:

• Disability Support Pension 55.9%;
• Newstart/Youth Allowance 11.2%; and
• Paid employment 9.3%.

6.4.3 Employment outcomes

'Employment outcomes' refers to those consumers who were employed for some or all of the time during 2006-07. Some 75.0% of consumers in Western Australian disability employment services attained an employment outcome, of which:

• 65.2% of open employment service consumers attained an employment outcome; and
• 98.1% of supported employment service consumers attained an employment outcome.

6.4.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

At 29 June 2007, 1,912 consumers 'on the books' in Western Australian supported employment services attained an employment outcome: Of these:

• 19.8% worked 8-15 hours a week, 29.4% worked 16-30 hours a week, and 47.9% worked 31-40 hours a week;
• 23.7% worked full-time, with 26.1 hours on average worked each week;
• The most common wage range was $21 to $40 a week, with 25.4% earning this; and
• The average gross weekly wage was $59.83, and the average gross hourly rate of pay was $2.26.

Note: Open employment service providers were not required to provide employment characteristics information in 2006-07.

6.5 South Australia

6.5.1 Disability service outlet operations
6.5.2 Disability employment service consumer information
6.5.3 Employment outcomes
6.5.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

6.5.1 Disability service outlet operations

In 2006-07, a total of 125 (10.3%) of the 1,210 Australian Government funded disability service outlets were located in South Australia. Of these:

• 114 (91.2%) provided disability employment services, of which 70 (61.4%) provided open employment services and 44 (38.6%) provided supported employment services;
• 6 (4.8%) provided advocacy services;
• 4 (3.2%) provided respite services; and
• 1 (0.8%) provided print disability services.

A total of 948.0 FTE staff worked in South Australian disability service outlets. These staff accounted for 10.5% of all FTE staff working in disability service outlets nationally.

6.5.2 Disability employment service consumer information

Consumers assisted

In 2006-07, a total of 7,550 consumers were assisted by South Australian disability employment services, accounting for 9.1% of all consumers nationally. Of these:

• 60.5% used open employment services;
• 39.5% used supported employment services;
• 37.1% were female consumers;
• 27.0% were young consumers aged 14-24 years;
• 94.7% were born in Australia or another English speaking country; and
• 1.6% were of Indigenous background.

Disability information

Of the 7,550 consumers in South Australian disability employment services in 2006-07:

• 54.5% had a profound or severe core activity limitation;
• 40.3% had an intellectual disability;
• 18.1% had a psychiatric disability;
• 13.9% had a physical disability;
• 9.1% had a learning disability;
• 2.8% had an acquired brain injury;
• 4.3% had a neurological disability;
• 3.2% had autism;
• 2.4% had a hearing disability; and
• 5.0% had a vision disability.

Main source of income

In 2006-07, the main source of income for the 7,550 consumers in South Australian disability employment services was:

• Disability Support Pension 65.6%;
• Newstart/Youth Allowance 16.3%; and
• Paid employment 6.2%.

6.5.3 Employment outcomes

'Employment outcomes' refers to those consumers who were employed for some or all of the time during 2006-07. Some 66.6% of consumers in South Australian disability employment services attained an employment outcome, of which:

• 49.2% of open employment service consumers attained an employment outcome; and
• 93.3% of supported employment service consumers attained an employment outcome.

6.5.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

At 29 June 2007, 2,446 consumers 'on the books' in South Australian supported employment services attained an employment outcome: Of these:

• 16.6% worked 8-15 hours a week, 25.8% worked 16-30 hours a week, and 54.9% worked 31-40 hours a week;
• 37.7% worked full-time, with 27.6 hours on average worked each week;
• The most common wage range was $21 to $40 a week, with 22.4% earning this; and
• The average gross weekly wage was $71.42, and the average gross hourly rate of pay was $2.61.

Note: Open employment service providers were not required to provide employment characteristics information in 2006-07.

6.6 Tasmania

6.6.1 Disability service outlet operations
6.6.2 Disability employment service consumer information
6.6.3 Employment outcomes
6.6.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

6.6.1 Disability service outlet operations

In 2006-07, a total of 45 (3.7%) of the 1,210 Australian Government funded disability service outlets were located in Tasmania. Of these:

• 38 (84.4%) provided disability employment services, of which 22 (57.9%) provided open employment services and 16 (42.1%) provided supported employment services;
• 3 (6.7%) provided advocacy services;
• 3 (6.7%) provided respite services; and
• 1 (2.2%) provided print disability services.

A total of 298.4 FTE staff worked in Tasmanian disability service outlets. These staff accounted for 3.3% of all FTE staff working in disability service outlets nationally.

6.6.2 Disability employment service consumer information

Consumers assisted

In 2006-07, a total of 2,208 consumers were assisted by Tasmanian disability employment services, accounting for 2.7% of all consumers nationally. Of these:

• 72.9% used open employment services;
• 27.1% used supported employment services;
• 34.0% were female consumers;
• 28.6% were young consumers aged 14-24 years;
• 97.4% were born in Australia or another English speaking country; and
• 3.6% were of Indigenous background.

Disability information

Of the 2,208 consumers in Tasmanian disability employment services in 2006-07:

• 52.9% had a profound or severe core activity limitation;
• 35.8% had an intellectual disability;
• 20.5% had a psychiatric disability;
• 17.3% had a physical disability;
• 12.3% had a learning disability;
• 3.6% had an acquired brain injury;
• 2.8% had a neurological disability;
• 2.9% had autism;
• 2.4% had a hearing disability; and
• 1.7% had a vision disability.

Main source of income

In 2006-07, the main source of income for the 2,208 consumers in Tasmanian disability employment services was:

• Disability Support Pension 62.6%;
• Newstart/Youth Allowance 18.1%; and
• Paid employment 6.3%.

6.6.3 Employment outcomes

'Employment outcomes' refers to those consumers who were employed for some or all of the time during 2006-07. Some 59.8% of consumers in Tasmanian disability employment services attained an employment outcome, of which:

• 46.8% of open employment service consumers attained an employment outcome; and
• 94.6% of supported employment service consumers attained an employment outcome.

6.6.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

At 29 June 2007, 482 consumers 'on the books' in Tasmanian supported employment services attained an employment outcome: Of these:

• 14.9% worked 8-15 hours a week, 27.3% worked 16-30 hours a week, and 55.8% worked 31-40 hours a week;
• 39.8% worked full-time, with 28.0 hours on average worked each week;
• The most common wage range was $61 to $80 a week, with 24.8% earning this; and
• The average gross weekly wage was $70.40, and the average gross hourly rate of pay was $2.74.

Note: Open employment service providers were not required to provide employment characteristics information in 2006-07.

6.7 Australian Capital Territory

6.7.1 Disability service outlet operations
6.7.2 Disability employment service consumer information
6.7.3 Employment outcomes
6.7.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

6.7.1 Disability service outlet operations

In 2006-07, a total of 22 (1.8%) of the 1,210 Australian Government funded disability service outlets were located in the ACT. Of these:

• 17 (77.3%) provided disability employment services, of which 9 (52.9%) provided open employment services and 8 (47.1%) provided supported employment services;
• 2 (9.1%) provided advocacy services;
• 1 (4.5%) provided respite services;
• 1 (4.5%) provided print disability services; and
• 1 (4.5%) provided information services.

A total of 111.7 FTE staff worked in ACT disability service outlets. These staff accounted for 1.2% of all FTE staff working in disability service outlets nationally.

6.7.2 Disability employment service consumer information

Consumers assisted

In 2006-07, a total of 924 consumers were assisted by ACT disability employment services, accounting for 1.1% of all consumers nationally. Of these:

• 73.4% used open employment services;
• 26.6% used supported employment services;
• 38.3% were female consumers;
• 22.4% were young consumers aged 14-24 years;
• 90.7% were born in Australia or another English speaking country; and
• 1.4% were of Indigenous background.

Disability information

Of the 924 consumers in ACT disability employment services in 2006-07:

• 45.3% had a profound or severe core activity limitation;
• 44.2% had an intellectual disability;
• 24.2% had a psychiatric disability;
• 8.5% had a physical disability;
• 6.1% had a learning disability;
• 4.5% had an acquired brain injury;
• 2.9% had a neurological disability;
• 3.1% had autism;
• 3.7% had a hearing disability; and
• 2.3% had a vision disability.

Main source of income

In 2006-07, the main source of income for the 924 consumers in ACT disability employment services was:

• Disability Support Pension 52.8%;
• Newstart/Youth Allowance 11.6%; and
• Paid employment 18.3%.

6.7.3 Employment outcomes

'Employment outcomes' refers to those consumers who were employed for some or all of the time during 2006-07. Some 69.2% of consumers in ACT disability employment services attained an employment outcome, of which:

• 63.4% of open employment service consumers attained an employment outcome; and
• 85.0% of supported employment service consumers attained an employment outcome.

6.7.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

At 29 June 2007, 205 consumers 'on the books' in ACT supported employment services attained an employment outcome: Of these:

• 43.6% worked 8-15 hours a week, 31.5% worked 16-30 hours a week, and 4.1% worked 31-40 hours a week;
• 6.8% worked full-time, with 16.0 hours on average worked each week;
• The most common wage range was $101-$150 a week, with 19.1% earning this; and
• The average gross weekly wage was $94.77, and the average gross hourly rate of pay was $6.59.

Note: Open employment service providers were not required to provide employment characteristics information in 2006-07.

6.8 Northern Territory

6.8.1 Disability service outlet operations
6.8.2 Disability employment service consumer information
6.8.3 Employment outcomes
6.8.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

6.8.1 Disability service outlet operations

In 2006-07, a total of 20 (1.7%) of the 1,210 Australian Government funded disability service outlets were located in Northern Territory. Of these:

• 14 (70.0%) provided disability employment services, of which 9 (64.3%) provided open employment services and 5 (35.7%) provided supported employment services;
• 3 (15.0%) provided advocacy services; and
• 3 (15.0%) provided respite services.

A total of 92.2 FTE staff worked in Northern Territory disability service outlets. These staff accounted for 1.0% of all FTE staff working in disability service outlets nationally.

6.8.2 Disability employment service consumer information

Consumers assisted

In 2006-07, a total of 520 consumers were assisted by Northern Territory disability employment services, accounting for 0.6% of all consumers nationally. Of these:

• 76.3% used open employment services;
• 23.7% used supported employment services;
• 39.4% were female consumers;
• 30.0% were young consumers aged 14-24 years;
• 88.5% were born in Australia or another English speaking country; and
• 20.2% were of Indigenous background.

Disability information

Of the 520 consumers in Northern Territory disability employment services in 2006-07:

• 43.8% had a profound or severe core activity limitation;
• 30.2% had an intellectual disability;
• 20.6% had a psychiatric disability;
• 17.3% had a physical disability;
• 9.0% had a learning disability;
• 6.2% had an acquired brain injury;
• 5.2% had a neurological disability;
• 4.4% had autism;
• 3.1% had a hearing disability; and
• 2.1% had a vision disability.

Main source of income

In 2006-07, the main source of income for the 520 consumers in Northern Territory disability employment services was:

• Disability Support Pension 53.1%;
• Newstart/Youth Allowance 14.0%; and
• Paid employment 7.3%.

6.8.3 Employment outcomes

'Employment outcomes' refers to those consumers who were employed for some or all of the time during 2006-07. Some 62.5% of consumers in Northern Territory disability employment services attained an employment outcome, of which:

• 54.4% of open employment service consumers attained an employment outcome; and
• 88.6% of supported employment service consumers attained an employment outcome.

6.8.4 Supported employment service consumer employment characteristics

At 29 June 2007, 93 consumers 'on the books' in Northern Territory supported employment services attained an employment outcome: Of these:

• 35.3% worked 8-15 hours a week, 29.4% worked 16-30 hours a week, and 26.5% worked 31-40 hours a week;
• 18.9% worked full-time, with 21.0 hours on average worked each week;
• The most common wage range was $21-40 a week, with 21.6% earning this; and
• The average gross weekly wage was $61.05, and the average gross hourly rate of pay was $2.92.

Note: Open employment service providers were not required to provide employment characteristics information in 2006-07.

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Appendices

7.1 Disability Services Census - Explanatory Notes

7.1.1 Introduction
7.1.2 Geographic location
7.1.3 Census collection and collation
7.1.4 Main counts and definitions
7.1.5 Statistical linkage key
7.1.6 Reliability of data

7.1.1 Introduction

The Australian Government Disability Services Census is a standardised set of data items, concepts and definitions for inclusion in the annual CSTDA National Minimum Data Set (NMDS) agreed to by all jurisdictions and coordinated by the AIHW. The overall objectives of the CSTDA NMDS are to:

• assist in the development of uniform and comparable performance indicators across jurisdictions;
• meet performance reporting requirements set down in the CSTDA; and
• assist in service planning and monitoring by jurisdictions.

To satisfy the requirements of the CSTDA NMDS, the Australian Government collects basic information on the operations of all disability service outlets it funds. This includes service outlets providing open employment, supported employment, advocacy, respite, print disability and information service outlets. Separate data is also collected on the characteristics of each consumer of open and supported employment service outlets.

While a requirement of the CSTDA NMDS is the collection of data on the labour force status of consumers of open and supported employment service outlets, more detailed information on the employment characteristics of consumers engaged in employment is not required (i.e. phase and basis of employment, hours of employment, earnings and industrial relations arrangements). In 2006-07, this more detailed information was collected in respect of consumers of supported employment service outlets but not for consumers of open employment service outlets.

7.1.2 Geographic location

The 2007 Disability Services Census covered all Australian states and territories and all geographic locations. The Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) Remoteness Areas classification was used to assess the accessibility of disability services across five remoteness categories (or geographic areas): Major Cities; Inner Regional Areas; Outer Regional Areas; Remote Areas; and Very Remote Areas. The concept of remoteness is based on measuring road distance from any point to the nearest ABS urban centre in each of five population size classes. For example, any location within a short distance of an urban centre of more than 250,000 persons belongs to the major cities category. The population size of the urban centre is used as a proxy for the availability of a range of services (Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics 2007).

The geographic areas for disability service outlet and open and supported employment service consumer data were derived from postcode, using 2006 Census of Population and Housing postal area/ASGC remoteness concordances. Some postcode areas were split between two or more geographic areas. In these cases, the data were weighted according to the percentage of the population of the postcode area in each geographic area.

7.1.3 Census collection and collation

Census Day        Friday 29 June 2007
Census Week    The week concluding on Census day - 23-29 June 2007
Census Year      The 2006-07 financial year - 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007

FaHCSIA had overall responsibility for the project management of the collation, analysis and publication of the 2007 Disability Services Census. The collection of the data about disability service outlets and consumers was shared between FaHCSIA and DEEWR in line with their management and funding responsibilities.5 FaHCSIA collected information on all disability service types except for open employment services and DEEWR collected open employment service outlet and consumer data.

All Australian Government funded CSTDA service outlets in 2006-07 were required to complete a service form outlining basic facts about their operations. Open and supported employment service outlets were also required to complete a consumer form for each consumer they assisted in the Census Year.

This information was collected from disability service outlets using either custom made computer based data collection software or a paper based questionnaire. The software allowed the pre-population of data items from the 2006 Disability Services Census, the editing of that data to reflect what occurred in 2006-07, and the manual entry of data for those data items not populated from the 2006 Disability Services Census.

Upon completion of the questionnaires, data were sent either electronically or as hard copy to the relevant department. Data was then collated into a single data file, one related to the service form and the other to the consumer form. DEEWR provided FaHCSIA with a copy of the two data files containing the nationally agreed CSTDA data items. FaHCSIA then sent its data files along with DEEWR's data files containing the nationally agreed CSTDA NMDS data items to the AIHW for further checking, editing and national collation.

7.1.4 Main counts and definitions

The main counts in the 2007 disability services census collection are service outlet, service type and consumer. A disability service outlet is an administrative business or unit of an organisation that is funded to provide a CSTDA service type at a particular site. The organisation may be a single disability service outlet or an aggregation of two or more disability service outlets of the same or different disability service type. The 2007 Disability Services Census collected data on each disability service outlet that operated during 2006-07.

Disability service type is the type of service the disability service outlet has been funded to provide under the CSTDA. Under the CSTDA, the Australian Government funds disability service outlets to provide open employment, supported employment, advocacy, respite, print disability and information services.

A consumer is a person who accesses an Australian Government funded CSTDA service outlet. The 2007 Disability Services Census collected data on the aggregate number of consumers assisted in all disability service types in 2006-07. Separate data was collected for each consumer assisted by open and supported employment service outlets in 2006-07. This group is referred to as 'All consumers'. Data was also collected for consumers who were registered as receiving assistance from either open or supported service outlets on Census Day, 29 June 2007. This group is referred to as 'Consumers on the books'.

Where consumers of open and supported employment service outlets had more than one service episode or spell in 2006-07, the following scenarios and corresponding counts were applied:

• Where a consumer exited a service outlet and re-entered the same service outlet, the consumer was only counted once. The records of these consumers were treated as duplicate records.
• Where a consumer exited a service outlet and entered another service outlet of the same service type, the consumer was counted each time a move occurred.
• Where a consumer exited a service outlet and entered another service outlet of a different service type, the consumer was counted each time a move occurred.

7.1.5 Statistical linkage key

The use of a statistical linkage key in respect of individual disability employment service consumer records has a number of important purposes. The statistical linkage key enables:

• the record of individual consumers to be confidentialised;
• the identification of multiple service episodes by individual consumers;
• the identification of duplicate consumer records; and
• the number of consumers to be counted at the service outlet level.

The statistical linkage key is a composite of letters of the surname, first name, date of birth and the sex of the consumer, with the following structure:

Surname:	2nd + 3rd + 5th letters
First name:	2nd + 3rd letters
Date of birth:	DDMMYYYY
Sex:	1 for M or 2 for F
Linkage:	Sn(2nd + 3rd + 5th) + Fn (2nd + 3rd) + DDMMYYYY + 1 or 2

An example is:

Surname:	FITZGERALD	ITG
First name:	JOHN	OH
Date of birth:	10/08/1975	10081975
Sex:	MALE	1
Linkage:	Sn(2nd + 3rd + 5th) + Fn (2nd + 3rd) + DDMMYYYY + 1 or 2	ITGOH100819751

7.1.6 Reliability of data

Sampling error

Sampling errors are a measure of the variability that occurs by chance because a sample, rather than the entire population, is surveyed. As a full collection of data on Australian Government funded CSTDA service outlets was undertaken, sampling error does not apply to the 2007 disability services census collection.

Non-sampling error

Non-sampling errors may occur in any statistical collection during data recording, processing and reporting. There are two major sources of non-sampling error relevant to the 2007 Disability Services Census:

• Response error on the part of the disability service outlet. These errors may arise through misunderstanding or misinterpretation of responses required, inability or unwillingness to provide accurate information and mistakes in answers to questions.
  
  A number of processes were put in place to minimise the incidence of response errors. These included assistance to disability service outlets through a telephone help line, stringent checking and editing processes for all disability service outlet and consumer data and follow-up with disability service outlets of census return information. These measures have minimised the potential incidence of response errors.

• Errors arise through the data entry process on the part of the disability service outlet and FaCSIA and DEWR during the collation of disability services census data.
  
  Data entry errors have been minimised with the continued use of the electronic disability services census collection and upload systems. Electronic disability service outlet returns were entered directly into the upload system (without keying) where quality control checking and editing was automatically performed.

 

5 Following MoG changes in December 2007, FaCSIA was renamed the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) and DEWR was renamed the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) to reflect some changes in functions.

7.2 Detailed data tables

Table 1A: Total staff hours in the reference week, by disability service outlet type and state, 2006-07

Year	Service type						Total
	Advocacy	Information	Print Disability	Respite	Open Employment	Supported Employment
Direct hours
NSW	1,477	164	1,706	2,123	n.a.	40,924	46,394
Vic	1,616	-	1,966	1,430	n.a.	83,285	88,297
Qld	662	-	Â	3,449	n.a.	10,342	14,453
WA	1,501	-	11	709	n.a.	13,758	15,979
SA	763	-	177	1,184	n.a.	14,566	16,690
Tas	256	-	-	307	n.a.	4,189	4,752
ACT	209	48	16	340	n.a.	1,575	2,188
NT	189	-	Â	597	n.a.	800	1,586
Total	6,673	212	3,876	10,139	n.a.	169,439	190,339
Indirect hours
NSW	568	40	234	372	n.a.	17,383	18,597
Vic	714	-	389	274	n.a.	6,985	8,362
Qld	112	-	193	2,074	n.a.	3,459	5,838
WA	279	-	288	337	n.a.	3,251	4,155
SA	112	-	8	190	n.a.	7,930	8,240
Tas	70	-	250	76	n.a.	3,711	4,107
ACT	24	44	12	82	n.a.	183	345
NT	36	-	-	975	n.a.	264	1,275
Total	1,915	84	1,374	4,380	n.a.	43,166	50,919
Total hours
NSW	2,045	204	1,940	2,495	29,107	58,307	94,098
Vic	2,330	-	2,355	1,704	20,482	90,270	117,141
Qld	774	-	193	5,523	23,104	13,801	43,395
WA	1,780	-	299	1,046	12,810	17,009	32,944
SA	875	-	185	1,374	11,095	22,496	36,025
Tas	326	-	250	383	2,479	7,900	11,338
ACT	233	92	28	422	1,712	1,758	4,245
NT	225	-	-	1,572	641	1,064	3,502
Total	8,588	296	5,250	14,519	101,430	212,605	342,688

(a) n.a. means not available.

Table 2A: All consumers: employment service type, by gender and state, 2006-07

Age group (years)	Employment service type				Total DEA
	Open		Supported
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
< 16	196	0.3%	8	0.0%	204	0.2%
16-19	6,840	11.3%	841	3.8%	7,681	9.3%
20-24	10,339	17.0%	2,528	11.5%	12,867	15.5%
25-29	7,487	12.3%	2,454	11.2%	9,941	12.0%
30-39	12,889	21.2%	5,788	26.3%	18,677	22.6%
40-49	12,142	20.0%	5,864	26.7%	18,006	21.8%
50-59	8,711	14.3%	3,547	16.1%	12,258	14.8%
60-64	1,973	3.2%	686	3.1%	2,659	3.2%
65+	197	0.3%	277	1.3%	474	0.6%
Total	60,774	100%	21,993	100%	82,767	100%

Table 3A: All consumers: employment service type, by gender and state, 2006-07

State	Open	Supported	Total
Male
NSW	10,900	5,330	16,230
Vic	10,355	3,191	13,546
Qld	8,905	1,543	10,448
WA	3,418	1,410	4,828
SA	2,837	1,915	4,752
Tas	1,058	400	1,458
ACT	404	166	570
NT	246	69	315
Total	38,123	14,024	52,147
Female
NSW	6,384	2,967	9,351
Vic	6,577	1,800	8,377
Qld	4,949	910	5,859
WA	2,032	894	2,926
SA	1,732	1,066	2,798
Tas	552	198	750
ACT	274	80	354
NT	151	54	205
Total	22,651	7,969	30,620
Total
NSW	17,284	8,297	25,581
Vic	16,932	4,991	21,923
Qld	13,854	2,453	16,307
WA	5,450	2,304	7,754
SA	4,569	2,981	7,550
Tas	1,610	598	2,208
ACT	678	246	924
NT	397	123	520
Total	60,774	21,993	82,767

Table 4A: All consumers: Indigenous status, by state and employment service type, 2006-07

State	Indigenous status					Total
	Aboriginal Origin	Torres Straight Islander Origin	Aboriginal & Torres Straight Islander Origin	Not Indigenous	Not Stated
Open
NSW	449	14	18	16,803	-	17,284
Vic	118	5	7	16,802	-	16,932
Qld	384	52	32	13,386	-	13,854
WA	155	1	11	5,283	-	5,450
SA	77	4	3	4,485	-	4,569
Tas	69	1	-	1,540	-	1,610
ACT	12	-	-	666	-	678
NT	53	-	4	340	-	397
Total	1,317	77	75	59,305	-	60,774
Supported
NSW	189	8	5	8,056	39	8,297
Vic	46	1	2	4,907	35	4,991
Qld	55	4	3	2,386	5	2,453
WA	47	-	1	2,244	12	2,304
SA	31	3	-	2,935	12	2,981
Tas	8	1	-	563	26	598
ACT	1	-	-	245	-	246
NT	47	1	-	71	4	123
Total	424	18	-	21,407	133	21,993
Total
NSW	638	22	23	24,859	39	25,581
Vic	164	6	9	21,709	35	21,923
Qld	439	56	35	15,772	5	16,307
WA	202	1	12	7,527	12	7,754
SA	108	7	3	7,420	12	7,550
Tas	77	2	-	2,103	26	2,208
ACT	13	-	-	911	-	924
NT	100	1	4	411	4	520
Total	1,741	95	86	80,712	133	82,767

Table 5A: All consumers: country of birth, by state and employment service type, 2006-07

State	Country of birth				Total
	Australia	Non-English Speaking	Other English Speaking	Not Stated
Open
NSW	14,214	2,079	743	248	17,284
Vic	13,028	2,823	847	234	16,932
Qld	11,894	730	1,085	145	13,854
WA	4,404	389	558	99	5,450
SA	3,955	231	306	77	4,569
Tas	1,499	31	62	18	1,610
ACT	570	47	34	27	678
NT	322	42	24	9	397
Total	49,886	6,372	3,659	857	60,774
Supported
NSW	7,639	445	156	57	8,297
Vic	4,693	194	72	32	4,991
Qld	2,306	47	86	14	2,453
WA	2,067	130	72	35	2,304
SA	2,805	88	87	1	2,981
Tas	585	4	4	5	598
ACT	229	10	5	2	246
NT	114	4	-	5	123
Total	20,438	922	482	151	21,993
Total
NSW	21,853	2,524	899	305	25,581
Vic	17,721	3,017	919	266	21,923
Qld	14,200	777	1,171	159	16,307
WA	6,471	519	630	134	7,754
SA	6,760	319	393	78	7,550
Tas	2,084	35	66	23	2,208
ACT	799	57	39	29	924
NT	436	46	24	14	520
Total	70,324	7,294	4,141	1,008	82,767

Table 6A: All supported employment consumers: main language spoken at home, by state, 2006-07

Main language spoken at home	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Total
English	7,778	4,739	2,415	2,139	2,916	591	238	98	20,914
Italian	52	51	7	10	22	1	2	Â	145
Greek	48	37	1	1	8	-	-	1	96
Vietnamese	29	16	3	5	3	-	1	Â	57
Chinese	45	20	3	17	2	-	1	Â	88
Arabic/Lebanese	48	9	-	1	-	1	-	Â	59
German	1	-	2	-	-	1	1	Â	5
Spanish	17	5	1	1	3	-	-	Â	27
Other Language	186	72	14	11	22	3	1	22	331
Not known	93	42	7	119	5	1	2	2	271
Total	8,297	4,991	2,453	2,304	2,981	598	246	123	21,993

Table 7A: All consumers: need for interpreter assistance, by state and employment service type, 2006-07

State	For Spoken Language Other than English	For Non-Spoken Communication	No Interpreter	Not Stated	Total
Open
NSW	220	10	17,054	-	17,284
Vic	182	63	16,687	-	16,932
Qld	87	29	13,738	-	13,854
WA	63	5	5,382	-	5,450
SA	29	19	4,521	-	4,569
Tas	4	2	1,604	-	1,610
ACT	5	-	673	-	678
NT	2	-	395	-	397
Total	592	128	60,054	-	60,774
Supported
NSW	26	242	8,007	22	8,297
Vic	20	86	4,872	13	4,991
Qld	287	67	2,099	-	2,453
WA	16	48	2,220	20	2,304
SA	8	74	2,897	2	2,981
Tas	2	5	588	3	598
ACT	1	1	242	2	246
NT	7	1	115	-	123
Total	367	524	21,040	62	21,993
Total
NSW	246	252	25,061	22	25,581
Vic	202	149	21,559	13	21,923
Qld	374	96	15,837	-	16,307
WA	79	53	7,602	20	7,754
SA	37	93	7,418	2	7,550
Tas	6	7	2,192	3	2,208
ACT	6	1	915	2	924
NT	9	1	510	-	520
Total	959	652	81,094	62	82,767

Table 8A: All consumers: other significant disability, by primary disability and employment service type, 2006-07

Primary disability	Other significant disability
	Intellectual	Specific learning/ADD	Autism	Physical	Acquired brain injury	Neurological	Deafblind	Vision	Hearing	Speech	Psychiatric
Open
Intellectual	-	667	63	447	31	199	-	72	91	163	387
Specific learning/ADD	253	-	40	323	18	92	-	44	46	96	421
Autism	103	244	-	38	6	35	-	10	9	16	133
Physical	155	325	9	-	86	188	-	145	126	55	1,432
Acquired brain injury	40	63	2	184	-	80	-	34	22	21	151
Neurological	37	88	4	158	21	-	-	30	10	4	163
Deafblind	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Vision	28	39	3	110	8	15	-	-	24	2	59
Hearing	34	61	1	158	7	6	-	32	-	48	90
Speech	16	39	4	8	4	5	-	2	9	-	14
Psychiatric	159	419	40	1,296	72	111	-	54	60	29	-
Total	825	1,945	166	2,722	253	731	-	423	397	434	2,850
Supported
Intellectual	-	750	252	955	72	455	88	223	245	611	749
Specific learning/ADD	31	-	7	14	1	4	1	1	3	1	15
Autism	175	8	-	5	3	3	2	3	3	17	18
Physical	335	21	1	-	19	44	7	29	44	65	60
Acquired brain injury	71	9	1	114	-	21	4	19	1	16	26
Neurological	89	9	2	68	8	-	2	9	8	6	18
Deafblind	3	1	-	4	-	-	-	-	1	2	-
Vision	59	5	2	11	2	6	-	-	5	3	4
Hearing	53	21	1	9	1	5	-	5	-	20	8
Speech	7	2	-	3	-	-	-	-	2	-	-
Psychiatric	274	49	6	92	25	34	8	8	9	10	-
Total	1,097	875	272	1,275	131	572	112	297	321	751	898
Other significant disability
Intellectual	-	1,417	315	1,402	103	654	88	295	336	774	1,136
Specific learning/ADD	284	-	47	337	19	96	1	45	49	97	436
Autism	278	252	-	43	9	38	2	13	12	33	151
Physical	490	346	10	-	105	232	7	174	170	120	1,492
Acquired brain injury	111	72	3	298	-	101	4	53	23	37	177
Neurological	126	97	6	226	29	-	2	39	18	10	181
Deafblind	3	1	-	4	-	-	-	-	1	2	-
Vision	87	44	5	121	10	21	-	-	29	5	63
Hearing	87	82	2	167	8	11	-	37	-	68	98
Speech	23	41	4	11	4	5	-	2	11	-	14
Psychiatric	433	468	46	1,388	97	145	8	62	69	39	-
Total	1,922	2,820	438	3,997	384	1,303	112	720	718	1,185	3,748

Table 9A: All consumers: need for assistance, by primary disability and main life area, 2006-07

Primary disability	Main life area
	Self Care	Mobility	Communication	Interpersonal	Learning	Education	Community	Domestic	Working
Does not need support and does not use aids
Intellectual	16,993	13,094	9,733	6,460	3,886	5,522	5,837	10,770	5,229
Specific learning/ADD	6,249	3,598	3,355	3,040	2,222	3,505	3,029	6,027	3,409
Autism	2,138	1,152	995	603	522	801	606	1,839	791
Physical	11,970	6,299	9,406	8,059	7,513	9,167	8,207	10,839	8,719
Acquired brain injury	2,112	1,182	1,409	1,058	734	1,130	1,027	1,777	1,054
Neurological	2,204	1,291	1,688	1,374	1,192	1,508	1,397	1,942	1,438
Vision	1,861	665	1,634	1,476	1,345	1,541	1,411	1,683	1,505
Hearing	2,353	1,509	956	1,493	1,490	1,744	1,510	2,214	1,729
Speech	265	161	127	141	129	170	145	241	163
Psychiatric	17,752	11,738	12,632	7,110	8,125	9,987	7,708	16,534	9,306
Not stated	545	355	469	409	426	469	423	523	462
Total	64,452	41,052	42,410	31,227	27,588	35,548	31,305	54,394	33,809
Does not need support, but uses aids
Intellectual	124	3,873	93	44	32	39	47	56	70
Specific learning/ADD	5	2,255	2	-	-	-	1	1	3
Autism	2	796	2	1	2	-	1	1	2
Physical	54	4,533	31	17	21	24	16	14	18
Acquired brain injury	7	779	5	6	4	5	9	11	11
Neurological	13	751	7	5	5	6	6	6	7
Vision	-	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	-
Hearing	13	892	9	1	1	4	4	4	3
Speech	4	701	21	7	3	4	4	6	3
Psychiatric	-	87	1	1	-	-	-	-	-
Not stated	31	5,334	22	18	13	26	26	36	15
Total	-	153	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Sometimes needs support
Intellectual	5,913	5,911	12,941	12,970	11,294	9,839	9,480	7,217	10,211
Specific learning/ADD	111	517	2,963	2,513	2,522	2,243	2,377	252	2,301
Autism	240	443	1,283	1,052	1,021	965	941	321	950
Physical	504	1,604	3,205	3,710	3,838	2,740	3,293	1,256	3,143
Acquired brain injury	264	394	995	997	987	836	878	394	905
Neurological	152	303	690	829	856	673	692	283	733
Deafblind	5	6	6	7	7	5	5	3	8
Vision	195	484	441	547	520	374	506	254	396
Hearing	63	214	1,084	741	695	536	684	131	571
Speech	9	27	134	100	99	73	84	28	79
Psychiatric	691	1,496	5,630	8,103	7,296	6,456	7,282	1,200	6,772
Not stated	9	42	84	113	100	67	105	23	76
Total	8,156	11,441	29,456	31,682	29,235	24,807	26,327	11,362	26,145
Unable to do/always needs support
Intellectual	1,794	2,372	2,939	5,840	9,944	9,140	7,644	4,555	10,254
Specific learning/ADD	10	12	65	755	1,162	604	803	35	670
Autism	95	102	225	800	816	691	826	222	763
Physical	332	454	266	999	1,211	852	1,077	548	1,036
Acquired brain injury	87	154	106	418	674	463	460	186	542
Neurological	49	85	59	209	319	215	233	103	270
Deafblind	6	7	9	9	10	11	7	9	10
Vision	23	64	24	73	206	171	102	75	209
Hearing	9	20	386	190	223	145	189	32	145
Speech	3	4	18	33	44	33	43	5	38
Psychiatric	78	82	430	3,119	2,529	1,884	2,747	193	2,618
Not stated	1	5	2	31	25	19	26	8	17
Total	2,487	3,361	4,529	12,476	17,163	14,228	14,157	5,971	16,572
Not stated
Intellectual	1,771	1,345	889	1,281	1,439	2,055	3,587	3,997	831
Specific learning/ADD	490	483	480	557	959	513	655	550	482
Autism	174	156	144	193	288	192	275	266	143
Physical	1,754	1,724	1,706	1,829	2,031	1,831	2,021	1,957	1,698
Acquired brain injury	210	171	165	201	281	246	306	312	168
Neurological	238	226	212	239	284	254	328	322	208
Deafblind	3	2	2	3	3	4	7	7	2
Vision	224	211	208	219	244	226	293	300	203
Hearing	206	191	188	204	224	205	248	252	187
Speech	32	30	29	34	37	33	37	35	29
Psychiatric	2,240	2,142	2,078	2,442	2,829	2,453	3,029	2,829	2,081
Not stated	77	77	77	79	81	77	78	78	77
Total	7,419	6,758	6,178	7,281	8,700	8,089	10,864	10,905	6,109

Table 10A: All consumers: need for assistance by employment service type and main life area, 2006-07

Primary disability	Main life area
	Self Care	Mobility	Communication	Interpersonal	Learning	Education	Community	Domestic	Working
Does not need help/supervision and does not use aids
Open	54,060	29,315	34,505	27,827	26,619	34,506	28,725	51,377	33,514
Supported	10,392	11,737	7,905	3,400	969	1,042	2,580	3,017	295
Total	64,452	41,052	42,410	31,227	27,588	35,548	31,305	54,394	33,809
Does not need help/supervision but uses aids
Open	-	19,744	10	-	-	-	-	-	-
Supported	253	411	184	101	81	95	114	135	132
Total	253	20,155	194	101	81	95	114	135	132
Sometimes needs help/supervision
Open	820	5,699	19,089	18,538	17,340	15,168	17,849	3,046	15,744
Supported	7,336	5,742	10,367	13,144	11,895	9,639	8,478	8,316	10,401
Total	8,156	11,441	29,456	31,682	29,235	24,807	26,327	11,362	26,145
Unable to do/always needs help/supervision
Open	119	221	1,405	7,874	8,454	5,251	7,608	539	5,667
Supported	2,368	3,140	3,124	4,602	8,709	8,977	6,549	5,432	10,905
Total	2,487	3,361	4,529	12,476	17,163	14,228	14,157	5,971	16,572
Not stated
Open	5,775	5,795	5,765	6,535	8,361	5,849	6,592	5,812	5,849
Supported	1,644	963	413	746	339	2,240	4,272	5,093	260
Total	7,419	6,758	6,178	7,281	8,700	8,089	10,864	10,905	6,109

Table 11A: Employed consumers: basis of employment, by employment service type and state, 29 June 2007

Basis of employment	NSW	Vic	Qld	WA	SA	Tas	ACT	NT	Aust
Open
Employed	5,778	5,489	5,438	2,813	1,727	582	374	172	22,373
Supported
Full-time-permanent	2,639	1,041	529	404	733	174	6	36	5,562
Part-time-permanent	3,837	2,709	1,346	1,504	1,508	306	184	56	11,450
Casual-permanent	265	185	59	1	199	2	3	-	714
Seasonal-permanent	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
Full-time-temporary	4	4	1	1	3	-	1	1	15
Part-time-temporary	4	53	4	2	3	-	11	-	77
Not stated	1	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	7
Total	6,752	3,998	1,939	1,912	2,446	482	205	93	17,827
Total
Total	12,530	9,487	7,377	4,725	4,173	1,064	579	265	40,200

(a) Basis of employment data was not collected for employed consumers in open employment services.

Table 12A: Employed consumers: weekly wage, by employment service type and census year (2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003)

Employment service type	No Wage	$1-$20	$21-$40	$41-$60	$61-$80	$81-$100	$101-$150	$151-$200	$201-$250	$251-$300	$301-$350	$351-$400	$401-$450	$451-$500	>$500	Not stated	Total
2007
Supported	27	1,639	3,746	3,078	3,482	1,772	2,414	897	370	171	92	70	24	10	35	-	17,827
2006
Open	19	90	663	874	1,318	832	2,244	1,462	1,304	1,084	659	417	294	254	1,161	2,335	15,010
Supported	7	1,718	3,531	2,842	2,912	1,390	1,755	575	216	106	54	41	12	7	30	1,391	16,587
Total	26	1,808	4,194	3,716	4,230	2,222	3,999	2,037	1,520	1,190	713	458	306	261	1,191	3,726	31,597
2005
Open	511	220	123	446	824	798	2,444	1,774	1,772	1,541	1,245	1,099	1,300	1,142	2,865	-	18,104
Supported	21	1,932	4,055	3,828	2,966	1,342	1,422	467	183	121	58	41	15	18	39	-	16,508
Dual	18	114	184	209	220	116	296	114	72	65	41	44	41	49	68	-	1,651
Total	550	2,266	4,362	4,483	4,010	2,256	4,162	2,355	2,027	1,727	1,344	1,184	1,356	1,209	2,972	-	36,263
2004
Open	422	164	147	677	680	846	2,552	1,785	1,922	1,572	1,238	1,162	1,599	1,091	2,521	-	18,378
Supported	14	2,103	4,444	4,331	2,693	1,229	1,222	353	120	83	42	28	12	14	29	-	16,717
Dual	49	83	200	199	141	114	196	97	113	87	61	101	85	50	144	-	1,720
Total	485	2,350	4,791	5,207	3,514	2,189	3,970	2,235	2,155	1,742	1,341	1,291	1,696	1,155	2,694	-	36,815
2003
Open	335	187	214	746	637	958	2,505	1,793	1,927	1,608	1,144	1,181	1,716	937	2,033	-	17,921
Supported	79	2,216	4,253	4,526	2,587	1,092	1,058	272	116	68	35	16	13	17	16	-	16,364
Dual	17	147	168	218	130	117	186	145	125	94	73	62	50	52	113	-	1,697
Total	431	2,550	4,635	5,490	3,354	2,167	3,749	2,210	2,168	1,770	1,252	1,259	1,779	1,006	2,162	-	35,982

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