About 25,000 Australians with hearing impairment receive National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) support but they receive the least funds among the top five primary disability groups, a new report shows.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s People with disability in Australia 2024 web report, released on 23 April, 2024, found nearly one in five Australians have a disability. In 2018, there were an estimated 4.4 million Australians with disability (18% of the total population).
For 77% of people with disability, their main health condition in 2019 was physical. This included diseases of the ear and mastoid process (8.4%), such as hearing loss and tinnitus.
There were 583,000 active NDIS participants aged under 65 on 30 June 2023. The top five primary disability groups were autism (37% or 214,600 people), intellectual disability (15% or 85,800 people), developmental delay (12% or 67,600 people), psychosocial disability (9.9% or 57,500 people) and hearing impairment (4.3% or 25,000 people).
Support amounts differed depending on primary disability of the participant. For participants aged under 65, those with a spinal cord injury had the highest amount of average annualised committed total supports ($191,600), while those with hearing impairment had the lowest ($16,000).
800,000 older Australians have hearing loss
On 30 June 2023, there were about 610,500 active participants with approved plans in the NDIS. Most (95%) were aged under 65, and 4.5% (or 27,500) were aged 65 or over.
The report revealed that two in five people (41% of those) aged 65 and over with a disability, or 800,000 people, experience loss of hearing. This compared with 14% (or 246,000) of those aged 25–64 and 4.3% (or 28,000) of those aged under 25.
The report brought together information from more than 25 national data sources, including population surveys and administrative data sets.
Disability support services were also mentioned including assistive technology such as hearing aids and voice-recognition computer software but no statistics were revealed on these.
The NDIS supports Australians with disability to access services and supports and provides funding to eligible people with disability to gain more time with family and friends, greater independence, access to new skills, jobs, or volunteering, and an improved quality of life.
Read here about hearing supports funded by the NDIS and the HSP.
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