No disability employment improvement: COAG

Employment participation levels of people with disabilities are not showing significant improvement, a new national report finds.

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Reform Council, in a report released on Thursday, paints a bleak picture about barriers to securing employment and social participation.

The report assesses progress on the national disability agreement using the latest available data covering the six-year period between 2003-2009.

There was no statistically significant overall change in labour force participation for people with disabilities during that period.

Western Australia bucked the national trend and the ACT and Northern Territory also had disabled labour force participation rates higher than the national rate.

COAG reform council spokesman Michael Frost said not much had changed.

“Despite an otherwise strong labour market there was very little improvement in workforce participation for people with a disability,” he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.

The report found some slight improvement in workforce participation for people caring for loved ones with a disability.

There had been little progress in ensuring young people with disabilities in or at risk of entering aged-care homes were receiving more appropriate care, the report said.

People with profound or severe disabilities had lower rates of social participation, the report said.

One in four people with severe disabilities did not leave their home as often as they would like because of their impairment.

Mr Frost said one in three who were eligible for formal disability services believed they were not getting enough help.

“Too many Australians with a disability are telling us they need more help,” he said.

Disability Advocacy Network spokeswoman Andrea Simmons said the flagged national disability insurance scheme could be a game changer and improve the level of care people need.

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