Community Attitudes towards People with Disability – National Survey results

This report summarises findings from the national survey of attitudes towards people with disability.

Attitudes are a major concern for Australians with disability. They are related to disability-based discrimination and social exclusion, which in turn impact the health and wellbeing of people with disability, our new study shows.

Disability advocates in Australia have pushed for action to improve community attitudes for years, with the aim of achieving a more equitable and inclusive society for people with disability.

Attitudes Matter – Community Attitudes toward People with Disability in Australia released today, provides a comprehensive view of individual beliefs and community perceptions that influence how people behave towards people with disability. Over two thousand Australians participated in the survey, the first national survey of its kind, about what they think about disability in the workplace, at school and in public.

The results are thematically structured around common beliefs, attitudes about personal lives and choices, behaviours towards people with disability and inclusion of people with disability.

People with disability report discrimination and prejudice in their day-to-day life. This excludes them from many domains of life including work, school, accessing services and the community.

In March 2018, we partnered with the Victorian Government to conduct a survey to help provide a baseline measure of community attitudes towards disability. It was developed to inform the Victorian government’s work in relation to ‘Changing Attitudes’, a priority of the Absolutely Everyone: Victorian State Disability Plan (2017-2020). This survey focused on attitudes that impact the social and economic participation of people with disability of all ages. It was the first population-level survey about attitudes and disability in Victoria.