Victorian Survey of Community Attitudes towards disability


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

In March 2018, we partnered with the Victorian Government to provide a baseline measure of community attitudes towards disability. The survey 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), where it states

“Promoting positive community attitudes is critical to creating a more inclusive Victoria and is the first priority of Absolutely everyone: 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. It also explored dimensions of attitudes including beliefs, feelings, and behaviours. In this report, we present results thematically based on survey content.

In June 2019, Victoria hosted a national community attitudes workshop to share the results of the survey. The event was attended by participants from Commonwealth, state and territory governments, higher education sector, Victorian local government, peak disability bodies, disability advocates and self-advocates. The workshop also included a key note presentation from Disability Discrimination Commissioner Ben Gauntlet. You can read more about the survey and workshop in the links on the right.



As part of the workshop, attendees discussed the themes of the survey and proposed ideas about how to collectively shift community attitudes towards disability in Australia.



National Survey of Community Attitudes Report

https://credh.org.au/projects/community-attitudes-towards-people-with-disability

Reports:

  • Changing Attitudes: Victorian survey of community attitudes toward people with disability in Australia (Word, PDF) – March 2018
  • National Community Attitudes workshop, Presentation of Victorian survey findings – June 2019 (Web)
  • Attitudes Matter: National survey of community attitudes toward people with disability in Australia (Web, Report) – August 2021

Media:

  • How attitudes disable Podcast
  • Disabling ableism – Podcast
  • Disabled teens suffering the mental health effects of bullying (Web)

Reports

  • Changing Attitudes: Victorian survey of community attitudes toward people with disability in Australia (Word, PDF) - March 2018
  • National Community Attitudes workshop, Presentation of Victorian survey findings - June 2019 (Web)
  • Attitudes Matter: National survey of community attitudes toward people with disability in Australia (Web, Report) - August 2021

Media

  • How attitudes disable - Podcast
  • Disabling ableism - Podcast
  • Disabled teens suffering the mental health effects of bullying (Web)