Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013

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The ACT has the least number of people with a disability per head of population, according to new analysis released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

The ABS's 2003 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers showed the ACT disability rate (16%) was below the national average of 20%.

In the ACT, disability rates increased with age. The highest rate was for those aged 80 years and above (70%). However, the ACT was lower than the national rate for all age groups.

Two-thirds (67%) of ACT residents who reported a disability participated in the labour force, which was higher than the national disability participation rate (53%). However, the ACT's overall labour force participation rate was 83%.

Other highlights include:

• Most (84%) ACT people with a disability reported their disability was a physical condition.
• Over half (55%) of ACT people with a disability indicated they needed assistance to manage their health condition and cope with everyday tasks.
• ACT people who reported a disability had the highest use of home computers (59%) and the Internet (47%) across the national disability survey for all states and territories.