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Disability

Glossary Item Attributes

Identifying and definitional attributes

Metadata item type:Help on this termGlossary Item
METEOR identifier:Help on this term695181
Registration status:Help on this term

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Recorded 09/08/2023

Australian Teacher Workforce Data Oversight Board, Standard 30/08/2022

Children and Families, Standard 03/11/2021

Disability, Standard 28/09/2016

Health, Standard 29/06/2016

Definition:Help on this term

Disability is the umbrella term for any or all of: an impairment of body structure or function, a limitation in activities, or a restriction in participation.

Disability is a multi-dimensional and complex concept and is conceived as a dynamic interaction between health conditions and environmental and personal factors (WHO 2001:6).

Collection and usage attributes

Comments:Help on this term

Many different 'definitions' of disability are used in Australia, both in administrative data collections and in Acts of Parliament. The consistent identification of disability in national data collections has been recommended in a number of reports, for instance to enable:

  • the monitoring of access to generic services by people with disability
  • the collection of more consistent data on disability support and related services, including data on service use by different groups
  • population data and service data to be related, thereby improving the nation's analytical capacity in relation to the need for and supply of services
  • improved understanding of the relationship between disability, health conditions and other health outcomes.

Defining disability makes it possible to determine the number of people who are accessing services, both disability specific and generic, and also those with a disability in the general population with unmet need. Better definition of disability will aid better targeting of resources to those in need.

Disability arises from the interaction between health conditions and environmental and personal factors. A health condition may be a disease (acute or chronic), disorder, injury or trauma. Environmental factors make up the physical, social and attitudinal environment in which people live and conduct their lives. Personal factors relate to the individual, such as age, sex and Indigenous status.

The concept 'disability' can be described using a combination of related metadata items as building blocks.

The metadata items selected may vary depending on the definition of disability used. For example, in hospital rehabilitation, the focus may be on the impairment and activity dimensions and in community-based care the focus may be primarily on participation. Some applications may require a broad scope for inclusion (e.g. discrimination legislation). Data collections relating to services will select combinations of the data elements, which best reflect the eligibility criteria for the service.

This glossary item is based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). The ICF provides a framework for the description of human functioning and disability and was endorsed by the World Health Assembly in 2001 as a reference member of the WHO Family of International Classifications and of the Australian Family of Health and Related Classifications (endorsed by the National Health Information Management Group in 2002).

Source and reference attributes

Submitting organisation:Help on this term
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Origin:Help on this term

WHO (World Health Organization) 2001. ICF: International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Geneva: WHO

Reference documents:Help on this term

WHO 2015. ICF website. Viewed 26 May 2016, http://www.who.int/classifications/icf/en

Relational attributes

Related metadata references:Help on this term
Supersedes Disability

        Children and Families, Superseded 03/11/2021

        Community Services (retired), Standard 01/03/2005

        Disability, Standard 07/10/2014

        Health, Superseded 29/06/2016

        Housing assistance, Standard 01/03/2005

See also Disability (Child protection)

        Children and Families, Standard 03/11/2021

See also Standardised disability flag module

        Community Services (retired), Standard 19/09/2013

        Disability, Standard 13/08/2015

Metadata items which use this glossary item:Help on this term
Australian Teacher Workforce Data (ATWD) Collection DSS 2018–

        Australian Teacher Workforce Data Oversight Board, Standard 30/08/2022

Dementia NBPDS

        Health, Standard 05/10/2022

Disability (Child protection)

        Children and Families, Standard 03/11/2021

Disability Services NMDS 2018–19

        Disability, Standard 05/07/2019

Disability specific flag

        Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Recorded 09/08/2023

Disability type

        Australian Teacher Workforce Data Oversight Board, Standard 30/08/2022

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program NBEDS 2018–19

        Health, Superseded 12/12/2018

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program NBEDS 2019–20

        Health, Superseded 16/01/2020

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program NBEDS 2020–21

        Health, Superseded 05/02/2021

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program NBEDS 2021–22

        Health, Superseded 17/12/2021

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program NBEDS 2022–23

        Health, Superseded 09/12/2022

National Bowel Cancer Screening Program NBEDS 2023–24

        Health, Standard 09/12/2022

Person—disability status

        Australian Teacher Workforce Data Oversight Board, Recorded 25/10/2022

        Children and Families, Standard 03/11/2021

        Health, Standard 12/12/2018

Person—disability status, yes/no/not applicable/unknown/unable to be determined/not stated/inadequately described code N

        Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Recorded 17/10/2023

Person—disability status, yes/no/not stated/inadequately described code N

        Australian Teacher Workforce Data Oversight Board, Recorded 25/10/2022

        Children and Families, Standard 03/11/2021

        Health, Standard 12/12/2018

Person—disability type

        Australian Teacher Workforce Data Oversight Board, Standard 30/08/2022

Person—disability type, Tertiary Collection of Student Information disability code NN

        Australian Teacher Workforce Data Oversight Board, Standard 30/08/2022

Sporting activity—disability specific flag

        Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Recorded 09/08/2023

Sporting activity—disability specific flag, yes/no/unknown/not stated/inadequately described code N

        Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Recorded 09/08/2023

Tertiary Collection of Student Information disability code NN

        Australian Teacher Workforce Data Oversight Board, Standard 30/08/2022

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