About this report

A person holding The Strategy document. The Strategy document is a document with a disability icon on it. The disability icon shows a person using a wheelchair.

Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031 is a plan to support people with disability in all areas of their life.

In this report we call it the Strategy.
The Parliament House government building, a state and territory government building, and a local government building.

All levels of government run the Strategy.

This includes:

  • the Australian Government
  • state and territory governments
  • local governments.
A disability icon with a ticked checkbox above it.

Outcomes are the important results we want to get for people with disability.
An arrow pointing from The Strategy document to a glowing lightbulb.

The Strategy has ideas about how to make life better for people with disability in 7 main areas.

We call these outcome areas.

A community of people with a thought bubble above them.

This report is about one of the Strategy’s outcome areas.

The outcome area is called ‘community attitudes’.

A person pointing to themselves with their other hand raised. Above them is a thought bubble with 3 dots in it.

Your attitudes are what you:

  • think
  • feel
  • believe.
A diverse group of people from the community giving a thumbs up.

All levels of government want the community’s attitudes to be inclusive.

A diverse group of people from the community taking part in an activity in a park.

When the community’s attitudes are inclusive, everyone can:

  • take part in the community
  • feel like they belong.
A group of people. Above them is an icon of a data folder and a thought bubble with a disability icon in it.

The Australian Government needs to collect data about the community’s attitudes to see how they change:

  • over time
  • while they use the Strategy.

When we talk about data, we mean:
A document with a magnifying glass focusing on it. Inside the lens of the magnifying glass is a tick.
  • facts
An information icon - the letter 'i' in a bubble.
  • information
A data folder with documents in it.
  • records.
A calendar that reads '2022' There is a speech bubble coming from the calendar with a question mark inside it.

In 2022, ANU ran a survey called ‘the ADS Survey – Share with us’.
A person reading a document in a folder. Next to them is an information icon.

In this report, we explain what we learned from the survey.

Who we heard from

A diverse group of people. Above them is a card that reads '18 thousand, 188'.

We heard from 18,188 people.

A diverse group of community members sitting together. They have a thought bubble above them.

The survey collected information about the attitudes of different groups in the community.

It collected information from people who work in:
A group of health care workers.
  • health – like doctors and nurses
A teacher supporting a student with a painting.
  • education – like teachers
A police officer and a lawyer.
  • law – like police officers and judges
A carer supporting a person. The carer is checking the blood pressure of the person they are supporting.
  • support – like carers.
An employer shaking hands with a worker. Above the worker is a dollar symbol and an arrow pointing to them.

The survey collected information from employers.

An employer is a person who hires other people to work for them.

The survey also looked at the way community attitudes affect:
A diverse group of people with disability.
  • the experiences of people with disability
A diverse group of people. Above them is an inclusion icon with a tick inside it.
  • how inclusive the community is.
A person with disability reading an accessible document at a desk with a laptop. Above them is a tick and an accessibility icon.

The survey was in different formats and languages to be accessible for everyone.

When information is accessible, it is easy to:

  • find and use
  • understand.