Left Behind 2014: Monitoring the Social Inclusion of Young Australians with Self-Reported Long Term Health Conditions, Impairments or Disabilities 2001-2012

Abstract

This Policy Bulletin is the second in an annual series reporting on the social inclusion/ exclusion of young Australians (aged between 15 and 29) with self-reported long term health conditions, impairments or disabilities. In the first Policy Bulletin – Left Behind: 2013 reporting on the time period 2001-2011, we reported that disabled Australian adolescents and young adults were more likely to experience social exclusion than their non-disabled peers, and that the gap between the two actually widened between 2001 and 2011. This Policy Bulletin updates Left Behind: 2013 by extending the mapping to the year 2012, the latest year for which data are available. Our findings address two key questions: How did the social inclusion of young Australians with disabilities compare with that of their peers in 2012? Did the gap between the social inclusion of young Australians with and without disabilities narrow or widen over the 12 year period from 2001 to 2012?