Australians with disability represent some of the most excluded of all Australians in relation to the impacts of coronavirus. At the same time, many people with disability are particularly at risk from COVID-19, because of barriers that exist to inclusion, and the need for ongoing support.
This report sets out the findings from a survey that asked 200 people with disability about their experiences over the last two months.
“Over 90% of people with disability said they had faced increased expenses due to COVID-19,” said El Gibbs, Director, Media and Communications, PWDA. “People with disability had higher expenses for food and groceries (58%), healthcare (31%), internet and phone (26%) and sanitising and hygiene equipment (20%).”
“Many people with disability already live in poverty and rely on income support, such as the Disability Support Pension (DSP). But those on the DSP were not eligible for the coronavirus supplement that would have gone some way towards alleviating these increased costs,” said Ms Gibbs.
Download report (off-site)Read media release: Expensive, Isolating, Lonely: New Survey Reveals Experiences Of People With Disability During COVID-19 (off-site)- Topics:
- Emergency management, Funding and Data
- Author:
- People with Disability Australia
- Date published:
- Fri 5th Jun, 2020