Annexure A: Sources
- Mortality patterns among people using disability support services in Australia:
https://www.ndiscommission.gov.au/about-us/what-we-do/inquiries-and
reviews/death-people-disability
“The NDIS Commission engaged the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
(AIHW) to create a report about mortality patterns of people using disability supports.
The report identifies causes and risk factors for deaths in people with disability,
particularly where the death was attributed to their disability – also known as
‘overshadowing’.
The main report findings were:
compared with the general population, people using disability support services
had higher rates of mortality
the leading causes of death varied across the study group
people with disability had higher rates of potentially avoidable deaths
the rate of death varied by type of disability
the rate of potentially avoidable deaths varied by type of disability
the rate of death varied by type of disability service.
The complete Mortality patterns among people using disability support services in
Australia report is available on the AIHW website. There is an Easy Read version of
the summary report available to view.“
- Suicide deaths among people who used disability services: https://www.aihw.gov.au/suicide-self-harm-monitoring/population-groups/disability
service-users
“Deaths by suicide among people who used disability services and the general
population data (who were not disability service users) are sourced from the AIHW
report: Mortality patterns among people using disability support services: 1 July 2013
to 30 June 2018. These data include details about deaths for people who accessed
disability specific support services, funded under the National Disability Agreement
(NDA), from 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2018, herein referred to as ‘people who used
disability services’. Deaths reported are those that occurred between 1 July 2013 to
30 June 2018. It should, therefore, be noted that the data below are not
representative of all deaths of people with disability, but rather those who had access
to and were successful in applying for NDA funded support services over the 5-year
study period. In this reporting, the general population is the Australian population
aged under 65 years, less people who used disability services. For further
information on the methods of this study please see the Technical Report. The
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has largely replaced the disability
services currently provided by states and territories to people with disability under
the NDA.
People living with disability are one of the Australian government’s priority
populations for suicide prevention due to the high rates of suicide and self-harm
among those with disability (Australian Government 2022). As such, analysis and
visualisation of data from the above report has been incorporated into the National
Suicide and Self-harm Monitoring System.“
3. Mortality patterns among people using disability support services in
Australia
Potentially avoidable deaths of people with disability in Australia in 2013
2018: Contributing causes and risk factors
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/mortality-patterns-of-people-using
disability-serv/contents/summary
People using disability support services had higher rates of potentially
avoidable deaths
“People with disability had a crude rate of 240 potentially avoidable deaths (PADs)
per 100,000 people. After adjusting for age, the rate for the study population was 3.6
times as high as the general population. The leading causes of PADs in the study
population were coronary heart disease followed by suicide. These were also the 2
leading causes of PADs (and overall leading causes of death) in the general
population.
The rate of PADs in Australia is used as an indicator of the health system’s
effectiveness, with deaths considered potentially avoidable in the context of the
current health system classified using nationally agreed definitions. They do not
indicate that these deaths have individually been assessed as avoidable.“
Senate Joint Standing Committee
Submission Addendum Number 3
The I-CAN Tool
Embedding of Ableism within the NDIA
Prepared by: Peter Gregory B.Des. St., B.Occ.Thy., Grad. Cert. Comm. Dev. (Int).,
Grad. Cert. Soc. Admin.
Date: 14.11.2025
A Disability Rights Analysis Contradiction of CRPD Human Rights
Foundations
“The CRPD establishes the right of persons with disabilities to live independently and
be included in the community (Article 19), to enjoy autonomy and legal capacity on
an equal basis with others (Article 12), and to participate fully in all aspects of life
(Article 3). The I-CAN tool, by classifying individuals into predetermined categories
and then attaching budgetary allocations to these classifications, undermines these
rights. Instead of fostering self-determination, the tool constrains individuals by fitting
them into actuarial profiles that determine the types of support deemed “reasonable”
(Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2017). General Comment No.
1 on Article 12 of the CRPD explicitly rejects frameworks that substitute professional
judgment for the will and preferences of persons with disabilities (United Nations,
2014). The NDIA’s proposed reliance on I-CAN, therefore, is misaligned with its
human rights obligations under international law.“