Australia's disability job market faces low wages and fragmented support

A new Grattan Institute report finds that Australians with high‑needs disabilities have an employment rate of just 34 % compared with 82 % for non‑disabled people. Many of those employed earn under the Supported Wage System, with wages as low as $3.31 an hour, far below the national minimum wage of $26.44.

The report says the two main government programs – Inclusive Employment Australia and the National Disability Insurance Scheme – operate in silos, leaving disabled workers in fragmented, low‑pay workplaces such as Australian disability enterprises that employ about 17,000 people. Only 12 % of NDIS adults with intellectual disability and 7 % of those with Down syndrome are in open employment at full award wages, and transition to mainstream jobs is rare (4 % of workers under 25 move on within a year). The Institute calls for targeted federal investment, public reporting by large employers on disabled staff and wages, and reforms to align services with open‑employment outcomes.