Migrant people living with a disability are missing out on support services

work and disability

A man in a wheelchair Source: AAP

There are concerns vulnerable people born overseas and living with a disability in Australia are missing out on support services. The organisation People with Disability Australia says the national scheme set up to service the disabled community needs to be more accessible and inclusive. It's hoped a multilingual hub offering non-English speakers who have a disability crucial information about available support, will start to fill the gap.


Australian data shows people born overseas have the same rate of disability as those born locally. 

Yet many people who are eligible for the National Disability Insurance Scheme are missing out.

Settlement Services International says NDIS registrations are sitting at only eight per cent. 

That's why the organisation has created the Multilingual Disability Hub, funded by the National Disability Insurance Scheme. 

It caters for 14 languages through a telephone line and website.

The biggest uptake in the service so far has been from the Vietnamese, Mandarin and Arabic communities.

Karen Bevan from Settlement Services International says one Vietnamese caller rang seven times to ask about NDIS eligibility. 


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