The NDIA partnered with the Monash University Centre for Health Economics.
We wanted to create a new index that measures the wellbeing of people with disabilities aged 15 and above, including NDIS participants.
This index will help measure the impact of the NDIS and other services in a way that is meaningful across all people with disabilities.
This will help us and other government agencies in the community improve services for people with disability.
It will also mean we can prioritise resources for the best impact.
The first stage
We completed the first stage in 2023. We co-developed 14 wellbeing items next to important life aspects of wellbeing for people with disability.
These items align with:
- the NDIS Participant Outcomes Framework
- Australia’s Disability Strategy Outcomes Framework
They cover satisfaction with the following life aspects:
- Getting along with family
- Having friends
- Getting along with the people who support you such as support workers
- Managing your personal care
- Satisfaction with daily activities
- Doing things in life that are important to you
- Physical health
- Mental health
- Your living situation
- How safe you feel
- Having the opportunity to learn new things
- How people treat you
- Having enough money to meet your needs
- Your work situation
The second stage
The second part of this process involved doing surveys with NDIS participants to see how important each of these life aspects are compared to each other.
The survey helped us to work out how to calculate a person’s overall wellbeing score from their satisfaction with each life aspect.
Further work
We are now exploring how we could apply the Disability Wellbeing Index within the NDIS.
This includes understanding whether it would work for all participants.
This stage will happen from 2026.
To find out more about this research you can email our research team at [email protected].