Understanding Inequality Within a Personalised System of Disability Support: Australian Children With Disabilities' Unmet Support Needs

ABSTRACT Disability support has shifted towards models of personalised care, which critics argue may contribute to increased inequalities. There is limited systematic evidence investigating inequalities in support among children with disabilities. To investigate inequalities in support, a survey of parents of children with disabilities aged 2–17 was conducted. Data from 644 participants were used to analyse unmet needs. Poisson regression was used to examine relationships between child characteristics, family background, NDIS funding, and number of unmet needs. Most children (83%) were reported to have unmet needs, with therapy, school‐based support, and support workers most common. Older children and those with greater functional difficulty had higher unmet need. Low household income, adult disability, single‐parent families and residence in regional areas were also associated with higher unmet need. Individual funding was associated with lower unmet need for therapy and medical care, but higher unmet need for support workers, access to community activities and transport. Unmet needs for support are common, and there exist substantial inequalities in support for children with disabilities. Individual funding was not found to reduce unmet needs for support. These results indicate that there is an urgent need for reform of Australia's disability support systems to enhance equitable support.