Intellectual disability healthcare in Australia: Progress, challenges, and future directions

Abstract

People with intellectual disability experience some of the greatest health disparities in Australia. Individuals are expected to access mainstream health services that are ill equipped to meet their needs. The Australian government has made recent commitments to improve the healthcare of people with intellectual disability. This article describes the Australian health system and how it responds to the needs of people with intellectual disability. It draws on examples of advances in policy, inclusion, and service development, achieved through concrete and persistent systemic advocacy, to discuss emerging evidence on the delivery of healthcare to people with intellectual disability in Australia. The article also highlights immediate priorities including increasing the uptake of health assessments, building the capacity of our health workforce, and responding to the needs of people with intellectual disability in COVID-19 outbreaks or other natural disasters. Intellectual disability healthcare is at a dynamic point in Australia with commitment and funding from government to lead to change. It is critical that momentum in health services development is maintained to enable improved health outcomes for people with intellectual disability.