My life as a budget item: Disability, budget priorities and poverty in Tasmania

Lower workforce participation rates, lower incomes and a higher cost of living due to disability related expenses means that many Tasmanians with disabilities live in poverty. This research explored the lives of working age people with disabilities in Tasmania during 2005-6. Participants discussed issues such as poverty, using services, assistive technology, housing, accessing health care, social isolation, and access to employment and education. They found the supports available to offset the additional costs of disability were insufficient. As one person said, “You have to be rich to afford to be disabled.”