Economics of Disability in Australia: Implementing a National Disability Insurance Scheme

The thesis examines key aspects of the economics of disability in Australia. The economics of disability is a broad subject area bringing together various threads of economic research to explore the socio-economic determinants of disability, the demand for and supply of supports and the outcomes for people with a disability. The thesis first explores the factors associated with the use of service and supports, and changes in unmet need for services. The thesis proceeds to focus on autism and the factors associated with the timing of diagnosis and estimates the impact of a child’s autism diagnosis on maternal labour supply.