Addressing the challenges of intellectual disability identification for health policy and research in Australia

Abstract

This article discusses the important issue of the need for a stable definition of intellectual disability in order to allow comparisons by place and over time such as in the monitoring of this population’s health needs and utilization. The aim of the new Australian National Centre for Intellectual Disability Health, established in 2023, is to ensure that all Australian children and adults with intellectual disability receive high-quality healthcare that meets their needs. Monitoring changes in this regard requires accurate identification of the number of people with intellectual disability within a population which itself is inherently dependent on how intellectual disability is defined. We ..