About

Welcome to the Disability and Health Unit.  

We aim to improve the health of people with disability through rigorous research and knowledge exchange. In Australia, people with disability are disadvantaged in many areas of their lives and the lack of evidence linking disability, socioeconomic contexts and health, means that there is much to be done to reduce disadvantage for people with disability.

Our unit is one of the few places worldwide where the health of people with disability is researched from a public health perspective. The team excels in data analysis and in issues related to mental health, gender studies, epidemiology, health promotion and policy analysis. Research focuses on social, behavioural, and environmental contexts of health for people with disability and their families and carers in Australia and internationally.

The unit hosts the world-first Centre of Research Excellence in Disability and Health, funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council, a collaboration with universities within Australia and internationally. We are based at the Centre for Health Equity at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne.