About communication

About communication

Communication difficulties

Many Australians live with ongoing barriers to communication. This can affect them having relationships and participating in social interactions and community life.

Communication difficulties or communication disability can happen at any age.

Some examples of barriers to communicating are:

  • A baby may be born with a disability in speaking, hearing or moving
  • A young child may not develop speech sounds to say words clearly, and others may not understand them
  • A school-aged child with language delay may not understand more complex words and sentences for learning
  • An adult may develop a condition such as Motor Neurone Disease or Parkinson's Disease
  • A person may become paralysed after a car accident
  • An older adult may experience hearing loss, stroke or dementia.

At any stage of life, people can experience new barriers to communication due to accidents, illness, or due to ageing. These can impact their quality of life.

Aria

Mother of Paloma, who is six years old and does not speak to communicate

‘Paloma does not have any formal language she uses that everyone around her - not just us - can understand. And that makes things quite difficult for her to express what she wants and what she needs.’

Communication difficulties can cause major implications

Approximately 1.2 million Australians reported some level of communication difficulty in 2015. 

Any communication difficulty - mild or complex - may be a barrier for a person participating in life and interacting with others.

Ensuring communication is accessible for everyone is important for personal wellbeing and building an inclusive society. There are so many ways to support people who experience communication difficulties.

Lisa

Communication advocate and AAC user

‘I would tell someone who said communication support was too hard to tape your mouth up and bind your hands and see how you cope for a day.’

Communication difficulties and diversity

Many services and businesses in Australia are run by people who only speak English. As a result, people who mainly speak a language other than English may experience barriers in communicating to shop, study, access services and get work.

It is important to overcome the barriers that can occur when people do not speak each other's language. There are many ways to make services accessible for all, including translation services and using photos or symbols to show the meaning of a word.

According to the 2021 Census, one in four of the people who need assistance in self-care, communication or mobility use a language other than English at home.

All people who have communication difficulties and disability need culturally safe culturally safe and sensitive support and appropriate options that suit them.

 

Learn more

AskVic multi-lingual chat-bot An initiative from the Victorian Government that supports Victoria’s multicultural communities to access information in a variety of languages.

Australian Government Translating and Interpreting Services.

Report: Profile of people with a core need for assistance in Australia Australian bureau of statistics, 2021 census.

Prevalence of different types of speech, language, and communication disorders and speech pathology services in Australia Report from the Senate Inquiry, referred in December 2013, and report submitted 2014.