How many Australians have Down syndrome?

In support of its call for the establishment of a national register of Australians with Down syndrome, our national peak body, Down Syndrome Australia, has put together the fragmented information that currently exists to provide an evidence based estimate of the number of Australians with Down syndrome.

We believe the population to be over 13,000 and growing.  As there is no national, state or territory register of Australians with Down syndrome (with the exception of the IDEA database in Western Australia) this number cannot be rigorously confirmed. However, Down Syndrome Australia is confident that our collation of what little data is available is accurate. You can read the summary here.

• This post, originally published in 2009, is updated as new information becomes available.  It provides links to relevant statistics and commentary about estimates of birth incidence and population prevalence of Down syndrome in Australia and elsewhere.