About the report
This rapid review of social protection for people with disabilities in Indonesia, co-authored by CIP’s Daniel Mont and CIP fellow Aisyah Ardani, examines the extent to which the country’s programs reach the roughly 6.4% of the population living with a disability. Drawing on a desk review, focus groups with 21 Indonesian disability organisations, and five international country examples, it identifies where Indonesia’s system succeeds and falls short.
Published in 2025 as part of the Australia-Indonesia Partnership Program for Poverty Alleviation and Comprehensive, Inclusive and Adaptive Social Protection (PROAKTIF).
A benefit program can look generous on paper and still miss the people who need it most. That’s the central tension in this new review of social protection for people with disabilities in Indonesia, co-authored by Daniel Mont of the Center for Inclusive Policy (CIP) alongside CIP fellow Aisyah Ardani and colleagues from CBM Global’s Inclusion Advisory Group.
How Many People in Indonesia Are Affected?
Indonesia’s own data sources disagree on the exact number, but they agree on the pattern. Depending on the survey, disability prevalence ranges from roughly 6% to 9% of the population, and it rises sharply with age: over 40% among people 60 and older. More than 10 million households in the country include at least one member with a disability.
Why Do Official Poverty Numbers Undercount the Problem?
Indonesia’s poverty statistics already show a gap: about 16% of households with at least one member with a moderate or severe disability live in poverty, compared to roughly 9% of households without members with moderate or severe disabilities. But that gap widens once you account for what disability actually costs. Disability households spend up to 20% more just to reach the same standard of living as everyone else, and when that spending is factored in, the effective poverty rate for households with moderate or severe disability jumps past 25%.
Are Existing Programs Reaching People with Disabilities?
Not evenly. People with disabilities are enrolled in Indonesia’s major cash transfer and education support programs at far lower rates than people without disabilities, despite facing higher poverty risk. A dedicated disability cash transfer exists, but it currently reaches only about 0.1% of people with disabilities, and no program adjusts benefit levels for the extra costs that disability itself creates.
What Do People with Disabilities Say About the System?
Focus groups with 28 representatives from 21 Indonesian disability organisations surfaced a consistent set of frustrations: low awareness of what programs even exist, opaque eligibility rules, benefits that get deactivated without explanation, and processes so inaccessible that some people simply give up trying to collect what they’re owed. One participant described paying a personal assistant more than the benefit itself was worth, just to reach the post office.
What Can Indonesia Learn from Other Countries?
The report profiles five countries navigating similar tradeoffs. Armenia’s shift to a digital, functionality-based assessment (covered in a separate CIP report) offers one model. France shows what a resource-intensive, fully individualised system looks like at the high end. Thailand and the Philippines demonstrate incremental reforms possible at middle-income levels, while South Africa illustrates the risks of an assessment process so burdensome it excludes people who should qualify.
What Should Come Next?
The report doesn’t prescribe a single fix. Instead, it lays out nine concrete evidence gaps, from the true prevalence and cost of disability across regions, to how much autonomy people actually have over benefits paid to their households, that Indonesian policymakers need filled before designing the next round of reforms.
