A recent piece of research by Screen Australia benchmarked the current diversity of Australian TV by analysing nearly 2000 main characters from 199 free-to-air Australian TV shows. 

Seeing Ourselves: Reflections on Diversity in TV Drama found that only 4 per cent of TV show characters in Australia had an identifiable disability. In reality, just over 18 per cent of Australians have a disability. 

This research also analysed who plays characters with disability, and what this means to stakeholders. It found that actors without disabilities are placed in 91 per cent of roles for characters with disability. 

See the full article summarising the research on the Centre for Applied Disability Research here.