Patricia Faulkner AO

Chair, Australian Social Inclusion Board
22 January, 2010

How Australia is Faring, Report of the Australian Social Inclusion Board

Patricia Faulkner AO, the Chair of the Australian Social Inclusion Board, today launched the Board’s report, Social Inclusion in Australia: How Australia is faring.

The Board’s report shows that while most Australians live well, there are some groups who are doing it very tough.   While most Australians are employed, 15% of all Australian children live in jobless families.  Most Australians have high life expectancies but some groups, such as Indigenous people, have much lower expectancies (10 to 12 years lower).

To make matters worse for some Australians, disadvantage in one area is often shown to be associated with disadvantage in other respects.  For example, the Board’s report finds that low income households often have poorer health and/or more difficulty accessing transport and other essential services.   35% of people with low incomes reported fair or poor health compared to only 7% with high incomes.  10% of people with low incomes have difficulty accessing transport compared to only 1% of people with high incomes.  People with low incomes are also less likely to have access to the internet at home (33% compared to 85% with high incomes). 

Similarly, people living in areas of low socioeconomic status tend to have lower levels of involvement in many aspects of community life.  People living in the most disadvantaged 20% of regions are shown to be much more likely to be unemployed, more likely to have children who are developmentally vulnerable, less likely to have Year 12 or equivalent at ages 20 to 24, less likely to participate in a community group and less likely to have a say in decisions that affect them.

Approximately 5% of Australians aged 15 years and over experience three or more types of disadvantage.  This tells us that approximately 5% of Australians are people suffering from social exclusion.

Social inclusion is about addressing multiple disadvantages and ensuring that everyone is able to participate fully in Australian society. It is about people having the necessary opportunities, capabilities and resources to enable them both to contribute to and share in the benefits of Australia’s success as a nation. 

The Australian Social Inclusion Board notes that the nation needs to address social exclusion because it is the fair thing to do and fairness has the potential to improve the well-being of everyone by: eliminating the threats to security and harmony that arise from excluding groups in our society;  improving economic performance by allowing everyone to make a contribution; and enhancing pride in being a society which not only values fair treatment and opportunity, but actually works hard to achieve it.

This report sets the baseline for measuring progress on reducing disadvantage in Australia and provides a platform for the Board to address the topic of breaking the cycle of disadvantage over the coming year. 

Ms Faulkner will be presenting on the key findings of the report at the upcoming inaugural Social Inclusion Conference on 28-29 January 2010 at the Melbourne Convention Centre.

In a speech in Darwin today, the Prime Minister will address the long term challenge of tackling disadvantage, lifting participation rates and achieving social sustainability, as part of a series of Australia Day addresses on Building Australia.

For further information, please contact Ms Patricia Faulkner, Chair of the Australian Social Inclusion Board on 03 9288 5058.

The Report is now available in the publications section.