The geography of child disadvantage: a measure of child social exclusion risk at the small area level
Ann Harding, Justine McNamara, Rob Tanton, Mandy Yap and Anne Daly
NATSEM
Contact Email:   mandy.yapnatsem.canberra.edu.au

In targeting scarce resources, policy makers and planners often need to identify where the most disadvantaged children live. While the ABS Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas are very widely used to identify disadvantaged areas, these indexes are developed based on the characteristics of adults, rather than being specifically related to the circumstances of children living within each small area. During the past year NATSEM has developed a child social exclusion index for each Statistical Local Area within Australia, using specially commissioned Census data tailored to the circumstances of children. This paper provides an overview of the methodology used and presents results about the geography of child disadvantage. The results show, for example, that the risk of child social exclusion is greater for children living outside the capital cities - and that children living in Queensland and Tasmania face higher risks than those living in the ACT and the other States.

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