Whom do we reach? Exploring health and community service use by Australian families with young children
Tamara Blakemore and Megan Shipley
Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
Contact Email:   annemarie.nicolfahcsia.gov.au

International research has identified significant differences in the patterns of service use by families of differing socio-economic position. However, at present little research exists within the Australian context that clearly describes differences in service use that exist across socio-economic groups for families with young children. Using data from waves 1 and 2 of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children this research seeks to understand the populations using a range of health and community services, exploring the relationship between family socio economic position and the use of services for both young children and other family members. Consistent with the existing literature, the findings of this research identify families in the lowest socio-economic positions are often the least likely to access a range of preventative and supportive health and community services and are the most likely to access economic support, crisis or emergency care type services. These findings suggest that the relationship between family socio economic position and service use is not necessarily straightforward. Further, preliminary investigations into the relationship between the number and type of disadvantages families experience and their use of services suggest that traditional, global or summary measures of disadvantage may present only part of the story. The type of disadvantage that families experience may have important implications for their engagement and use of services. Findings from this research can make an important contribution to the knowledge base for the development of responsive social policy relevant to improving the lives of families and their children.

Paper Download Information (if available):

Copyright © 2009 Social Policy Research Centre.