Victoria's most disadvantaged communities have shown little sign of improvement over the past 15 years, a report shows.
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It also finds that a tiny number of communities are shouldering most of the disadvantage burden in the state, in a pattern that is repeated in other states and territories.
The Dropping off the Edge report, published by Catholic Social Services and Jesuit Social Services, tracked 667 Victorian postcodes across 22 indicators of disadvantage, including internet access, income, education level, literacy and numeracy, long-term unemployment, unskilled workers, juvenile offending and criminal convictions.
It then looked at the number of times a postcode occupied a top 5 per cent spot with an indicator, finding that just 4 per cent of postcodes occupied 28 per cent of the top spots.
Broadmeadows, Corio, Doveton, Frankston, Maryborough and Morwell were the state's most disadvantaged postcodes, according to the report, written by Sydney University professor Tony Vinson and associate professor Margot Rawsthorne.
Ardeer, Braybrook, Campbellfield and Wendouree were close behind.
In a finding that has the community sector calling for more government action to tackle disadvantage, many of the most highly disadvantaged postcodes had been found to be similarly disadvantaged in previous similar reports over the past 15 years.
Nearly half of the state's 40 most disadvantaged postcodes in 2015 had the same ranking in a 2007 study. In 1999, eight out of the 12 postcodes in the top two most-disadvantaged bands were the same as this year.
"What this report tells us is that disadvantage is entrenched in a small number of Australian communities, most of which have remained similarly disadvantaged for more than a decade," Jesuit Social Services chief executive Julie Edwards said.
Kathy Buhagiar lives in the Broadmeadows area of Melbourne, identified as one of the most disadvantaged in the state.
She battled alcohol addiction for years until, in her own words, she got "sick of being drunk".
She has since studied to get a business administration diploma and has a casual job in a local community centre.
While Ms Buhagiar says she didn't "help myself" when she was struggling with addiction, services in the area are scarce.
There are "no job prospects" and it is not unheard of for people to wait 10 years to get community housing.
Describing the area as "pretty hard," Ms Buhagiar says, "you get judged straight away for where you live".
Ms Edwards said that people "can't overcome structural disadvantage when all the odds are stacked against them.
"While our social support structures work for many Australians, this report shows clearly there are a small but significant number of communities we have failed and a new structure – a new approach – is needed."
The report calls for federal and state governments to set up units to co-ordinate community programs by government and non-government organisations.
