More than one in 25 Australian children risks life-long social exclusion because of the suburb in which they grow up, according to new research from the University of Canberra.
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In the ACT, children who live in Belconnen, Gungahlin, Tuggeranong and Queanbeyan are at a higher risk of social exclusion than the rest of Canberra.
Researchers at UC's National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling have mapped the degree to which Australian children are experiencing exclusion or disadvantage in socio-economic status, education, connectedness, health services and housing.
They found that about 156,000 Australian children aged up to 15, live in ''high risk'' areas with nine out of the top 10 high-risk areas in the Northern Territory.
Lead chief investigator Professor Anne Daly said these high risk areas commonly featured ''a large proportion of children living in families where no adult is in paid employment, family income is relatively low, no adult in the family has completed Year 12, there is no access to the internet or a vehicle in the household, and there are relatively low numbers of doctors and dentists in the area relative to total population.''
The professor said ''a child that grows up at risk of social exclusion is not only likely to be disadvantaged now, but also in the future''.
''There are strong links between child disadvantage and poorer outcomes in adulthood including an increased likelihood of living in poverty and being in receipt of welfare as well as poor health and relationship outcomes,'' she said.
The index also includes information on educational achievement and early childhood development of children within an area, with area-based NAPLAN and early childhood development scores provided by the Australian Early Development Index factored into the overall measure of child social exclusion.
Findings show that about 17,000 children live in the top 50 small areas with the highest risk of social exclusion. From these, 32 are in the Northern Territory, 13 in Queensland, four in Western Australia and one in South Australia. None are in capital cities.
Children living in these areas are likely to be experiencing multiple factors related to disadvantage.
On the other hand, 90 per cent of the 50 small areas with the lowest risk are in capital cities in the ACT, NSW, Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia.
Professor Daly said these results show a strong geographical dimension associated with the risk of social exclusion and highlight the disparity between capital cities and regional areas
The ACT had high levels of relative advantage, with children growing up in north and south Canberra, Weston Creek and Woden the least likely to ever face social exclusion.
Children in Belconnen, Gunghalin, Tuggeranong and Queanbeyan, while, still within the top half of social advantage, fell slightly below children in the rest of Canberra.
Like Canberra, Perth had no areas of social exclusion risk.
Professor Daly cautioned, however, that the map's aggregation meant small pockets of disadvantage in Canberra and elsewhere would be disguised in the overall figures.
She said the map, which was first devised by NATSEM in 2006, using 2001 Census data, had been a resource for many government and charity interventions.
