Australia's children are on the whole very healthy, with
families and the community playing an important role in their
overall wellbeing, says an Australian Institute of Health and
Welfare (AIHW) report launched today by the Minister for Family and
Community Services, Senator Kay Patterson.
The report, A Picture of Australia's Children, covers a holistic
range of measures of health and wellbeing, including information on
elements of family structure, education and early learning,
socioeconomic status, social cohesion, health status and infant
mortality.
AIHW report author Dr Indrani Pieris-Caldwell says that a
combination of medical and social factors has contributed to the
halving of the infant mortality rate over the last two decades,
from 9.6 per 1,000 live births in 1983 to 4.8 per 1,000 in 2003.
Similar improvements have occurred for children aged 1-14
years.
'The major contributing factors have been the declining rate of
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) (84% decline between 1983 and
2003), and death rates from injury and poisoning (60% decline).
Family and community-based structures and support have certainly
played an important role in this, alongside medically-based
interventions and advice.'
Dr Pieris-Caldwell said that while significant health and child
development gains are a feature of the report, there are areas of
concern for the future.
'Infants from the least advantaged socioeconomic areas are twice
as likely to die before the age of 1 year as those from the other
end of the socioeconomic spectrum. And although the Indigenous
infant mortality rate has declined over time, it is still 2.5 times
that of other Australian children.'
In 1998, nearly 90% of families reported good to excellent
family cohesion, as measured by family members' ability to get
along with each other, said Dr Pieris-Caldwell.
'And over 90% of households with children said that they were
able to get social support from family, relatives, friends
neighbours and the community, including help in times of
crisis.'
With respect to education, 92% of girls and 88% of boys met
national benchmarks for reading, writing and numeracy in 2001.
Rates for girls were consistently higher than for boys. Around 56%
of 4-year-olds went to preschool.
'Not all children have equal access to preschool,' said Dr
Pieris-Caldwell. 'Participation rates were higher in households
with the highest incomes (66% compared to 49% of children in the
lowest income households), and higher in major cities compared with
very remote areas (58% compared to 43%).'
Financial stress was an issue among lone-parent family
households: 'In 2002, 48% of lone-parent households with children
reported that they would be unable to raise $2,000 within a week
for something important, while only 15% of couple family households
reported this.'
Dr Pieris-Caldwell also said that there was a lack of recent
objective national data on children in key areas of concern such as
overweight and obesity, nutrition, physical activity, and mental
health.
2 May 2005
Further information: Dr Indrani
Pieris-Caldwell, AIHW, tel. 02 6244 1162 or 0407 915 851, or Ms
Meredith Bryant, AIHW tel. 02 6244 1112
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, tel. 02 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for availability of the A Picture of Australia's
Children, May 2005.