Australia's welfare 2025 is the AIHW's 17th biennial welfare report. It explores topical welfare issues and brings together multiple data sources to serve as a report card on the welfare of Australians. Australia’s welfare is framed around ‘welfare’ in its broadest sense – welfare refers to the wellbeing of individuals, families and the community. Welfare and wellbeing are often used interchangeably – see Understanding welfare and wellbeing.
Australia’s welfare 2025 consists of 2 products:
Australia’s welfare: topic summaries present key information and statistics on welfare in Australia, aged care, housing, education, employment, supports and services, justice and safety and First Nations people across more than 30 web pages. Available online as web pages (some updated when new data are available).
Australia’s welfare 2025: in brief presents key findings and concepts to tell the story of welfare and wellbeing in Australia.
Available to download as a PDF or you can purchase the in brief as a hardcopy.
Welfare data in Australia: Addressing data gaps and building evidence
Data are essential to understand how people engage with and navigate welfare services, and are useful for policy formulation, implementation and service delivery, and evaluation.
The AIHW manages a number of national data sources, and works with state and territory governments, the ABS, other independent bodies and the non-government sector, to ensure the data included in Australia’s welfare 2025 are comprehensive, accurate and informative. Despite recent improvements and enhancements, gaps exist where there are no national data currently available or where data collected are not comprehensive.
The AIHW’s flagship reports, Australia’s health and Australia’s welfare, are highly regarded as sources of authoritative and accessible information.
