Childhood
A positive start in life helps children to reach their full potential, while a poor start is associated with a higher likelihood of adverse outcomes.
Children’s health and development are influenced by a range of factors, including family relationships, living conditions, the quality of parenting, educational experiences, social interactions, and safety. These factors can have lasting effects across the life course.
Healthy development depends on children growing and learning in safe, supportive and nurturing environments. Early disadvantage can have lasting effects – children who experience vulnerability are more likely to have poorer outcomes across health, development, learning and behaviour, which can affect their ability to fully participate in society.
While many children in Australia are doing well, there is scope for further improvement, particularly among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) children and children from priority populations.
Timely, accurate and comprehensive data are essential to monitor the health and wellbeing of Australia’s children and support the development of evidence-based policy. The AIHW reports on the health and wellbeing of children living in Australia across a range of domains, including health, education, social support, household income and finance, parental employment, housing and justice and safety.
Adolescence and young adulthood
Adolescence and young adulthood are key periods of transition in a person’s life, marked by rapid emotional, physical and cognitive development. During this time, many modifiable behaviours and risk factors (such as smoking and alcohol use) emerge or accelerate.
This transition is affected by social, economic, environmental and, particularly in recent years, technological changes. The pathways from education to work, and from the parental home to independent living, have become more varied and complex for young people, and often extend over longer periods. Each of these transitions comes with its own challenges. How young people navigate these changes can affect the rest of their life course significantly.
While most Australian’s young people cope well with the transitions from adolescence to young adulthood, there are some who are vulnerable to harm and who face limited social, educational or economic opportunities. While there are many factors associated with vulnerability, priority populations such as First Nations youths, young people from low socioeconomic and/or remote areas, youths in the child protection and youth justice systems, and those experiencing homelessness are at increased risk.
The AIHW reports on the health and wellbeing of young people aged 15–24 across the domains of health, social support, education, employment, income and finance, housing, and justice and safety. Due to data coming from different data sources, and with varying reporting methods, the defined age range for young people may vary across different reports. In some cases, data may overlap with age ranges used for children (0–14-year-olds).
