PC News - May 2017
Australia's children from birth to adulthood: What do the 2017 ROGS and 2016 OID reports tell us?
The Productivity Commission recently published the 2017 Report on Government Services (RoGS) and the 2016 Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage (OID) report. These reports are vital tools for evidence-based policy making and to facilitate improved wellbeing for all Australians. This article shows how information from these reports can help answer some key questions about the wellbeing of children and young people.
Are Australian children born healthy?
Birthweight is a key indicator of the health status of babies and a predictor of their health outcomes later in life. Around 5 per cent of Australian babies are born of a low birthweight (less than 2500 grams), with the rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers twice the rate for non-Indigenous mothers (RoGS table EA.5 and OID table 6A.4.2).
The child mortality rate has decreased over the past eight years from 105.9 to 80.7 per 100 000 children (based on three-year averages up to 2015; RoGS table EA.55). The rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children is around twice the rate for non-Indigenous children (based on a five-year average for 2011–2015; RoGS table EA.56), but there has been a narrowing of the gap since 1998 (single year data up to 2014; figure 1).
Figure 1: Child mortality rate (0-4 year olds)
Per 100 000 children
Source: OID table 4A.2.1 (note data do not include Victoria, ACT or Tasmania). RoGS contains three year averages for total population by state and territory in table EA.55.
Are Australian children accessing the services they need to maintain their physical and mental health?
Access to effective health care services can influence the health of children in the short and long term. Governments seek to facilitate early detection of physical and mental health issues and illness, followed by appropriate intervention. Since their inception, Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) health checks have been accessed by an increasing proportion of children, with the rate of assessment higher for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (figure 2).
Figure 2: Proportion of children receiving a fourth year developmental health check
Per cent
Source: OID table 6A.8.8 and RoGS table 10A.31.
Immunisation is an effective means of preventing some diseases and death. For 5 year olds in Australia coverage is now above 90 per cent, having increased by over 10 percentage points in less than 10 years (figure 3). From 2013, the coverage rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 5 year olds has overtaken that for other 5 year olds (figure 3).
Figure 3: Proportion of 5 year olds who are fully immunised
Per cent
Source: OID tables 8A.1.25–28. RoGS contains data for all children in table 10A.72.
An increasing proportion of children (aged less than 18 years) are using MBS subsidised mental health services (figure 4). Rates are similar for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous young people (aged less than 25 years) (RoGS table 13A.19). Increasing proportions may indicate better access, but may also suggest higher prevalence of mental illness among young people.
Figure 4: Proportion of children using MBS subsidised primary mental health care services
Per cent
Source: RoGS table 13A.18.
Are Australian children developmentally on track when entering school?
Since 2009, an increasing proportion of students are developmentally on track when they commence full-time schooling. The larger percentage point increase for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students has led to a narrowing of the gap to non-Indigenous students (figure 5).
Figure 5: Proportion of children on track on four or more domains of the AEDC as they enter school
Per cent
Source: RoGS table BA.7 (data by specific domain are available in the OID report).
Data for 2015 show that for children who attended preschool, 19.9 per cent were developmentally vulnerable on one or more domains, compared to 38.5 per cent for those who did not attend preschool (RoGS table 3A.75). In 2015, around 87 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 4 year olds and 97 per cent of non-Indigenous 4 year olds were enrolled in a preschool program in the year before full time schooling (up from around 74 per cent and 91 per cent respectively in 2013) (OID tables 4A.3.2–4 and RoGS table 3A.28).
Are Australian school students achieving national minimum reading and numeracy standards?
Nationally, literacy and numeracy skills are measured using data from annual National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests for children in years 3, 5, 7 and 9. From 2008 to 2016, there were statistically significant increases in the proportion of students meeting the national minimum standard for reading for all year 3 students and year 5 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. For numeracy, there were statistically significant increases for year 5 and year 9 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. However, volatility in the data means conclusions drawn from comparisons should not be interpreted as consistent improvement over time (figure 6).
Figure 6: Proportion of students achieving at or above the national minimum standard for reading and numeracy
Reading
Per centNumeracy
Per centSource: RoGS tables 4A.60 and 4A.86 and OID 4A.4.88, 90–91, 93–94 96–97 and 99.
For students to learn literacy and numeracy skills at school, attendance at school is a key input. Nationally, student attendance rates for years 1–10 have remained relatively stable in recent years at around 84 per cent for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and 93 per cent for non-Indigenous students (RoGS table 4A.37 and OID table 4A.5.1).
How many children are in need of protection and are they kept safe?
The proportion of children aged 0–17 years receiving child protection services has increased over time, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children overrepresented (RoGS tables 16A.9 and 16A.17 and OID tables 4A.11.1, 5 and 6). Data need to be interpreted with care as increasing rates may be due to greater community awareness of child abuse and neglect, the propensity to report (for example, as a result of changes to mandatory reporting) and (for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children) improvements in Indigenous identification.
Out-of-home care is one component of the child protection system, with rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children almost doubling in the last 10 years whilst the rate for non-Indigenous children has remained similar (figure 7). At 30 June 2016, the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care was almost 10 times the rate for non-Indigenous children (figure 7).
Figure 7: Rate of 0–17 year olds in out-of-home care
Rate per 1000 children
Source: RoGS table 16A.17 and OID table 4A.11.6.
Safe and secure out-of-home care placements are strong predictors of improved outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care. In 2015-16, for jurisdictions with available data, between 0.5 to 5.5 per cent of 0–17 year old children in out-of-home care were the subject of a substantiation of sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse or neglect - this is around 400 children (RoGS table 16A.27).
For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care, placements aim to maintain connections to family, kin and/or community where possible, which is linked to improved long-term outcomes. Over the past 10 years, the proportion placed in accordance with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle has decreased (from 75.3 per cent to 67.9 per cent) (RoGS table 16A.23). This decline needs to be interpreted with caution as placements with family, kin and/or community may not always be the best option.
How many children are in detention and are they kept safe?
One of the key principles underpinning Australia's youth justice system is that young people should be placed in detention only as a last resort. Other options available are the diversion by police away from the formal criminal justice process, and community-based supervision.
The overall detention rate declined between 2007-08 and 2014-15 (although there were some fluctuations during the period). However, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people continue to be in detention at 20+ times the rate for non-Indigenous young people (figure 8). There has also been a downward trend from 2010-11 for community-based supervision, but with rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people still around 14 times higher than the rates for non-Indigenous young people (figure 8). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young offenders were less likely than non-Indigenous young offenders to be diverted from formal criminal justice processes (OID table 11A.3.2).
Figure 8: Rate of 10–17 year olds in detention and community-based supervision
Rate per 100 000 young people
Source: RoGS tables 17A.9–10 and OID tables 4A.13.10 and 4A.13.12.
Safety of young people in detention is an important indicator of service quality. In 2015-16, eight young people in custody were injured as a result of a serious assault (all non-Indigenous detainees) and 125 young people injured as a result of a non-serious assault (55 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander detainees and 68 non-Indigenous detainees) (RoGS tables 17A.18–19). There were 75 young people in 104 separate incidents reported as having self-harmed or attempted suicide, with 12 of these young people requiring hospitalisation (RoGS table 17A.20).
Are Australian students leaving school to further study or employment?
The destination of school leavers is an indicator of governments' objective that the school system enables young people to make a successful transition from school to work and/or further study. In 2015, around 1 in 6 of all 15–19 year olds who left school in the previous year were neither studying nor employed (RoGS table 4A.110).
Students leaving school without completing year 12 are at a higher risk of not successfully transitioning to further work or study. In 2015, of all 15–24 year olds no longer at school, around 4 in 5 had completed year 12 (RoGS table 4A.111). Engagement in study (not school) or work was 56.3 per cent for non-year 12 completers compared to 77.1 per cent for year 12 completers (RoGS table 4A.111). Whilst a lower proportion (around 2 in 5 in 2014-15) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 15–24 year olds no longer at school had completed year 12, this proportion has increased nine percentage points over the last 10 years (OID table 4A.6.5).
The proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 17–24 year olds (all school leavers) fully engaged in post-school education, training or employment increased 10 percentage points from 2002 to 2014–15. The rate for non-Indigenous Australians remained stable over this period, leading to a narrowing of the gap (figure 9).
Figure 9: Proportion of 17–24 year olds who are fully engaged in post-school education, training or employment
Per cent
Source: OID table 7A.3.2.
For more information…
In addition to the national results presented here, the RoGS and OID report contain data by State and Territory, remoteness, age and sex, subject to availability and quality. The reports and their wealth of data provide a solid foundation for governments and the community to use to facilitate improvements in policies, programs and outcomes for both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and all Australians.