Uniting Care Australia chair Bronwyn Pike says housing stress and labour market changes are leading to the social exclusion of Australian children, with a disturbing one-in-six living in poverty.
The report considered 2016 census data and other information, such as Naplan results, to measure where family income falls below the poverty line and the broader measure of child social exclusion, including socioeconomic, education, disconnectedness, housing and health metrics.
The research showed, that in 2016, 17-point-2 per cent of Australian children up to the age of 14 lived in poverty in terms of social exclusion.
University of Canberra policy analysis professor Laurie Brown says misconceptions of where the poverty line actually sits means more Australian families live below it than than the public believes.
Source: Meredith O'Shea
"A number of children living in families who are below a poverty line, and now that poverty line can be defined as half the median after tax income, once the cost of housing has been remove".
A breakdown of states and territories shows children are at the greatest risk of facing social exclusion in the Northern Territory at 43-point-1 per cent.
Tasmania follows with 34-point-1 per cent and South Australia with 26 per cent of children at risk of facing social exclusion.
The report says from 2011 to 2016, 35 per cent of children at risk of social exclusion found themselves in that position due to their families being under housing stress.
And, for many local communities it's an ongoing problem, with 87 per cent of those with the highest risk of child social exclusion in 2011 remaining so in 2016.
Uniting Care Australia National Director Claerwen Little says significant government investment and action is needed to improve opportunities and resources in the struggling areas.
"Poverty and social exclusion and disadvantage are complex and persistent and they require long-term strategies to be successfully mitigate."
