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Snapshot 2008: Children and Young People in Queensland is a recently released report from the Queensland Commission for Children Young People and Child Guardian. It provides a picture of the safety and wellbeing of children in Queensland by looking at data and research from various sources. The report's findings include news of:

  • a spike in the number of child and young people accompanied by an adult using homeless services
  • persistent disadvantage being experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait
  • Islander children as opposed to their to non-Indigenous counterparts;
  • the ongoing needs of children in alternative care.

The report can be downloaded at: http://www.ccypcg.qld.gov.au/about/publications/snapShot08.html (Source: email, Child Protection List, 13 November 2008.)

ARACY Report Card
As reported in Youth Field Xpress, n.146, October 2008, the ARACY Report Card" on the wellbeing of children and young people in Australia has been developed by the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY).

The ARACY Report Card" has been developed with the support of UNICEF Australia and the Allen Consulting Group and aims to help to increase community knowledge of child and youth wellbeing in Australia.

The ARACY Report Card" will focus on the underlying drivers in improving health and wellbeing, rather than simply the symptoms of problems, and will contain three sets of data: indicators for Australia as a whole, for Indigenous Australia, and for international or OECD performance. Its data sources include the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and various OECD data sources, such as UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).

As of Tuesday 21 October, the report card is available at: http://www.aracy.org.au/reportcard.

It draws on UNICEF's global Innocenti Report Card 7, 'Child poverty in perspective: An overview of child well-being in rich countries', produced by the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre in 2007 (PDF document).The Innocenti report card series arises out of UNICEF's mandate to advocate for children in every country, and focuses on the wellbeing of children in industrialised countries. Each report card brings an international perspective to national statistics, and includes a league table ranking OECD countries according to their record on the subject under discussion -- past topics included child poverty, child deaths resulting from injuries, educational disadvantage in rich nations. The report cards are published annually and are designed to appeal to a wide audience while maintaining academic rigour. (Source: UNICEF, http://www.unicef-irc.org/, viewed 16 October 2008, and UNICEF, UNICEF Australia partners with ARACY in developing unique Australian Report Card, media release, viewed 16 October 2008. )

Recently added:

CAYPIT
The Children and Young People in Tasmania (CAYPIT) resource provides an 'At a Glance' snapshot of children and young people in Tasmania on various topics.
More details (updated 2008-10-15)


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More details (updated 2008-10-15)


Young people and education across Australia
Educational attainment levels and participation in education and how this has changed in last decade, and how this varies by geographic location and by Indigenous status, is the subject of a section on 'Young people and education across Australia' in the recently published report from the ABS on Australian social trends.
More details (updated 2008-10-10)


Indigenous young people in education
Although there remains a marked difference in Year 12 completion rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, there have been improvements in educational participation and attainment for Indigenous people across Australia in the past decade.
More details (updated 2008-10-10)


Young people, taxes and benefits, 2003-04
A recent ABS document (Australian Social Trends 2008) contains statistics on the effect of government taxes and benefits on the household income of selected life-course groups, including young singles and couples, for the period 2003-04.
More details (updated 2008-10-10)


Illicit drugs: extract from a report on the use of illicit drugs
The ABS publication, Australian Social Trends 2008, in a section on risk taking by young people, includes data on the use of illicit drugs drawn from the 2007 National Drug Strategy Household Survey.
More details (updated 2008-10-10)


Young people are at risk of experiencing violence
Young people, especially young men, are at a greater risk than other age groups of experiencing violence, according to the ABS publication, Australian Social Trends 2008, in a section on risk taking by young people.
More details (updated 2008-10-10)


Potential consequences of risk taking by young people
The burden of disease and injury, mental health and psychological distress, causes of death, and deaths attributed to suicide are some of the potential consequences of risk taking by young people examined in the ABS publication, 'Australian Social Trends 2008', in a section titled, Risk taking by young people.
More details (updated 2008-10-10)


Risk taking by young people
The ABS publication, Australian Social Trends 2008, contains a section on risk taking by young people, with data on drinking at risky levels, hospitalisation due to drug use and acute alcohol intoxication, use of illicit drugs, dangerous driving, injury and death from transport accidents, and violence. It also examines some of the potential consequences of this risk taking, providing statistics on the burden of disease and injury, mental health and psychological distress, causes of death, and deaths attributed to suicide.
More details (updated 2008-10-10)


Generation Y and crime: NSW information
Nearly one in 10 persons born in NSW in 1984 acquired a criminal record before the age of 21, according to a new study titled, Generation Y and crime: A longitudinal study of contact with NSW criminal courts before the age of 21. The report, issued by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, demonstrates the potential savings to be gained from programs that reduce recidivism.
More details (updated 2008-09-30)


The State of Victoria's young people (2007)
The state of Victoria's young people (2007) is a Victorian government report on people aged 12-24. It presents evidence based on 35 measurable aspects of young people's health, economic wellbeing, learning, safety and community engagement.
More details (updated 2008-09-12)


Snapshot 2007: Children and young people in Queensland
The 2007 edition of Queensland's annual 'snapshot' of children and young people in that state contains statistics and information about population and family characteristics, health, disability and mortality, child protection, child care, education and employment, drug use, homelessness and crime.
More details (updated 2008-09-12)


ATP: Parent-adolescent relationships
A number of papers released during 2008 present findings drawn from recent data collection waves of the Australian Temperament Project on the relationships between young people and their parents.
More details (updated 2008-09-11)


Hearing loss
Young people aged 18 to 24 seem not to accept that loud music affects their hearing adversely, according to a recent survey of Australians' awareness and perceptions of healthy hearing.
More details (updated 2008-08-22)