Catholic Diocese of Broome

“Dropping Off the Edge” is a report on the distribution of disadvantage in Australia. Professor Tony Vinson led the team that produced the document for Jesuit Social Services and Catholic Social Services Australia who jointly commissioned the investigation. It was published just recently and launched in Canberra. Professor Vinson is an Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Education and Social Work at Sydney University and is highly regarded as the foundation director of the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. In the 1970s he administered the New South Wales prison system. It was there, the report Preface notes, that “He saw at first hand the ultimate consequences of failing to address social alienation and disadvantage in individuals, families and local communities.”

The genius of this report is the gathering of a vast array of data provided by a huge range of governmental sources. This has been analysed so as to produce an insight into how social disadvantage continues to weigh heavily upon certain groups of people in our nation. The production of charts and maps showing where social disadvantage indicators are most acute are essential tools for any one seriously wishing to address poverty in this country.

The social disadvantage indicators employed to examine the gathered data numbers up to twenty five in each State or Territory. These may be grouped under one of five headings –

In Western Australia the geographic units selected for analysis were based on Local Government boundaries. This was not ideal as can be seen from an examination of the Broome Shire unit where the amassed wealth of a significant number of people disguises the depth of poverty in particular communities outside of the township and indeed inside it.

Halls Creek is regarded by the report as being the second most disadvantaged locality in Western Australia. Derby West Kimberley also comes in for a special mention.

Of particular interest are the indicators most to the fore in the disadvantage profile of Halls Creek. These indicators were: low income families, limited computer use, early school leaving, Year 12 incomplete, limited internet access, disability/sickness support, long term unemployment, criminal convictions, lack of post-school qualifications and unemployment, prison admissions, confirmed child maltreatment.

None of this identification of social disadvantage indicators will surprise people who are working closely with poverty stricken peoples in the Kimberley. But the clarity of the conclusions of the study may bring about a new approach to solving the issues as the report also identifies “how and where public policy can be used effectively to overcome these long term problems”.

The time has come to put aside the political differences that divide us. Politicians and policy architects need to find innovative ways to break the vicious cycle of poverty. As Prime Minister John Howard said: “We need to find ways of restoring order to zones of chaos in some homes and communities – zones of chaos that can wreck young Australian lives.”

A close examination of this report by politicians and a dedication to fairness in policy building for the future for those who live ‘off the edge’ would be an appropriate beginning.