Inequality gap revealed on State's targets

Wednesday, 11 June 2008

A new online report being launched tomorrow at the University of Adelaide reveals for the first time the underlying, and at times widening, inequality gap between the least and most disadvantaged people in the State.

It shows a widening inequality gap in some of the State's key health, social, economic and education targets including the proportion of low birthweight babies, unemployment rate, and the rate of households experiencing mortgage stress.

Monitoring Inequality has been produced by the University's Public Health Information Development Unit and will be launched tomorrow by South Australia's Commissioner for Social Inclusion Monsignor David Cappo.

The website analyses 29 of the 98 targets or supplementary measures under the six objectives of South Australia's Strategic Plan across the whole population according to socioeconomic factors.

"Overall the level of wellbeing of the South Australian population is high, and generally increasing," says John Glover, Director of the Public Health Information Development Unit. "But the overall statistics mask substantial differences in some instances between the most and least disadvantaged people in the community."

"In developing actions, plans and strategies to meet the State's objectives, we need to ensure they apply to all groups within the population and that we are addressing the inequities that exist."

Mr Glover says Monitoring Inequality has revealed that there are often large inequality gaps underlying the State's objectives and in some cases they are widening.

For example, against the target of reducing the proportion of low birthweight babies, the overall rate for South Australia has marginally increased from 1989-92 to 2003-2005 but the gap in rates between the most disadvantaged areas and the least disadvantaged has widened from 22% higher in 1989-92 to 30% higher in 2003-2005.

The overall rate of households experiencing mortgage stress in South Australia was markedly higher in 2006 (9.1%) than in 1991 (5.6%). The gap in rates between the most and least disadvantaged areas increased from 67% higher in 1991 to more than double in 2006.

The Monitoring Inequality website can be found at www.publichealth.gov.au.

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