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IN 2008, AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH and state and territory governments signed a National Partnership Agreement on Early Childhood Education, committing to provide universal access to quality early childhood education in the year before full-time schooling. The agreement noted that early childhood is a critical development period and quality early childhood education programs particularly benefit children at risk of poorer outcomes. Using the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, we show that for children aged four to five years in 2008, baseline risk factors were significantly associated with a range of poorer outcomes in the early school years and these associations were not offset by participation in a preschool program or attendance at day care without a preschool program. These results serve as a benchmark for the success of subsequent initiatives to provide children with universal access to quality preschool programs., Introduction In 2008, the Australian Commonwealth and state and territory governments signed a National Partnership Agreement on Early Childhood Education (the 'National Partnership Agreement'), which heralded reforms to the provision [...]

THIS PAPER DISCUSSES the individual, family, household and area level characteristics associated with preschool attendance for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians (aged three to five years who are not at school). Controlling for these factors explains all of the difference between Indigenous and non-Indigenous attendance rates for three-year-olds and much of the difference for four- and five-year-olds. Households Indigenous children live in have lower incomes and education levels than those of non-Indigenous children. Both factors are associated with lower attendance in preschool. State and territory, as well as remoteness, are also important explanatory variables, although the effects are different for Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. Finally, having a preschool worker who identifies as being Indigenous working in the area significantly increases attendance for Indigenous children in that area. However, fewer than 30 per cent of Indigenous children live in such areas., Introduction QUALITY PRESCHOOL EDUCATION can have substantial positive effects for the children who attend, easing the transition to school and providing a boost to a child's self-esteem as well as [...]

Background: Socioeconomic inequalities in mortality are evident in all high-income countries, and ongoing monitoring is recommended using linked census-mortality data. Using such data, we provide the first estimates of education-related inequalities in cause-specific mortality in Australia, suitable for international comparisons.Methods: We used Australian Census (2016) linked to 13 months of Death Registrations (2016-17). We estimated relative rates (RR) and rate differences (RD, per 100 000 person-years), comparing rates in low (no qualifications) and intermediate (secondary school) with high (tertiary) education for individual causes of death (among those aged 25-84 years) and grouped according to preventability (25-74 years), separately by sex and age group, adjusting for age, using negative binomial regression.Results: Among 13.9 M people contributing 14 452 732 person-years, 84 743 deaths occurred. All-cause mortality rates among men and women aged 25-84 years with low education were 2.76 [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.61-2.91] and 2.13 (2.01-2.26) times the rates of those with high education, respectively. We observed inequalities in most causes of death in each age-sex group. Among men aged 25-44 years, relative and absolute inequalities were largest for injuries, e.g. transport accidents [RR = 10.1 (5.4-18.7), RD = 21.2 (14.5-27.9)]). Among those aged 45-64 years, inequalities were greatest for chronic diseases, e.g. lung cancer [men RR = 6.6 (4.9-8.9), RD = 57.7 (49.7-65.8)] and ischaemic heart disease [women RR = 5.8 (3.7-9.1), RD = 20.2 (15.8-24.6)], with similar patterns for people aged 65-84 years. When grouped according to preventability, inequalities were large for causes amenable to behaviour change and medical intervention for all ages and causes amenable to injury prevention among young men.Conclusions: Australian education-related inequalities in mortality are substantial, generally higher than international estimates, and related to preventability. Findings highlight opportunities to reduce them and the potential to improve the health of the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: National linked mortality and census data have not previously been available for Australia. We estimated education-based mortality inequalities from linked census and mortality data that are suitable for international comparisons.Methods: We used the Australian Bureau of Statistics Death Registrations to Census file, with data on deaths (2011-2012) linked probabilistically to census data (linkage rate 81%). To assess validity, we compared mortality rates by age group (25-44, 45-64, 65-84 years), sex and area-inequality measures to those based on complete death registration data. We used negative binomial regression to quantify inequalities in all-cause mortality in relation to five levels of education ['Bachelor degree or higher' (highest) to 'no Year 12 and no post-secondary qualification' (lowest)], separately by sex and age group, adjusting for single year of age and correcting for linkage bias and missing education data.Results: Mortality rates and area-based inequality estimates were comparable to published national estimates. Men aged 25-84 years with the lowest education had age-adjusted mortality rates 2.20 [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.08‒2.33] times those of men with the highest education. Among women, the rate ratio was 1.64 (1.55‒1.74). Rate ratios were 3.87 (3.38‒4.44) in men and 2.57 (2.15‒3.07) in women aged 25-44 years, decreasing to 1.68 (1.60‒1.76) in men and 1.44 (1.36‒1.53) in women aged 65-84 years. Absolute education inequalities increased with age. One in three to four deaths (31%) was associated with less than Bachelor level education.Conclusions: These linked national data enabled valid estimates of education inequality in mortality suitable for international comparisons. The magnitude of relative inequality is substantial and similar to that reported for other high-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People are neither completely rational, nor completely random in their decisions. Rather, they exhibit predictable biases that not only make it less likely that they will achieve their own stated desires, but also complicate the design and efficiency of public policy. These are some of the insights of the emerging applied behavioural sciences. With some notable exceptions, these insights have not always filtered through to policy formulation. Policy related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians is one example of an area where insights from the applied behavioural sciences have the potential to improve the quality of policy decisions. A large amount of government funds is spent on Indigenous people reflecting a high degree of disadvantage. This paper provides new data and insights to understand the patterns and factors associated with decisions made by Indigenous people, thereby helping to improve the effectiveness of Indigenous policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the 2001 Australian Census is used to estimate predicted net benefits of education at a small geographic level. These are then linked to youth in the areas to test the associations with high school participation. This is done separately for Indigenous youth, a population sub-group with historically low levels of education participation. The results confirm that, in general, localised predicted benefits of education do have a significant association with participation. For the Indigenous population, however, there is no significant association between the predicted income benefits of education and participation and only a weak association with the employment benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing disparities in education outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is one of the main wags in which the relative disadvantage Indigenous Australians face will be overcome. Relative and absolute participation rates in all forms of education have improved, however they are still unacceptably low. Those Indigenous Australians who do undertake post-school education do so for the most part at a later age than the non-Indigenous population. This paper gives a descriptive analysis of the age at which Indigenous Australians are currently undertaking education, and the age at which Indigenous Australians obtained their qualifications in the past, making comparisons where appropriate with the non-Indigenous population. It also examines how certain characteristics of students vary across different age groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current debate in Indigenous affairs in Australia often involves the assertion that the last 30 years has been a period of policy failure. This article examines trends across a number of socioeconomic outcomes for Indigenous Australians from the 1967 referendum to the present, using census data. Overall, there has been steady, although not spectacular improvement in outcomes over time. These improvements are especially marked for education, which was coming from an exceptionally low base. This finding is somewhat at odds with the common perception of the ‘failure’ of Indigenous policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]