4105.0 - Children and Youth News, Nov 2006  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 29/11/2006   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All

NON-ABS RESEARCH

WESTERN AUSTRALIA ABORIGINAL CHILD HEALTH SURVEY

The Telethon Institute for Child Health Research (ICHR) released Strengthening the Capacity of Aboriginal Children, Families and Communities — the fourth volume of findings of the Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey (WAACHS) on 22 November 2006.

The WAACHS provides information on the prevalence, scope and determinants of developmental health problems and educational outcomes in Aboriginal children (aged 0–17 years) living in Western Australia. The first three volumes covered physical health, social and emotional wellbeing, and education. This fourth volume focuses on how key health and wellbeing outcomes of Aboriginal children and families are associated with different aspects of the communities in which they live. The large scale and scope of the survey places it in a unique position to more fully describe the prevalence and distribution of economic wellbeing, family functioning, life stress events and housing quality of families with Aboriginal children, and to identify factors that are associated with these outcomes.

The survey sampled more than 5,000 Western Australian Aboriginal children from around 2,000 families in rural, urban and remote areas of the state. The large scale and depth of the WAACHS means that the findings have relevance across Australia, and are applicable for use in the development of national frameworks and strategies across departments.

The survey was undertaken by the Institute in conjunction with the Kulunga Research Network and the Centre for Developmental Health at Curtin University of Technology. The ABS has played an integral role in the survey development, collection and output phases.


FAMILY VIOLENCE AMONG ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLES

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has recently released the report, Family Violence among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, which provides information on the prevalence and associated outcomes of violence, particularly family violence, for Indigenous People. The report contains national and some state-level data from both survey and administrative collections. Family violence has been recognised as an important issue in Australia and this report will be a valuable resource to inform government strategies and initiatives.

The full publication is available on the AIHW website.