The chapter structure is:
Chapter 1 Understanding welfare—defines key welfare-related concepts, along with
profiling Australia’s population size and structure
Chapter 2 Australia’s welfare spending and workforce—outlines how much Australia is
spending on welfare and reflects on changes in Australia’s welfare workforce
Chapter 3 Child wellbeing—highlights the influence of education on building life skills
and laying the critical foundations for a productive and healthy life
Chapter 4 Young people—recognises the challenges faced by young Australians,
including those who require child protection services or are homeless
Chapter 5 Working age—defines and examines the welfare of Australia’s working-age
population plus the changing trends in home ownership in Australia
Chapter 6 Growing older—explores the pressures, opportunities and responses that an
ageing population poses for the welfare system
Chapter 7 Diversity and disadvantage in Australia—profiles some of the most vulnerable
groups of Australians and examines the challenges they face
Chapter 8 Indicators of Australia’s welfare—proposes a new reporting framework for
indicators of Australia’s welfare, and sheds light on the performance of the welfare system, in
the context of the contribution of other sectors and the influence of selected determinants.
In terms of structure within chapters, most chapters consist of a combination of analytical feature
articles on topical welfare issues supplemented by short statistical ‘snapshots’ that provide key data
on a given subject. Together, the feature articles and snapshots highlight:
• determinants of welfare
• major forms of support available at different stages of people’s lives (and with differing needs)
• the breadth of welfare services received.
This report presents the best data available in 2015. The extent of analysis and data presented in the
life-stage chapters depends on data availability relevant to the different age cohorts. Comparative
trend analysis reflects the best available data, as well as the most relevant time periods for the issue
under consideration