This report outlines the findings from an independent, longitudinal analysis, examining the changes in the scale and nature of homelessness in Australia, as well as how social, economic and policy drivers influence these changes.

The latest estimates of the costs of raising children in Australia show costs have risen substantially over the last two decades, due to changing community expectations of what children need to live a healthy life.

This project builds on previous Australian and recent international research to develop a set of budget standards for low-paid and unemployed Australians and their families.

Despite the well-known limitations of statistical measurement, there is still a vital need to document the extent of overall poverty and its incidence among different groups in Australia. Without such evidence, it is impossible to establish how successful social and economic policies have been in alleviating poverty, or where additional resources need to be directed...

Peter Saunders, Kelly Sutherland and co-authors report on the first stage of a project designed to develop new indicators of disadvantage for Australia in the new millennium. This stage of their project involved a series of focus group discussions with clients of selected welfare programs that were designed to investigate, in detail, how people experience...