It is well established that the vulnerable groups in our society (those who need our services the most), access services the least. This was first termed the ‘inverse care law’ (Hart, 1971) in 1971 and remains true today. It is also widely accepted that these groups commonly suffer the worst outcomes, be they Aboriginal or...

The National Children’s Vision Screening Project has been funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing to inform future policy by determining the effectiveness of vision screening for children aged from birth to 16 years in Australia. The literature review was commissioned to evaluate screening programs designed to detect vision conditions such as diminished...

There is substantial research about the importance of identifying problems early, before they become entrenched. Intervening early in the course of a condition or problem increases the chance of there being a positive outcome; the earlier intervention is commenced, the more likely it is to be effective and less expensive. Since early childhood is a...

This State of the World’s Mothers Report examines data and trends in the field of child survival and presents a case for why the world must do more to prevent death among children under age 5. The report includes the first-ever Child Survival Progress Rankings that look at 60 developing countries showing which countries are...

Overweight/obesity during childhood is a major public health issue with more than 200,000 Australian children between 2-18 years now obese (Booth et al, 2003). It has significant health implications across the life span. This Policy brief reviews the effectiveness of prevention and intervention strategies and highlights the importance of adopting a multi-faceted approach to decrease...