Overview

Dropping off the Edge 2021 studies communities in every Australian state and territory to identify pockets of entrenched location-based disadvantage and the unique web of challenges these communities face. It provides an unparalleled picture of where disadvantage is concentrated, how various forms of disadvantage overlap, and how disadvantage becomes entrenched and difficult to escape.

Methodology

The report measures 37 indicators across seven domains of social wellbeing, health, community safety, economic, education, environmental and intergenerational outcomes for 2,292 communities in every Australian state and territory. These locations are then ranked according to their susceptibility to disadvantage.

Dropping off the Edge 2021 ranks SA2s, not post codes or suburbs. An SA2 is an Australian Bureau of Statistics unit “designed to reflect functional areas that represent a community that interacts together socially and economically”. It is small enough to represent a community, and is generally comprised of one or multiple suburbs.

Aims

Through the findings of this report, we aim to:

  • keep the reality of location-based disadvantage before the Australian community.

  • identify any shifts in the relative fortunes of some localities.

  • contribute to strategic thinking about effective remedial policies.

  • give community service partners and organisations up-to-date information to guide and assist their work.

Dropping off the Edge 2021 can help governments, decision-makers and communities to set priorities and target resources to effectively reduce the most severe disadvantage.

It can be used to:

  • drive government and social service strategy development.

  • guide frontline service delivery and funding allocation.

  • avert crises and prevent emerging communities from ‘dropping off the edge’.

  • show strength and weaknesses of policies through examples of community recovery.

While Dropping off the Edge 2021 shows that the pattern of entrenched disadvantage in each state and territory is persistent over time, change can be achieved when the inter-related factors causing disadvantage are understood and community-led solutions are properly resourced.