A picture of Australia's children, 2009

This report provides updated data on how Australia's children are faring. Based around a framework of key national indicators of child health, development and wellbeing, including the Children's Headline Indicators, the report seeks to answer: How healthy are Australia's children? How well are we promoting healthy child development? What factors can affect children adversely? What kind of families and communities do Australia's children live in? How safe and secure are Australia's children? How well is the system performing in delivering quality health, development and wellbeing actions to Australia's children? The report finds that though most children are faring well, there is room for improvement, in particular for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and children in remote areas, and in the areas of diabetes, obesity, assault, and homelessness. Data are supplied from numerous sources, and are current to 2002-2007, as available, and include mortality, disability, breastfeeding, dental health, physical activity, nutrition, early childhood education, transition to school, literacy and numeracy, social and emotional development, teenage births, birth weight, alcohol and tobacco use during pregnancy, family functioning, family economic situation, parental health, non-parental care, neighbourhood safety, social capital, injuries, bullying, child abuse, violence, crime, homelessness, immunisation and screening, child care, and child protection.