Marginalised Australians: Characters and Predictors of Exit over Ten Years 2001-10

Abstract

A decade ago, 13 per cent of Australian adults were living in extreme, multifaceted disadvantage, or ‘marginalised’ circumstances, defined as a complex mix of economic, social, early-life and health disadvantage. Following up 866 of these Australians ten years on, over a period of primarily strong economic growth, we find that almost 60 per cent had managed to exit marginalisation. Others remained marginalised and still others were new entrants to marginalisation. The focus of this research report is to compare those who remained marginalised between 2001 and 2010 with those who managed to exit marginalisation. This comparison provides powerful information for policy decisionmaking and service design through identifying protective factors that predict exit from the profoundly disadvantaged state of marginalisation. It also indicates potential pathways towards leading a happy and productive life when facing such a situation, as well as some of the barriers to doing so. The concept of marginalisation applied in this study stems from an innovative approach to conceptualising multi-faceted disadvantage. This novel approach allows a more complete picture of what distinguishes the lives of multiply disadvantaged people from the lives of other people in the community.