Households are important health contexts, providing social, emotional, financial and material support, but little is known about the role of household composition in the social etiology of Indigenous health. Our research is framed by an Indigenous standpoint, using eight waves of data from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children. We investigated whether household composition and change in household composition were associated with the self-reported general health of Indigenous children ...

Objective: Sport may promote academic performance through physiological and psychosocial mechanisms. We aimed to examine the association between sports participation and academic performance in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Methods: Participants were from four successive waves of Australia’s Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (n ¼ 303, baseline age 5–6 y). Cumulative sports participation was regressed against academic performance from two standardised tests. Res...

Indigenous fathers play a central role in the lives of Indigenous children growing up strong. For Australia’s Indigenous people, growing strong includes the possessing heightened levels of health, education and cultural knowledge. This article focuses on Indigenous fathers and how they understand the importance of sharing cultural activities with their children. We argue that the sharing of Indigenous cultural practices, and the subsequent telling of this narrative, are key enablers for ...

To explore sleep patterns in indigenous Australian children and assess the role of sleep timing in longitudinal changes in body mass index (BMI). Latent profile analysis was conducted with the Australian Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC) cohort data (wave 5), to determine distinct patterns of bed and wake timing, taking account of weekday sleep duration, weekday and weekend bedtimes, and weekday wake times. Multilevel models with a random intercept were used to investigate the ...

The present thesis explores the effects of racism on Aboriginal children’s social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) and Aboriginal pregnant women’s mental health and wellbeing. Identification of protective factors against the effects of racism on child wellbeing was also contemplated. The thesis comprises seven chapters. Chapter 1 includes a review of the literature on characteristics of the Aboriginal Australian population and the effects of racism across the lifespan. This chapter also contemp...

This paper provides a brief summary of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, a nationally representative household panel survey. It describes the survey’s key design features, provides an overview of its content, and reports on response rates and sample sizes. It also highlights a few examples of research utilising the data, discusses two challenges currently facing the study, and provides details on how to access the data.

Participation in sport and physical activity can improve academic outcomes and has been identified as a potential mechanism for addressing educational disadvantage and 'closing the gap' in Australian Indigenous communities. To explore this possibility in relation to sport and lifestyle we performed a cluster analysis on data from the Footprints in Time study (also known as the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children), using data from Waves 3-6 (2010-2013, ages 5-9 years) of this cohort stud...

This critical systematic review of Australian research literature provides insights into the aspirations of Indigenous communities to collaborate with schools in establishing local Indigenous language and cultural programmes. This systematic review investigates the body of Australian research into the cultural, social and educational impacts on those Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students who have had opportunities to engage with these school-based Indigenous languages and/or cultu...

In Australia and internationally, there are increasing calls for the use of strengths-based methodologies, to counter the dominant deficit discourse that pervades research, policy, and media relating to Indigenous health and wellbeing. However, there is an absence of literature on the practical application of strengths-based approaches to quantitative research. This paper describes and empirically evaluates a set of strategies to support strengths-based quantitative analysis. A case study abo...

We study the effects of inherited socioeconomic characteristics on markers of unhealthy bodyweight. Taking Australian microdata from 2007 to 2013, we show that approximately 4% of the variation in outcomes is determined by factors beyond an individual's control, such as their race, gender, and social class. Paternal socioeconomic status is the primary explanatory factor, with those born to more affluent fathers slightly less likely to be overweight in adulthood. Decompositions reveal that onl...

We provide an overview of the integration of refugees into the labor markets of a number of high-income countries. Discussing the ways in which refugees and economic migrants are differently selected and so might be expected to perform differently in a host country's labor market, we examine employment and wages for these groups over time after arrival. There is significant heterogeneity between host countries, but in general, refugees experience persistently worse outcomes than other migrant...

The aim of this paper is to summarise existing evidence and new analyses that shed light on the role of reconciliation in schools and early learning services in particular, and in education more broadly. We present the first analysis in Australia of the relationship between racism/discrimination and cognitive development among the Indigenous Australian population, showing a negative and statistically significant longitudinal relationship. We discuss the policy implications of these findings...

The aim of this paper is to summarise existing evidence and new analyses that shed light on the role of reconciliation in schools and early learning services in particular, and in education more broadly. We present the first analysis in Australia of the relationship between racism/discrimination and cognitive development among the Indigenous Australian population, showing a negative and statistically significant longitudinal relationship. We discuss the policy implications of these findings...

Adolescent prosocial behavior suggests social competence and it is associated with greater parental warmth yet the experience of warmth through child and adolescent development is not well understood as it relates to such prosocial behavior. A nationally representative dataset from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children cohort was used. The analyses involved multiple waves beginning when children were aged 4-5. The main analyses used a sample of 2723 adolescents aged 16-17 years (Mean,...

Not a Level Playing Field – People with Disability builds on the Actuaries Institute’s May 2023 Green Paper that found inequality in Australia is significantly higher than in the 1980s. The new report provides a deeper and more nuanced examination of inequalities for people with disability in Australia. We examine the income gaps for people with disability compared to the broader population, finding that disposable income is about half for those with severe disability, aged 25 to 64. These i...

School truancy is associated with many negative life outcomes, including violent, property, and drug offending, lower levels of education, and subsequently lower status and lower-paying jobs. These negative life outcomes are also related to future reliance on government welfare payments. This research sought to identify how high school truancy affects young people's welfare receipt dynamics in emerging adulthood. It uses longitudinal data from a nationally representative household panel surve...

This thesis explored prosocial behaviour from a developmental and life-course perspective. In doing so, I fill two gaps in understanding in the role of prosocial behaviour in the deceleration of conduct problem behaviour. First, I explore how a developmental and life-course understanding of prosocial behaviour may shed light on whether prosocial behaviour is a facilitator or measurable outcome of the deceleration of conduct problem behaviour. Second, I explore how the social support perceptio...

Dispersal policies that place humanitarian migrants outside non-metropolitan locations are increasingly common, but evidence of their impact on integration outcomes is mixed. By combining spatial, longitudinal and multidimensional perspectives into a unified analytical framework, this study examines the relationships between non-metropolitan settlement and a diverse range of objective and subjective integration outcomes. To accomplish this, we leverage five waves of panel data from Building...

This report presents key insights into the social connectedness of Australians who have ever served in the Australian Defence Force (ADF), using data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. The analysis expands information on the Social Support domain of the AIHW's Veteran-centred model, and forms part of an ongoing body of work in partnership with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA). It aims to explore both risk and protective factors for social isol...

Background: Poor sleep can contribute to poorer health and socioemotional outcomes. Sleep health can be influenced by a range of individual and other socioecological factors. Perceptions of neighborhood physical and social characteristics reflect broader social-level factors that may influence sleep, which have not been well studied in the Australian context. This study examined the association between perceived neighborhood characteristics and sleep in a large sample of Australians. Methods...

The CIE was commissioned by Family and Relationship Services Australia to use cost benefit analysis to estimate the net social and economic benefits of a wide range of Family and Relationship Services available to Australians funded by the Department of Social Services (DSS) and the Attorney Generals Department. Based on extensive analysis of prior studies and new evidence, we estimate that Family Law Services return $7.85 in benefits for each dollar in invested, and services funded by DSS un...

Working Future: The Australian Government’s White Paper on Jobs and Opportunities was released in September 2023. It outlines the Government’s vision for a dynamic and inclusive labour market. One where everyone has the opportunity for secure, fairly paid work and people, businesses and communities can be beneficiaries of change and thrive. Five ambitious objectives contribute to achieving the Government’s vision: Delivering sustained and inclusive full employment Promoting job secu...

Social support has been proposed to be a protective factor that buffers the losses that result from the experience of negative life events. The present study uses data from a large-scale Australian panel study (the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey) to examine how life satisfaction changes following the onset of a disabling condition and then to test whether preevent or postevent social support moderates reactions to this event. Results show that the onset of a disabli...