how our children are faring - mallee family care · 2016-10-06 · the “how our children are...

How our Children are Faring

A Report of Indicators on Children aged 0-12 years living in the Swan Hill Local Government Area, 2013

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Contents

Executive Summary 3

A Profile of the Communities in the Swan Hill LGA 5

How to Read this Report 5

Indicator 1 - Developing Well 6

Indicator 2 - Safe & Secure 9

Indicator 3 - Engaged in Learning 11

Indicator 4 - Happy & Healthy 12

Indicator 5 - Connected in Community 12

Data Sources & References 14

Report Commissioned byBuilding Child Friendly CommunitiesAdvisory Committee, Swan Hill

Prepared byThe Vinson Centre for Applied Social Research Mallee Family Care This publication has been made possible by funds provided by the Australian Government

DisclaimerThe Vinson Centre for Applied Social Research gives permission for excerpts of this report to be reproduced on the condition that they be fully referenced and acknowledged. While The Vinson Centre for Applied Social Research endeavours to provide reliable analysis and believes the material it presents is accurate, it will not be liable for any claim by any party acting on such information. © The Vinson Centre for Applied Social Research 2013 Picture on front page drawn by Kirra from Swan Hill North Primary School

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There are few, if any, more fundamental measures of how our society is travelling than the care and support we extend to our children. If caring for our young and providing them with the opportunity to fully develop their capacities is not a precious and privileged obligation, what is?

For most people the immature child’s reliance on our support and encouragement is enough to trigger those nurturing, playful and protective impulses that we regard as ‘human’ and which bring their own reward. Now we have learned from research that what always seemed to constitute the elements of a good start for our children is well justified scientifically. As the report that follows states, a stimulating, nurturing and non-violent environment brings benefits to brain development and a child’s general development.

Regrettably, for a variety of reasons, this desired state of affairs does not always exist and our communal obligation to the children affected and their families extends to additional supportive measures. For this to be done effectively and discretely, the progress of each child on a range of standardised measures of development needs to be assessed in the early years so that appropriate tailored responses can be made available. Such early interventions make good sense both from the point of view of facilitating the development of a child’s capacities and avoiding the social costs of repairing functional difficulties at a later, less propitious stage of development.

Mallee Family Care is to be congratulated on adopting a set of professionally well regarded indicators to guide early intervention strategies in Swan Hill. These indicators will enable children’s developmental progress to be monitored and, in addition, over time, the general wellbeing of the area’s children to be assessed. That assessment includes aspects of the socio-economic condition of the region - factors like low income families, unemployment, domestic violence, and rental stress - which endanger the wellbeing of children. Another broad community indicator which recent Victorian research has shown to be predictive of childhood offending is a low take-up rate of consultations with the Maternal Child Health nurse.

It is pleasing that, consistent with Mallee Family Care policy, all of the foregoing information is being shared with other agencies and services working in the region. This is a fine example of collaboration that should inspire similar arrangements in other locality-based initiatives across the state.

Tony Vinson AMEmeritus Professor Faculty of Education and Social WorkUniversity of Sydney

Tony Vinson

Executive Summary

The “How our Children are Faring” report provides a conceptual map of indicators and outcomes in respect of children aged 0-12 years in the Swan Hill Rural City Council catchment.

The report was commissioned by the Building a Child Friendly Community Advisory Committee, an activity of the Communities for Children program funded by the Federal Government. It is key to the work of the Communities for Children program and will assist with the planning of future activities to ensure that our communities are places where families and their children want to live, work, learn and play.

This report examines key factors associated with the wellbeing of children and their families. It uses a set of specific indicators to measure how children in the Swan Hill LGA are faring compared with the rest of Victoria. This data will be used to establish benchmark data that future “How our Children are Faring” reports will build on. Over future years this will provide the Swan Hill communities with an accurate picture of how safe and secure our children are compared with the rest of Victoria.

We’re faring well in:• Childrenintheirfirstyearatschooldisplayemotional maturity;• Childrenintheirfirstyearatschoolhaveaboveaverage language and cognitive skills;• Therearelowerthanaverageinitialchildprotectionreports;• Ourchildrenareattendingpre-school;• Ourchildrenaretransitioningwelltoschool;• Childreninyear3aredoingwellinreading,writing and numeracy.

We’re not faring so well in:• Children’sphysicalhealthandwellbeingisn’tasgoodintheir first year of school;• Childrenintheirfirstyearofschoolarenotassocially competent; • Communicationsskillsandgeneralknowledgeofchildrenin their first year of school is lower than for the rest of Victoria;• Notasmanychildreninourcommunitieshaveattendedfor their 4 month and 3.5 year developmental assessments;• Ahighernumberofchildrenareexposedtofamilyviolence;• Thereareahighernumberofchildprotectionre-reportson children in our communities;• Morechildrengrowupinlowincomefamiliesthanintherest of Victoria; • Ourchildrenarenotasregularlyreadto;• Ourparentsdon’tparticipateasmuchwiththeirchild/ children’s school;

• Childreninyear5arenotdoingaswellinreading,writingand numeracy;• Notasmanyofourchildrenareinthehealthyweight range area;• Lessofourparentsspendtimewiththeirchildren;• Ourchildrenspendsignificantlylesstimeoutdoorsthanthe rest of Victoria’s children;• Fewerofourfamilieshaveaccesstotheinternet.

The “How our Children are Faring” report provides an important snapshot of the health and wellbeing of families and children in the Swan Hill LGA and will be invaluable for professionals, planners and community members in both raising the awareness of the needs of families and children in our communities and in ensuring that these needs are at the forefront of future decisions about programs and services in our communities.

Fiona HarleyDirector - Education, Training and Research UnitMallee Family Care

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VICTORIA 81.2%

SWAN HILL 75.8%

Where are they?Swan Hill Rural City includes the townships and localities of Annuello, Bannerton, Beauchamp (part), Beverford, Bolton, Boundary Bend, Bulga, Castle Donnington, Chillingollah, Chinangin, Chinkapook, Cocamba, Fish Point, Gerahmin, Goschen, Gowanford, Happy Valley, Kenley, Kooloonong, Kunat, Lake Boga, Lake Powell, Liparoo, Manangatang, Meatian (part), Miralie, Murnungin, Murrawee, Murraydale, Narrung, Natya, Nowie, Nyah, Nyah West, Nyrraby, Pental Island, Piangil, Pira, Polisbet, Robinvale, Robinvale Irrigation District, Speewa, Swan Hill, Swan Hill West, Tol Tol, Towan, Tresco, Tresco West, Turoar, Tyntynder, Tyntynder South, Tyrrell (part), Ultima, Ultima East, Vinifera, Waitchie, Wandown, Wemen, Winlaton, Winnambool, Wood Wood, Woorinen, Woorinen North and Woorinen South. 1

The LGA encompasses a total land area of about 6,100 square kilometres and the location of Swan Hill and surrounding localities are situated approximately 470 kilometers from Melbourne and approximately 510 kilometers from Adelaide. 2

Who are they?According to the ABS Census of Population and Housing (2011), the population of Swan Hill currently sits around 29,499 people with a median age of 39 years and with approximately 18% of the population under the age of 12 years. The next largest cohort is the 35-54 age group, consistent with trends across Australia in relation to the ageing population. In terms of family (with children) composition, Swan Hill families are seen as predominately nuclear with 74% of families consisting of two parent household and 26% consisting of single parent households.

Predominately, people who live in the Local Government Area of Swan Hill were born in Australia (90%) and speak English as their first language (93%). According to the ABS(2011) there are 885 Indigenous persons living in the Swan Hill LGA and 166 Indigenous persons in the Gannawarra LGA representing a total of 3% of the total population. Of the 885 Indigenous persons identified as living in Swan Hill LGA on census night a significant proportion (30%) are under the age of 24 years.

For people who were born overseas (10%) predominately were born in Asia & Africa. This trend has seen a change to the demographics of this community as prior to the year 2000, the majority of people born overseas were from European countries and from 2001 onwards the trend acknowledges a shift from people born in Europe to Asian and African countries.

The majority of people (69%) living in Swan Hill live in accommodation that they own or mortgage, with another 26% renting accommodation through private rental and 5% living in Public Housing. Approximately 27% of people in Swan Hill live on their own. The median average income for an individual living in Swan Hill is $481 per week and income for a family averages out to $1,089 per week. Within the Indigenous population living in Swan Hill LGA 35% are earning less than $299 per week.

Although there are a high proportion of people living in their own accommodation, in general, Swan Hill is relatively socio-economically disadvantaged given the above social and economic indicators. In fact, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage (2011) Swan Hill has a score of 939, ranking as the 12th most disadvantaged community in Victoria out of a total 80 Local Government Areas.

In terms of education, about 34% of Swan Hill’s population have completed Year 12 or equivalent with a total of 73 Indigenous students in this cohort completing Year 12. The majority of Indigenous students achieved Year 10 level of education(ABS 2011). At the other end of the school continuum, Swan Hill has approximately 94% of children aged 4 years participating in pre-school, early years learning. The current NAPLAN (2011 and 2012) results identify that Swan Hill students in Year 3 are performing above the state average in Writing, Reading and Numeracy, whereas the students in Year 5 are tracking below the state average in the same competency levels.

What do they do?According to the Swan Hill Rural City Council’s Community Profile, much of the rural area is used for agricultural and horticultural purposes, including wool, wheat, maize, citrus fruits, grapes, wine and dairy products. Tourism is also an important industry.

In terms of employment, 59% of the population is gainfully employed, with 3% registered as unemployed and another 38% not in the labour force, according to the ABS Census (2011). According to the MMLLEN, Environmental Scan (2013), there has been a major decline in jobs within the Swan Hill area due to the impact of a slow economy and problems within rural industry. According to the ABS Census (2011), the top three areas of employment include 18% of people in the Agricultural Industry, 12% employed in the Social & Health Care and 11% employed in Retail.

A Profile of the Communities in the Swan Hill LGA

How to Read this Report

We have chosen to use a ‘traffic light’ method of highlighting the Swan Hill district’s results in comparison to the Victorian State.

You will notice the Victorian statistic in a grey circle - this is the baseline. The colour of the circle depicting the statistic for Swan Hill will depend on whether it rates below (red) or above (green) Victoria.

For example,

Physical Health & Wellbeing

The graphic above shows that Swan Hill rates below the Victorian baseline in relation to their physical health and wellbeing.

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26.7

73.3

23.8

76.1

27.5

72.4

37.7

62.3

17

83

18.9

81.2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

At Risk or Vulnerable On track

% o

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Local Community Comparison - Physical Health and Wellbeing

Beverford District

Lake Boga & surrounds

Manangatang & surrounds

Robinvale & surrounding irrigation districts

Swan Hill & surrounds

Victoria

1.1 Children are well developed by their first year of schoolIn 2012, 21% (58) of 277 children in their first year of school in the Swan Hill area were developmentally vulnerable in one or more of the following domains.

Furthermore, 10.5% (29) of those are vulnerable on two or more domains. The domains being: physical health & wellbeing; social competence & wellbeing; emotional maturity; language and cognitive skills (school-based); communication skills and general knowledge. 3 - Australian Early Development Index Domains, 2012

Physical Health & Wellbeing 24.2% (66) of children in Swan Hill in their first year of school:

• Arecomingtoschoolunprepared,notproperlydressed,hungryortired• Maybelimitedinorhavenotdevelopedcoordinationorindependenceskills• Haveaveragefineandgrossmotorskillsorhavelowenergy

How do the Swan Hill local communities compare?

VICTORIA 80.5%

SWAN HILL 79%

VICTORIA 81.2%

SWAN HILL 75.8%

Local Community Comparison - Physical Health and Wellbeing

26.6

73.3

42.9

57.2

31

68.9

29.5

70.5

19.9

80.1

21.4

78.6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90


% o

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Local Community Comparison - Social Competence

Beverford District





Victoria

20

80

19

81

28.6

71.4

24.6

75.4

13.2

86.8

21.4

78.1

0102030405060708090

100


% o

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Local Community Comparison - Emotional MaturityBeverford District





Victoria

6.7

93.4

19

81

24.1

75.9

19.7

80.4

12.5

87.4

16

84

0102030405060708090

100


% o

f chi

ldre

n

Local Community Comparison - Language & Cognitive Skills

Beverford District





Social Competence 25.6% (70) of children in Swan Hill in their first year of school:

• Havepoorsocialskillsandstruggletointeractandplaywithotherchildren• Rarelyacceptsresponsibilityfortheiractions,areunabletoexhibitselfcontrolorfollowrules• Struggletodealwithchangeinroutines,donotworkneatlyorsolveproblemswell• Donotshowinterestintheworldaroundthemandarenotinterestedinexploringthingsthatarenewtothem


VICTORIA 78.6%

SWAN HILL 74.4%


Emotional Maturity 18.5% (51) of children in Swan Hill in their first year of school:

• Donotoffertohelpsomewhoishurtorsickorinviteotherstojoinin• Showanxiousbehaviourslikebeingworried,nervousorstruggletomakedecisions• Getintophysicalfightsorhavetempertantrums• Fidget,arerestlessandeasilydistracted


26.6

73.3

42.9

57.2

31

68.9

29.5

70.5

19.9

80.1

21.4

78.6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90


% o

f chi

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Beverford District





Victoria

20

80

19

81

28.6

71.4

24.6

75.4

13.2

86.8

21.4

78.1

0102030405060708090

100


% o

f chi

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n






Victoria

6.7

93.4

19

81

24.1

75.9

19.7

80.4

12.5

87.4

16

84

0102030405060708090

100


% o

f chi

ldre

n


Beverford District





Local Community Comparison - Emotional Maturity

VICTORIA 78.1%

SWAN HILL 81.5%

Language and Cognitive Skills (School Based)15.2% (42) of children in Swan Hill in their first year of school:

• Havetroubleidentifyinglettersorareunabletowritetheirownname• Donotshowinterestinreadingornumbersandfinditdifficulttorememberthings• Cannotreadorwritesimplewordsandrarelywriteofftheirownaccord• Cannotcountorrecognizenumbers


26.6

73.3

42.9

57.2

31

68.9

29.5

70.5

19.9

80.1

21.4

78.6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90


% o

f chi

ldre

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Beverford District





Victoria

20

80

19

81

28.6

71.4

24.6

75.4

13.2

86.8

21.4

78.1

0102030405060708090

100


% o

f chi

ldre

n






Victoria

6.7

93.4

19

81

24.1

75.9

19.7

80.4

12.5

87.4

16

84

0102030405060708090

100

At Risk or Vulnerable On track%

of c

hild

ren


Beverford District






VICTORIA 84%

SWAN HILL 84.8%

Indicator 1 Developing well

“The environment and experiences that are encountered by a child are critical to healthy brain development, particularly in the early years. Children who grow up in stimulating, nurturing and non violent environments are more likely to thrive in all aspects of their lives” - (Cummings et al. 2012, pg.113, vol. 2).

26.6

73.3

42.9

57.2

31

68.9

29.5

70.5

19.9

80.1

21.4

78.6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90


% o

f chi

ldre

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Beverford District





Victoria

20

80

19

81

28.6

71.4

24.6

75.4

13.2

86.8

21.4

78.1

0102030405060708090

100


% o

f chi

ldre

n






Victoria

6.7

93.4

19

81

24.1

75.9

19.7

80.4

12.5

87.4

16

84

0102030405060708090

100


% o

f chi

ldre

n


Beverford District





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Communication skills and general knowledge 28.6% (79) of children in Swan Hill in their first year of school:

• Havedifficultyplayinggamesthatrequirelanguageskills• Havedifficultyunderstandingothers• Showlittlegeneralknowledge.


VICTORIA 77.4%

SWAN HILL 71.4%

16.6

83.3

38.1

62.9

31

69

41

59

23.5

76.4

22.6

77.4

0102030405060708090


% o

f chi

ldre

n

Local Community Comparison - Communicaon & General Knowledge

Beverford District



Robinvale & surrounding irriga�on districts


Local Community Comparison - Communication & General Knowledge

How are our babies/children tracking? An important part of a child’s healthy development is the contact with universal services such as Maternal Child Health. Maternal Child Health Nurses are able to monitor the development of babies, children and support parents across key milestones in the areas of healthandemotional/physicalwellbeing.Theseuniversalserviceshave the capacity to identify any concerns with the development ofababy/childandimplementormakereferralstorelevantearly intervention services.

The statistics below highlight results from two specific milestone assessments that occur at the 4 month assessment and at a child’s 3.5 year assessment.

Children have had their 4 month assessment

Children have their 3.5 year assessment

VICTORIA 93.7%

SWAN HILL 89.6%

VICTORIA 62.8%

SWAN HILL 52.2%

The comparison of the two sets of data identifies a significant drop in the rate of participation as the child ages. In fact nearly 40% reduction occurs for the child’s 3.5 year assessment. A further breakdown of these figures identify in the Swan Hill area a total of 330 initial home visits by the Maternal Child Health Nurse post the birth of a baby and at the 3.5 year assessment a count of 199 children seen. The rate of Aboriginal babies visited by the Maternal Health Nurse post having a baby highlighted a count of 34 compared to 20 at the 3.5 year assessment stage.4

1.2 Children & Parents are involved in playgroups

Supported PlaygroupsIn Swan Hill there are 12 playgroups listed on the Playgroup Victoria website, out of these 12 playgroups a quarter of them are defined as supported (i.e. facilitated by a qualified worker).5

Note: Other community playgroups exist in the Swan Hill Community but there is no centralised registration data base that captures these playgroups. Another gap in this data pertains to the rate of participation of parents in the 12 playgroups listed on the Playgroup Victoria Website.

Communities for Children funded playgroupsCommunities for Children is funded by the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and aims to deliver positive and sustainable outcomes for at risk children and families in disadvantaged areas throughout Australia. Mallee Family Care delivers programs for Communities for Children, including three playgroups in the Robinvale district.

In the July - December 2012 reporting period, Communities for Children funded playgroups in Robinvale had a total of 59 adults and 112 children attend. This was a significant increase from the previous 6 month reporting period from January – June where 51 adults and 83 children attended.

Of the 59 adults attending playgroups in the second half of the year, it was identified that 45 of them were of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander decent, from a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse background or had a disability.Of the 112 children in attendance, 79 of them were of ATSI descent or from a CALD background. 6

Indicator 2 - Safe & Secure

“A civil society places children in the centre to be nurtured within family, communities and schools, all of which are influenced by the wider social, economic, cultural, workplace and political forces in which those families, communities and schools exist” (Stanley et al. 2005)

2.1 Children are safe at homeIncrease in Reported Family Violence Incidents In the Swan Hill Local Government Area (LGA), there was a 43.5% increase of reported family violence incidents where children werepresentfrom2010/11to2011/12,comparedtoanincreaseof 33.8% for the rest of Victoria. 7

Research clearly highlights that the wellbeing of children is significantly affected by family violence. Children who experience constant states of fear, threats and unpredictability

of life, will develop coping mechanisms, behaviours that are often seen by others as problematic, anti social or defiant. In short, children living in families experiencing violence impacts on their ability to develop healthy relationships, learning and the capacity to manage their own feelings (Benevolent Society 2012).

Note: There has been a steady rise in the reporting of family incidents since the introduction of the Code of Practice for the Investigation of Family Violence in August 2004, and legislative change brought about by the Family Violence Protection Act 2008.

Child Protection Reports & Re-Reports

Child Victoria Swan Hill

Protection Reports 35% 25%

Child Protection Re-Reports

65% 75%

“Children have the right to be protected from being hurt and mistreated, physically or mentally. Governments should ensure that children are properly cared for and protect them from violence, abuse and neglect by their parent’s, or anyone else who looks after them” (Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989).

A child exposed to ongoing abuse and or neglect early in their developing life will have significant impairment to brain development, which impacts on their future learning, physical, social and emotional health (Cummings et al. 2012).

The majority of children grow up in families that nurture and respond to their developmental needs, however some other children growing up in their families experience serious levels of abuse and neglect.

Currently in Victoria the rate of ‘Child Protection Report’ is on the increase with a projection rate that 1 in 4 children born in 2011 will have had a ‘Child Protection Report’ conducted by the Department of Human Services before their 18th birthday (Cummings et al. 2012).

A Child Protection Report refers to a person or bodies concerned in respect to the physical, emotional safety of a child where harm or mistreatment is alleged and then make a notification to the Department of Human Services.

A Child Protection Re Report refers to a repeat notification of alleged abuse for a child where a report had been made previously.

As highlighted above 75% of reports in Swan Hill in 2011-12 were about children where there had been at least one previous report to Child Protection. This is higher than the state-wide average of about 65%. 8

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35.51

58.57

36.08

50.90

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00

One Parent Unemployed Parent Unemployed

Couple Families Single Parent Families

% C

hild

ren

Unemployment Status by Family Composion

Unemployment Statusof Parents with Children Aged 0-12

Swan Hill

Victoria

35.51

58.57

36.08

50.90

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00



% C

hild

ren



Swan Hill

Victoria

35.51

58.57

36.08

50.90

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00



% C

hild

ren



Swan Hill

Victoria

2.2 Children and their family are securely housed

Families in rent related financial stress In 2011, 314 people who live in a family with children under 15 in the Swan Hill community were living in rent-related financial stress (ABS Census 2011).

The impact of children growing up in families where the financial stress of maintaining housing or indeed families who are experiencing homelessness has serious ramifications for those family members. Research tells us that children and their families who are homeless are more likely to have poor health, feel less connected to community and as a result potentially disconnect from school and work. On Census night 2011 the rate of homelessness in Victoria had escalated by 21% since the last collection of data and a total of 22,789 Victorian’s were homeless with an alarming rate of 16% of these people being children under 12 years of age. (Auditor General 2013)

2.3 Families are financially secureChildren in households where adults are employed

Families where a parent is employed provides opportunities for those family members to purchase and access a range of resources and services to assist in their family’s growth and wellbeing. Such things as dental and medical treatment, recreational opportunities, choices around education, housing and food. A closer look at the ABS 2011 data reflects that 58% of single parent families living in Swan Hill are not employed compared to the state average of 50%. But for families that consist of two parent household that has one parent employed the rate reduces to 35.51% compared to the Victorian rate of 36.08%.

Unemployment Status of Parents with Children Aged 0-12

Children in Low Income FamiliesThe concern for families on low incomes is the inability to meet the broad range of needs of their family. Alongside this is the stress, guilt and burden felt by families experiencing financial hardship. A child growing up in poverty is more likely to experience chronic health issues such as diabetes, asthma and mental illness (McMurray 2007).

According to the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research Poverty Lines Australia September 2012 quarter the following states the poverty line for families based on weekly income:

Type of Family Poverty Line

Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2011, Community Profile – Swan Hill LGA

Families growing up in Swan Hill in one parent families see nearly 42% of them earning less than $599 per week, this rate is significantly higher that the state average of approximately 30% of families in receipt of monies less than $599. Of note is the rate of coupled families with children earning under $599 per week in Swan Hill at a rate of 11.76%. The table of data outlining the September 2012 Quarter Henderson Poverty Line measures identifies that this group would be considered living in poverty given that their income is below $700 for families where both parents are working and $611 where both parents are not working.

Family Income (Weekly) under $599

Working couple with 2 children $703.02

Not working couple with 2 children $611.56

Working single parent with 2 children $561.89

Not working single parent with 2 children $470.43

11.76

48.64

5.48

41.79

4.19

30.49

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

Couple family with children One parent family

% f

amili

es

Family Composi�on


Swan Hill (RC) - Robinvale

Swan Hill (RC) - CBD & Surroundings

Victoria

11.76

48.64

5.48

41.79

4.19

30.49

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00


% f

amili

es

Family Composi�on




Victoria 11.76

48.64

5.48

41.79

4.19

30.49

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00


% f

amili

es

Family Composi�on




Victoria 11.76

48.64

5.48

41.79

4.19

30.49

0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00


% f

amili

es

Family Composi�on




Victoria

“A child’s learning and development is integral to their overall health and wellbeing, as well as the future productive capacity of society” (AIHW 2009).

3.1 Children are involved in Pre-School

In Australia, the attendance for children at a formal learning program prior to school has various names including: - kindergarten, child parent centre, pre-primary and preschool. In essence though this refers to formal learning programs for children aged 3 and 4 years prior to the commencement of Primary School.

The importance for children attending early learning programs is cemented in research with the benefits for the child’s development including: - cognitive, language, emotional and social skills (AIHW 2009).

3.2 Parents participating in schools

The journey of learning for children begins well before the commencement of school. Their first experiences of learning occur at home from family, community and the environment that surrounds them. The parents or caregiver’s role is critical in the early years for learning and continues to play an essential element once they begin their formal education.

Linking in what they are learning at school and continuing this involvement from parents and caregivers outside the school environments plays an important role in the development of learning for children (Emerson et al., 2012).

3.3 Children are transitioning well to school

Of the 277 children in Swan Hill surveyed as part of the AEDI in 2012, according to their teachers, 216 (79.2%) of them have made good progress in the transition to school. This indicator refers to the transition elements of adapting to the structures both of school life and learning environment within the class itself. There still remained another 20% of children that teachers referred to as ‘some what’ able to transition to school.

Indicator 3 Engaged in Learning

VICTORIA 93.9%

SWAN HILL 94.3%

VICTORIA 77.5%

SWAN HILL 74.7%

VICTORIA 78.8%

SWAN HILL 79.2%

3.4 Children are regularly read to This indicator highlights that 73.7% of children in Swan Hill are being read to on a regular basis or are encouraged to read at home. When Teachers completed this part of the questionnaire of the AEDI (2012), they would only answer this question if they had known the student for more than one month.

The benefits of reading out aloud to children in their early years assists with the development and acquisition of language, beginnings of written language and the development of positive experiences with reading (Makin, 2006).

Source: School Entry Health Questionnaire, 2008, State Government of Victoria, Swan Hill LGA local summary.

3.5 Children are achieving at school

NAPLAN National Minimum Standard Results Students At or Above National Minimum Standard

2011 (%) 2012 (%)

Vic Swan Hill

Vic Swan Hill

Year3

Reading 95.30 96.30 95.20 98.05Writing 96.20 98.79 96.10 98.64Numeracy 96.20 95.26 95.60 96.05

Year5

Reading 94.30 89.69 94.10 85.33Writing 94.40 93.93 94.50 91.61Numeracy 95.60 94.51 94.30 86.00

According to the above NAPLAN 2011 & 2012 comparisons, students from Swan Hill in Year 3 are tracking above the Victorian State in both reading and writing.

It is worth noting that Year 3 students from Swan Hill showed improvement in numeracy levels from 2011 (95.26%) to 2012 (96.05%).

However, Year 5 students results are lower than their Victorian counterparts in all three areas of reading, writing and numeracy. The above table highlights an alarming downward trend in Year 5 numeracy levels from 2001 (94.51%) to 2012 (86.00%).

VICTORIA 79.4%

SWAN HILL 73.7%

VICTORIA 44.1%

SWAN HILL 40.7%

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“Childhood is a complex area with many factors combining to influence children’s health and development. A child’s health and wellbeing depends on what happens to them as individuals, as part of a family, as members of communities and within Australian society as a whole” (AIHW 2012).

4.1 Children are within a healthy weight range According to the parents/carers involved in the School EntrantHealth Questionnaire 2008, 89.9% considered their child to be in excellent or very good health.

4.2 Families have time for children (Good work/life balance)

Adequate Time According to the VicHealth Indicators Survey 2011, 50.2% of residentsfelttheyhadanadequatework/lifebalance,comparedto 53.1% of Victorians.

However, 24.8% felt they suffered lack of time for friends & family, compared to 27.4% of Victorians.

Spending time outdoors Results from the VicHealth Indicators Survey 2011 found only 37.3% of people visited ‘green spaces’ more than once per week. This was considerably lower than 50.7% of Victoria overall.

Note: Statistics above relate to the general population, including those who do not have children.

4.3 Children have regular access to healthy foodAccording to a recent survey commissioned by the Swan Hill Building Child Friendly Communities Committee, 99% of Grade 4 students at the participating schools living in the Swan Hill LGA had lunch on the day they completed the survey. When prompted with ‘what did you have/what are you having forlunch today?’ 71% responded with a healthy option. 28% of students responded with typically ‘unhealthy’ choices like chips and gravy, pie, pizza, sausage rolls, to name a few. One student (1%) stated they ‘did not know’ what they had for lunch on that day.

Indicator 4 Happy & Healthy

“The ability to use and access computers and the internet is today vital to schooling and education generally and participating effectively in the economy and many aspects of modern society” (Vinson 2007, pg22.)

5.1 Children & Families have access to the internetAccording to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2011) only 60% of households in Robinvale have an internet connection compared to the state average of nearly 80% of households having access to the internet. Swan Hill also sits at a considerably lower rate of connection to the internet with only 66% of households having an internet connection.

Households with Internet Connection

5.2 Children participate in an activity outside of schoolOf the Grade 4 students in the Swan Hill LGA who were surveyed as part of the Building a Child Friendly Community report, 80% (83) stated that they participated in an activity outside of school. The top 5 choices of activities included football, netball, dance, soccer and swimming.

Indicator 5 Connected in Community

VICTORIA 93.2%

SWAN HILL 89.9%

VICTORIA 53.1%

SWAN HILL 50.2%

VICTORIA 50.7%

SWAN HILL 37.3%

5.3 What children would change about their communityIn response to the question ‘If you had a magic wand, what would you change?’ some of the Grade 4 students in the Swan Hill LGA surveyed as a part of the Building a Child Friendly community report responded with the following comments:

5.4 What do children like about their community?As part of the Building a Child Friendly Community report, Grade 4 students in the Swan Hill LGA were asked what they liked about the community in which they live.

Common themes were around friends, school and activities, some of the quotes received from this question are as follows:

“It’s peesful and Swan Hill has good a friendly

neighbour hood” (sic).

“Lots of parks and shops and lots of community

things to do with family”

“Having friends and a wonderful family”

“All the pools, park and the water pool”

These comments provided by the Grade 4 children gives some insight into the issues and concerns they may have about living in their communities.

“Too many cars”“Make the world a better place”“Poor people to be rich”“that everyone would not bulliying little kids”“I would make more hospitals in Swan Hill”“Have no crime”“All of the bad people that break into shops and do burn outs.”“change one duncans bottle shop because there are two”“change mean people into nice people”“more trees”

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Sources1 SwanHillRuralCityCouncilCommunityProfile,SHRCCWebsite–http://www.swanhill.vic.gov.au/region/about/, Accessedon03/05/2013.

2 Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011 Census of Population and Housing; Community Profile – Swan Hill Rural City Council

3 AEDI Swan Hill Community Profile 2012, AEDI Partnership between the Centre for Community Child Health and the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Perth.

4 Maternal & Child Health Services Annual Report, 2010 - 2011, Loddon Mallee Region

5 PlaygroupVictoriaWebsite–www.playgroup.org.auAccessedon15/02/2013.

6 Communities for Children and Community Playgroups under the Family Support Program Performance Report January 2012 - June 2012 and July 2012 - December 2012

7 Victorian Police, Victoria Police Crime Statistics; Family Incident Reports for Western Division 6 (Mildura & Swan Hill); http://www.police.vic.gov.au/content.asp?Document_ID=782Accessedon09/07/2013.

8 ChildProtectionServiceDevelopmentandDesign,DepartmentofHumanServices),receivedon12/04/2013.

ReferencesAuditor General (2013) Addressing Homelessness, Partnerships and Plans, Auditor Generals Report

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2011) Census of Population and Housing; Community Profile - Swan Hill Rural City Council

Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing: Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) 2011, Australia, Swan Hill.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2012) A picture of Australia’s children, Australian Government

Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing (2009) A picture of Australia’s children 2009, Australian Government

Benevolent Society (2012) Research Snapshot, The impact of domestic violence on children: A literature review, March

Building A Child Friendly Community Report, Mallee Family Care, commissioned by Swan Hill Building Child Friendly Communities Advisory Committee, 2013

Communities for Children and Community Playgroups under the Family Support Program Performance Report January 2012 – June 2012 and July 2012 – December 2012

Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 19, 1989, Facts Sheet, Oxfam Website Accessed on

Cummings, P., Scott, D., Scales, B.(2012) Protecting Victoria’s Vulnerable Children Inquiry, Victorian State Government, Department of Premiers Cabinet., Vol 2.

Emerson, L., Fear. J., Fox, S., and Sanders, E. (2012). Parental engagement in learning and schooling: Lessons from research. A report by the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) for the Family-School and Community Partnerships Bureau: Canberra.

Makin, L. (2006) Literacy 8-12months: what are babies learning? Early Years: Journal of International Research and Development 26(3):267-77.

McMurray, A. (2007) Community Health and Wellness, A Socio Ecological Approach, Elsevier, Marrickville.

Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research Poverty Lines Australia, September 2012.

Murray Mallee Local Learning and Employment Network, Environmental Scan, 2013.

NAPLAN 2011 & 2012 National Reports including data from Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Performance and Evaluation Division

School Entry Health Questionnaire 2008, State Government of Victoria, Swan Hill LGA local summary.

Stanley, F., Richardson, S; Prior, M.(2005) Children of the Lucky Country, How Australian society has turned its back on children and why children matter, Pan McMillian Australia Pty Ltd: Sydney

VicHealth Indicators Survey 2011, Swan Hill LGA Profile

Vinson, T. (2007) Dropping off the edge, the distribution of disadvantage, Jesuit Social Services, Canberra.

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