news, local-news, disadvantaged, Dropping off the Edge report

Click here for a larger map Three Illawarra suburbs have been ranked among the most disadvantaged communities in NSW in a report released on Tuesday. The Dropping off the Edge report, published by Catholic Social Services and Jesuit Social Services, has named Warrawong, Port Kembla and Berkeley among the state's 40 most disadvantaged postcodes. The report, by Sydney University's Professor Tony Vinson and Associate Professor Margot Rawsthorne, measured the disadvantage of 621 NSW suburbs and ranked them according to 21 indicators, including income, education level, literacy and numeracy, long-term unemployment, juvenile offending and criminal convictions. Warrawong, Port Kembla and Berkeley are in the top 5 per cent of disadvantaged postcodes, while Brewarrina, Claymore, Lightning Ridge, Walgett, Wilcannia and Windale are the six highest-ranking areas according to disadvantage. Warrawong was among the most disadvantaged postcodes according to a 2007 study by the same authors, who say their new findings indicate "persistent and entrenched locational disadvantage". Port Kembla was ranked in the top 10 per cent in the 2007 study, while Berkeley appears among the 40 hardest hit communities for the first time in the new findings. Rankings in each of the study's disadvantage indicators show Warrawong has a high proportion of people on Newstart, lots of students not meeting the minimum maths and reading standard and a large number of residents who left school before 15. Additionally, the rates of prison and psychiatric hospital admissions are high, many families survive on less than $600 a week and there is a high proportion of residents receiving the disability pension. In Port Kembla, prison and psychiatric admissions and long-term unemployment are the biggest issues, while in Berkeley, psychiatric admissions and unskilled workers are ranked highest on the disadvantage scale. Throsby MP Stephen Jones said the new report's findings were disappointing but no surprise, as many of his constituents faced an uphill battle. "They face crime, which is reflected in the report, as well as a lack of access to transport, access to housing and to internet services. "The schools there do a very good job with what they've got, but they are under-resourced and they've got kids coming from either very troubled or disadvantaged backgrounds ... and the disadvantage is piled upon them before they even get to kindergarten," he said. He said the results of the Vinson report show that 24 of the state's 40 most disadvantaged areas have been on the list since 2007. "The clincher is that, at a time when these suburbs are struggling, government policy is adding an additional burden," he said. For instance, a recent independent analysis of how the two budgets introduced by the Abbott government would affect household budgets showed more disadvantaged areas would be hit harder. It found the worst hit area in the Illawarra was the Berkeley/Warrawong/Windang area, where the average household will lose $555 in the 2018-19 financial year. Warrawong Port Kembla Berkeley Source: dote.org.au. Figures show rankings against different indicators, compared to 621 NSW suburbs, with a higher rank indicating greater disadvantage.

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