  As mentioned in my DINKUM* musing earlier today I went to a forum on Social Disadvantage yesterday where a social enquirer of some acclaim - Tony Vinson presented the basic findings of his recent report into social disadvantage in NSW and Victoria.
Tony Vinson has looked at a range of indicators to identify areas in NSW and Victoria most in need of long-term intervention and assistance to redress entrenched cultures of disadvantage. The indicators he considered included low birth weight, early school leaving, child abuse, early imprisonment, etc. He measured the occurances of each of these indicators in each post code and used this data to develop a picture of the most disadvantaged areas. The results are very conclusive highlighting a number of areas that score highly across all measures of disadvantage. The really compelling part of his research is that it is longitudinal and shows some intriguing patterns of improvement and worsening of social disadvanatge in particular areas.
This research is likely to be an invaluable tool for social policy makers, governments and service providers to help them identify areas most in need of services and resources. The important message not to be lost from Tony Vinson's work is that long-term intervention is the only way to overcome entrenched and intergenerational disadvantage. He is very concerned about the 'three-year-term' political approach to government intervention in socially disadvantaged areas and is adament that only with long-term (ie 10-20 years)programs of intervention and assistance can the cycle of inherited disadvantage be broken.
I will hunt out a link to more information so you can find out more about his work and how to get a copy of his report. Really great stuff. *For the uninitiated DINKUM is my acronym of choice to describe the 'yuppy-me'. It stands for Double Income No Kids and Un-Mortgaged 
