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Children of Australia
Population
- In 2003, there were approximately 3.9 million children aged 0-14 years
in Australia and these children made up 20% of the total Australian
population.
- The ratio was 105 boys per 100 girls
- Infants (less than 12 months of age) accounted for 6% of the population.
- Over the years, the share of children in the total population has
been declining: In 1923, children made up over 30% of the total population,
while it is projected that the child population will make up approximately
29% of the total population in 2006 and 18% in 2011.
- 33.5% of Australia's children live in NSW (1,331,831 children).
- Indigenous children comprised 4.5% of the total child population and
overseas-born children constituted 5.8% of all Australian children aged
0-14 years.
- 30% of the Australia's Indigenous children live in NSW.
Mortality
- The infant mortality rate in Australia halved over the last two decades,
from 9.6 per 1,000 live births in 1983 to 4.8 in 2003.
- In 2002 at birth, infants were expected to live to an average age
of 78.1 years for males and 83.3 years for females.
- Over the last two decades, mortality among children aged 1-14 years
has also declined by over 50%.
- Most deaths to children occur in the early childhood period of 1-4
years of age, and this group has also experienced a 45% decline in the
death rate between 1983 and 2003.
- A major contributing factor for falling mortality during infancy is
the declining rate of deaths from SIDS.
- Between 1983 and 2003, SIDS deaths declined by 85%, but in 2003, SIDS
was still responsible for 17% of infant deaths in the post-neonatal
period.
- Injury and poisoning was the major cause of death among children aged
1-14 years, accounting for 40% of all deaths to children in 2003.
- However, between 1983 and 2003 the child death rate from injury and
poisoning declined by about 60%.
Health
- Chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes and cancer contribute
significantly to the disease burden among children in Australia.
- In 2001, an estimate of 527,000 children aged 0-14 years had asthma
as a long-term condition, a prevalence rate of 13.2%.
- In 2000-01, the average annual rate of new cases of Type I diabetes
was around 20 per 100,000 among children aged 0-14 years.
- Between, 1982 and 2001 the aged standardised incidence rate of cancer
for children 0-14 years increased by an average of 9.6% per year.
- The overall five-year survival from leukaemia increased significantly
from 62.4% to 69.7% between 1982-86 and 1992-97.
- In 2003, there were approximately 320,000 children with a disability
in Australia, accounting for 8% of the total child population aged 0-14
years. Slightly over half of these children had a severe or profound
core activity restriction.
- Less advantaged socioeconomic backgrounds have an adverse effect on
children's health and well being. These infants are twice as likely
as those from the least disadvantaged areas to die before they reach
their first birthday.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children have poorer health
and well being than other Australian children but data limitations hinder
exact comparisons.
- While the majority of children aged 2-14 years were of acceptable
weight, a relatively high proportion of boys (18%) and girls (22%) were
overweight or obese.
- Indigenous children have a higher average injury mortality rate than
other Australian children. In 2001-03 the average annual injury mortality
rate among Indigenous infants was 56 per 100,000 while the corresponding
rate for other Australian infants was 18.2 per 100,000.
- A Picture of Australia's Children, May 2005.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
- Report of the Chief Health Officer, December
2004. NSW Department of Health
