Developing Headline Indicators to monitor the health, development and wellbeing of for Australias ch

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Developing Headline Indicators to monitor the
health, development and wellbeing of for
Australias children
ISCI Conference June 2007
Dr Sharon Goldfeld, Child Health Advisor, Office
for Children, Victoria Dr Judy
Straton Director, Statewide Policy and Planning,
Western Australia Ronelle Hutchinson Senior
Program Analyst - National Headline Indicators
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Creating sustainable policy
Recognition of the problem
DATA
Identification of the solution through policy
Political imperative
Kingdon J. Agendas, Alternatives and Public
Policies. 2nd ed. New York Harper Collins
College Publishers, 1995
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Data should be at the centre of child health, not
in the periphery of monitoring
Child Health Indicators of Life
Development Report to the European Union 2002
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Priority-policy cycle

• Priority Setting
• Evidence Based strategies
• Data Driven/Evidence Based Policy
• Improved Outcomes

Data
Research
Data
Data
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National Child Health, Development and
Well-Being Headline Indicators

• A project undertaken on behalf of the
• Child Health and Well-being Reform Initiative
  Steering Committee

Under the auspices of the Australian Health
Ministers Conference (AHMC) and the Community
and Disability Services Ministers Conference
(CDSMC)
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National Child Health, Development and
Well-Being Headline Indicators

• A project undertaken on behalf of the
• Child Health and Well-being Reform Initiative
  Steering Committee

Under the auspices of the Australian Health
Ministers Conference (AHMC) and the Community
and Disability Services Ministers Conference
(CDSMC)
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Headline Indicators Project Overview

• The aim of the Headline Indicators project was
  to
• Establish a national, jurisdictionally agreed set
  of Headline Indicators for childrens health,
  development and well-being
• Scope an ongoing program to collate, coordinate
  and report on Headline Indicators

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Headline Indicators Project Overview

• The aim of the Headline Indicators project was
  to
• Establish a national, jurisdictionally agreed set
  of Headline Indicators for childrens health,
  development and well-being
• Scope an ongoing program to collate, coordinate
  and report on Headline Indicators

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What are Headline Indicators?

• Headline Indicators form a key set of high level
  summary statistics for reporting on the progress
  made in the health, development and well-being of
  Australias children
• Headline Indicators focus the policy attention of
  all Governments on a subset of priority issues
  for children and assist in guiding and evaluating
  policy development

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• Inter-relationships between the Headline
  Indicators, current national reporting on
  childrens indicators and jurisdictional data
  collections

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National Headline Indicators the benefits

• A national, jurisdictionally agreed set of
  Headline Indicators has the capacity to
• Promote commitment to improving key child
  outcomes across Governments
• Direct policy attention to a set of priority
  issues that are potentially amenable to change
  over time
• Monitor key outcomes through comparison of State
  and Territory and National data
• Monitor key outcomes for sub-populations of
  children
• Children with disability
• Children from culturally and linguistically
  diverse backgrounds
• Children living in disadvantage
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
• Facilitate jurisdictional and organisational
  coordination and collaboration around data
  collection
• Enhance the quality, consistency and availability
  of data relating to the Headline Indicators
• Reduce duplication of effort across sectors

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The Development of Child Health, Development and
Well-Being Headline Indicators

• Managed by cross-jurisdictional steering group
• A review of the national and international work
• Two rounds of consultation with jurisdictions
  using semi structured interviews and with
  national data committees across health, community
  services and education
• Feedback on draft of proposed Headline
  Indicators
• Received formal support of final recommendations
  from NHIG, NCSIMG and AESOC
• Reported to AHMC and CDSMC in July 06

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Consultations

• ABS
• ACT Government
• AESOC Early Learning Working Group
• AESOC PMRT
• AESOC Senor Officials Working Party on Indigenous
  Education
• AIHW
• Antenatal Guidelines Project Steering Group
• Australian Government DoHA
• Australian Government FaCSIA
• Housing Ministers Policy Research Working Group
• National Advisory Group on Aboriginal and Torres
  Strait Islander Health Information and Data
  (NAGATSIHID)
• National Child Protection and Support Services
  (NCPASS)
• National Community Services Data Working Group
  (NCSDWG)

• NDA
• NCSIMG
• NPHIWG
• NSW Commission for Children
• NSW Department of Community Services
• NSW Department of Health
• NT Government
• QLD Government
• SA Government
• SIMC
• Tasmania (TAS) Department of Health and Human
  Services
• Telethon Institute for Child Health Research
• Victorian DHS
• WA Department of Community Development
• WA Department of Health
• Womens Hospitals Australasia

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Consultations
Priority areas
Indicators
Consultations
Final report
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Start with want you want to know NOT what you
have
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Priority area criteria

• broadly cover the domains of child health,
  development and learning, safety and well-being
• recognise issues at the individual, family and
  community level, and hence be based on an
  ecological approach
• include both risk and protective factors for
  health, development and well-being
• be based on a prevention approach to health,
  development and well-being
• amenable to change through policy
• include a mix of outcomes, determinants and
  system performance indicators
• be able to reflect any differences for sub-groups
  of children
• be relevant to all Australian children and
• be relevant to State/Territory and Australian
  Governments policy and agendas.

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Indicator criteria

• indicator is sensitive to evidence based
  intervention strategies
• indicator is unambiguous in meaning and
  interpretation and is based on sound empirical
  evidence
• data collection is methodologically rigorous
• data are potentially capable of reflecting
  differences and diversity in sub-groups
  including
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
• children with a disability
• children from CALD backgrounds
• children from socio-economically disadvantaged
  backgrounds
• geographically defined groups (i.e. rural and
  remote areas).

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Priority Area Smoking in PregnancyHeadline
Indicator Proportion of women who smoked during
the first 20 weeks of pregnancy

• Data Sources
• In future, Australian Institute of Health and
  Welfare (AIHW) National Perinatal Statistics Unit
  (NPSU)
• Data not currently available
• Notes
• Indicator sourced from the Womens Hospitals
  Australiasia (WHA) core maternity indicators
  project
• Core maternity indicators require piloting and
  feasibility testing prior to implementation in
  the Perinatal Forms in all States and Territories

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Priority Area Infant MortalityHeadline
Indicator Mortality rate for infants less than
one year of age

• Data Sources
• ABS Birth and ABS deaths
• Frequency of Data
• Annual administrative data
• Disaggregation possible
• Indigenous status for QLD, NT, SA and WA
• Socio-Economic Indexes for Area (SEIFA)
• Australian Standard Geographical Classification
  (ASGC) remoteness

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Priority Area Birth WeightHeadline Indicator
Proportion of live born infants of low birth
weight (lt2500 grams at birth)

• Data Sources
• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)
  National Perinatal Statistics Unit (NPSU)
• Frequency of Data
• Annual administrative data
• Disaggregation possible
• State and territory
• Indigenous status of mother
• maternal country of birth
• Socio-Economic Indexes for Area (SEIFA) for some
  jurisdictions
• Australian Standard Geographical Classification
  (ASCG) remoteness classification

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Priority Area BreastfeedingHeadline Indicator
Proportion of infants exclusively breast-fed at
4 months of age

• Data Sources
• No consistent national data collection source
• Data not currently available for all states

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Priority Area ImmunisationHeadline Indicator
Proportion of children on the Australian
Childhood Immunisation Register who are fully
immunised at 2 years of age

• Data Sources
• Australian Childhood Immunisation Registry (ACIR)
• National data source
• Frequency of Data
• Quarterly from 1996
• Disaggregation possible
• State and Territory
• Indigenous status (although improvements are
  needed)
• Socio-Economic Indexes for Area (SEIFA)

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Priority Area Overweight and ObesityHeadline
Indicator Proportion of children whose BMI
score is above the international cut off points
for overweight and obese for their age and
sex

• Data Sources
• The National Childrens Nutrition and Physical
  Activity Survey 2007 could be a source of
  gathering information in relating to weight and
  BMI in children
• Current data not available (since 1995)
• Disaggregation possible
• Disaggregation of proposed data not known

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Priority Area Dental HealthHeadline Indicator
Mean number of decayed, missing or filled teeth
(dmft/DMFT) among primary school children

• DMFT is the decayed, missing or filled teeth
  for children aged 12 years
• dmft is the decayed, missing or filled teeth
  for children aged 6 years
• Data Sources
• The Child Dental Health Survey
• Frequency of Data
• Annual
• Disaggregation possible
• Sex of child
• birth place of child
• indigenous status of child
• state and territory

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Priority Area Social and Emotional
Well-beingHeadline Indicator ???

• No indicator identified at present
• Further work required to identify relevant
  existing indicators of childrens social and
  emotional wellbeing
• Further work required in relation to a data
  collection source for this Headline Indicator

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Priority Area Injuries Headline Indicator
Age specific death rates from all injuries for
children aged 0-4, 5-9 and 10-14 years

• Data Sources
• Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Cause of
  Death collection
• Frequency of Data
• Annual from 1964
• Disaggregation possible
• State and territories
• Indigenous status
• Sex
• Age
• remoteness index

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Priority Area Attending Early Childhood
Education ProgramsHeadline Indicator
Proportion of children attending an educational
program in the two years prior to beginning
primary school

• Data Sources
• Childrens Service National Minimum Data Set
  (CSNMDS)
• CSNMDS not yet implemented data not currently
  available
• Disaggregation proposed
• Indigenous status
• Sex
• Age
• main language other than English spoken at home
• disability status
• State and Territory
• Notes
• Further work required in regards to the
  definition of attending and educational
  program in line with implementation of the
  CSNMDS and data collection.

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Priority Area Transition to Primary
SchoolHeadline Indicator Proportion of
children entering school with basic skills for
life and learning

• Notes
• There is no current national source of
  information about childrens transition to
  Primary School
• Identified as a priority area by Council of
  Australian Governments (COAG)
• Precise definition of this indicator, numerator
  and denominator and methodology for data
  collection yet to be determined.
• The Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) may
  provide information on childrens successful
  transition to schooling
• The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children
  (LSAC) may provide information on the factors
  which relate to childrens success in transition
  to schooling and the factors behind this success

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Priority Area Attendance Rate at Primary
SchoolHeadline Indicator Attendance rate of
children at Primary School

• Notes
• Data not currently available
• Work is being progressed by the MCEETYA
  Performance Measurement and Reporting Taskforce
• Precise definition of this indicator, numerator
  and denominator and methodology for data
  collection yet to be determined.

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Priority Area Literacy SkillsHeadline
Indicator The proportion of primary school
children who achieve the literacy benchmark  

• MCEETYA has established national benchmarks for
  reading and writing that represents the minimum
  standards of performance of children
• Reporting of of children meeting the literacy
  benchmark for grades 3 and 5.
• Data Sources
• Ministerial Council on Education, Employment,
  Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) annual
  National Report on Schooling
• Disaggregation possible
• State and Territory
• Language spoken at home
• Indigenous status
• Socio-economic situation
• Sex
• Notes
• Recent changes to the design and administration
  of literacy testing aims to increase
  comparability of results across
  States/Territories, consistency of data
  collection and effectiveness in recording of
  demographic details of children.

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Priority Area Numeracy SkillsHeadline
IndicatorThe proportion of primary school
children who achieve the numeracy benchmark

• MCEETYA has established national benchmarks for
  numeracy that represents the minimum standards of
  performance of children
• Reporting of of children meeting the numeracy
  benchmark for grades 3 and 5.
• Data Sources
• Ministerial Council on Education, Employment,
  Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) annual
  National Report on Schooling
• Disaggregation possible
• State and Territory
• Language spoken at home
• Indigenous status
• Socio-economic situation
• Sex
• Notes
• Recent changes to the design and administration
  of literacy testing aims to increase
  comparability of results across
  States/Territories, consistency of data
  collection and effectiveness in recording of
  demographic details of children.

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Priority Area Teenage BirthsHeadline
Indicator Age specific fertility rate for 15-19
year old women 

• Data Sources
• Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Births
  Australia
• Frequency of Data
• Annual administrative data
• Disaggregation possible
• State and Territory
• Indigenous status of mother
• country of birth of mother
• Socio-Economic Indexes for Area (SEIFA)

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Priority Area Family Economic SituationHeadline
Indicator  Average real equivalised
disposable household income for households with
children in the 2nd and 3rd income deciles

• Data Sources
• Births Australia Australian Bureau of Statistics
  (ABS) Survey of Income and Housing
• Frequency of Data
• Most years from 1994-1995 to 2003-2004
• Disaggregation possible
• State and Territory
• Notes
• Recognised that indicator has some limitations in
  addressing cause and type of financial hardship
  facing families in the future, the indicator
  may be altered to measure more accurately family
  economic situation.

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Priority Area ShelterHeadline Indicator  ???

• No indicator identified at present
• Further work required to identify most relevant
  indicators of shelter including affordability,
  availability and quality
• Further work required in relation to a data
  collection source for this Headline Indicator

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Priority Area Child Abuse and NeglectHeadline
Indicator  Rate of children aged 0-12, who were
the subject of child protection substantiation in
a given year 

• Data Sources
• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)
  Child Protection Statistics
• Disaggregation possible
• State and Territory
• Indigenous status of child
• Sex
• age
• Notes
• National aggregation from this data source is
  problematic data are a measure of the
  activity/services of the Government departments
  responsible for statutory child protection
  services in each State and Territory. Data and
  the definitions of substation are influenced by
  differences in legislation, policy, practices and
  data systems.

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Priority Area Family Social Network Headline
Indicator  ???

• No indicator identified at present
• Further work required to identify most relevant
  indicators of family social network
• Further work required in relation to a data
  collection source for this Headline Indicator

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Headline Indicator Program Next steps

• Providing national leadership and coordination
  with existing data initiatives
• Facilitating data development activities
• Data management
• Reporting of data for Headline Indictors
  (publicly and to government)

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Acknowledgments

• Project was managed by steering group
• Dr Sharon Goldfeld (Chair) - Statewide Outcomes
  for Children, Office for Children, DHS VIC
• Dr Michael Ackland - Health Surveillance and
  Evaluation, DHS VIC
• Dr Judy Straton Child and Community Health, WA
  Health
• Ms Shalini Bellis - National Children and Youth
  Statistics Unit, ABS
• Ms Lesley Martin - National Children and Youth
  Statistics Unit, ABS
• Dr Penny Allbon, Director, AIHW
• Ms Cynthia Kim - Children, Youth and Families
  Unit, AIHW
• Dr Indrani Pieris Caldwell Children, Youth and
  Families Unit, AIHW
• Dr Caroline Pappas, Child Health and PHOFA, DoHA
• Ms Padmaja Jha - Child Health and PHOFA, DoHA
• Ms Lauren Heller - Child Health and PHOFA, DoHA
• The project was supported by Dr Ronelle
  Hutchinson - Senior Program Analyst and Project
  Manager, Statewide Outcomes for Children, Office
  for Children, DHS VIC

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Not everything that is faced Can be changedBut
nothing can be changed Until it is faced
James Baldwin 1924-87