Target resources at poverty postcodes

It is outrageous that during a time of great prosperity in Australia we are letting so many Australians simply drop off the edge.

Tackling our emerging poverty postcodes and building a fairer Australia should be a major concern in this election.

Professor Vincent's research shows the emergence of a number of areas of concentrated despair - where multiple measures of disadvantage converge, producing what has been described as 'black holes' of social isolation and exclusion.

We should be targeting additional resources in education, health and social support to provide early intervention services in these areas of greatest need.

This convergence across a range of types of disadvantage explains the futility of narrow short-term interventions that attempt to address only one aspect of disadvantage in isolation.

This points clearly to the need for systemic and holistic approaches to addressing disadvantage.

Social participation and cohesion have been shown in Professor Vincent's work to be crucial mitigating factors. Engaging with the community and working with them to build resilience can help children growing up in disadvantage to avoid the worst impacts of social exclusion.

We must be developing comprehensive policies that ensure all Australians benefit from our prosperity.