Australia disadvantage – A new 2026 report maps disadvantage beyond income—showing which groups face deeper exclusion and where persistent harm is most visible.
Australia’s most recent look at disadvantage doesn’t just ask who is poor. It asks who is being left behind in the broader, real-world outcomes that shape everyday life—work, health, education, safety, and belonging.
The 2026 report from Misryoum’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee arrives with a clear message: disadvantage is multi-dimensional. and the people most affected are not a single group.. The report uses long-running data to map how disadvantage changes over time. and—just as importantly—where it hardens into something persistent.
What “disadvantage” means now
That shift matters because income can move while outcomes remain stuck. Someone might be above a poverty threshold in a given year yet still be unable to afford critical needs, manage health challenges, or stay connected socially and economically.
The committee’s approach updates an earlier benchmark study by drawing on 24 years of data from the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey.. Instead of relying on one lens. it examines disadvantage through multiple metrics. then links them to life domains like employment. education. health and disability. social connection. community characteristics. and personal safety.
The groups most at risk of deep exclusion
Some groups experience poverty most acutely. In Misryoum’s summary of the findings, half of public housing tenants and 38% of people receiving income support were in income poverty in 2022.
Deprivation tells a different story about what money can’t buy.. The most commonly experienced form of deprivation in 2022 was lacking home contents insurance (7.7%). followed by not having at least $500 in emergency savings (7.4%).. Other indicators included being unable to afford dental treatment when needed (4.1%) and lacking comprehensive motor vehicle insurance (4.3%).
Although many indicators were stable or declining over time, deprivation does not vanish evenly.. About 80% of the population reported no deprivation at all in 2014, rising to 84% by 2022.. But for people receiving income support. deprivation is far more common: around 30% experienced deprivation in 2022. and more than 10% reported three or more deprivations.
Then comes social exclusion—an outcomes-focused concept that captures someone’s inability to participate in key economic. social. and political life.. Misryoum reports that trends vary across domains.. Education outcomes show improvement. with low education nearly halving over the long period—from around 40% to closer to 20%—and poor English declining as well.
Employment outcomes also reflect shifting periods. Unemployment fell long-term, rose sharply during COVID, and then returned to lower levels. Long-term unemployment fell, and jobless households decreased from 14% to 9% by the end of the period.
But health outcomes are less reassuring.. Misryoum’s findings show poor general health ranging between 17% and 20% for much of the period. then exceeding 20% from 2018–2019. staying at 21–22% since 2021.. Mental health challenges increased too, rising from 9.3% in 2011 to above 14% since 2020.. The share with a long-term health condition also increased from 23.9% in 2001 to 29% or higher since 2020.
Personal safety indicators improved. Rates tied to personal violence, property crime victimisation, and feeling generally unsafe moved in a more positive direction—suggesting progress in parts of the risk picture.
Deep social exclusion: the “stacking” disadvantage
Even with mixed trends overall, deep exclusion has edged up. The share of people aged 15 and over experiencing deep social exclusion increased from 5.6% in 2010 to 6.6% in 2022.
The most affected groups in 2022 show a pattern that is both predictable and sobering.. Misryoum reports the highest rates of deep social exclusion among people who are unemployed (38.8%). public housing tenants (36.5%). people receiving income support (20.5%). and people with long-term health conditions or disability (16.3%).. Lone parents (15.7%), people with low educational attainment (16.3%), and Indigenous Australians (15.5%) are also highlighted.
The report further signals that disadvantage is not equally entrenched across cohorts.. For public housing tenants. rates of deep disadvantage increased significantly for unemployed people. those receiving income support. and those with low educational attainment.. For Indigenous Australians, rates nearly doubled between 2010 and 2014 before falling again—remaining higher than in 2010.
Why persistence is the real problem
When Misryoum examines persistent deep social exclusion—those experiencing deep exclusion for four or more years between 2015 and 2024—the highest rates are for public housing tenants (27.8%) and people receiving income support (23.4%). These rates have risen since the 2001–10 period.
There is also an age dimension to what persistence looks like. Misryoum notes that population ageing has shifted the profile: the share of deeply and persistently excluded people who are over 60 rose from 11.7% to 19.5% across the long period.
Family structure matters, too.. While women represented 63% of those in deep and persistent exclusion between 2001 and 2010, that share fell to just under half in 2015–24.. By family type. Misryoum reports the biggest increase for single-person households. which moved from 8.8% to 16.3% of those deeply and persistently excluded.
For Indigenous people, persistent deep social exclusion remains far higher than for non-Indigenous Australians (19.2% versus 3.9%), even though it has fallen slightly since 2001.
What the report implies for solutions
Misryoum’s framing suggests the most urgent focus is on people where disadvantage stacks and persists: public housing tenants. people receiving income support. unemployed people. and those living with long-term health conditions or disability.. The report also signals that improving education outcomes can help reduce future disadvantage. but health trends may require stronger attention to stem the widening gap in day-to-day wellbeing.
And because deep exclusion is defined by multiple overlapping indicators, the path out likely needs long-term support rather than short-term assistance—especially for older Australians and single-person households, where persistence is rising.
The 2026 report ultimately reads like a map: not just of who is struggling now, but where barriers are most likely to harden over time. For a country trying to broaden economic inclusion, that map may determine whether help arrives early enough to prevent disadvantage from becoming permanent.