The good life for children: Do we really care about the trends?

How do we know if Australian children and young people are having a ‘good life‘? What about their lives compared to children and young people in other countries? To answer these questions, the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) produced a Report Card to compare Australian average, Indigenous Australian average, and international or Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) average for a number of measures of child and youth wellbeing. The ARACY Report Card shows that Australian results are average when compared to other OECD countries in most areas of child and youth wellbeing. Most importantly for nearly all indicators, Indigenous Australian children fare substantially less well than the Australian average and the majority of children in other countries. It is argued that community attitudes and behaviours toward children and young people, and our society's focus on wealth creation, are detrimental to children's and young people's wellbeing. The need for a better balance between economic progress and a socially and environmentally sustainable society is discussed, along with a strategy to better meet the emotional needs of children and young people.