Introduction

Social disadvantage has many manifestations and can only be adequately captured using multi-dimensional indicators. This is the central message to emerge from recent research on poverty and disadvantage and has shaped the research reported in previous chapters. Why not dispense with quantification altogether? If the problems are so difficult, yet so fundamental, would it not be better to avoid measurement and focus instead on understanding how examples of disadvantage arise and are perpetuated in specific instances and deal with them in ways that are appropriate to the circumstance? These questions raise important issues about the nature of social science research and its relation to policy that are the focus of this concluding chapter.

Discussion begins with a brief overview of the main findings reported earlier. This is followed by a discussion of some of the implications for policy, and for future research on aspects of social disadvantage, including the ways in which research findings are reported and disseminated, as well as for data collection and for how researchers and policy makers can better communicate with each other. Much of the discussion focuses on the key issue of communication – how can research findings be conveyed to the right audiences in ways that promote understanding of their relevance and value to potential users. Central to this task is ensuring that research not only has the academic qualities and content that make it relevant to policy and practice, but also that it can encourage a dialogue between researchers, practitioners and policy makers that can influence action.

This book started by citing the problems facing Leah/Lucky, a young woman who was facing many forms of disadvantage that had overwhelmed her, left her alienated and marginalised and prevented her from participating fully in her society. Although the oppression that she faced resulted from factors that are specific to that society, the underlying idea that people face similarly debilitating obstacles has universal applicability. In the Australian context, many people are still denied the resources needed to live a decent life or face discrimination or other barriers that restrict their ability to participate and constrain their opportunities to develop and flourish.