MORE funding could flow to St Albans after it was revealed as Brimbank’s most disadvantaged suburb in rankings used to guide government spending.
Census data from 2011 has been used to create a socio-economic index which ranks every suburb by people’s ability to contribute to society.
The rankings measure income, type of employment, housing, and broadband access.
Australian Bureau of Statistics analytical services branch director Phillip Gould said the rankings were used by governments to determine areas that required additional funding for improved services.
They also helped guide research into the relationship between health and education outcomes and the socio-economic conditions of an area.
Dr Gould said it was not uncommon for areas to have pockets of advantage and disadvantage.
“It’s important to remember that indexes are assigned to geographic areas, not to individuals. For example, it’s possible for a relatively advantaged person to reside in an area which may have a low score.”
St Albans South was ranked eighth-most-disadvantaged suburb in the state, ahead of St Albans north (ninth). Kings Park was 11th, Sunshine North 13th, Sunshine West 16th and Braybrook 28th.
Kay O’Connell, service strategy manager at Good Shepherd Youth and Family Service in St Albans, said the organisation faced increased demand for its services. It was being inundated with requests for financial counselling for residents facing bankruptcy, for no interest loan schemes for families struggling to furnish their homes, and for workers to support Brimbank’s most vulnerable.
Ms O’Connell said many residents were living below the poverty line, forced to exist solely on pensions and single-parent family benefits.
She called for “economic justice” for those in greatest need.
“Benefits and pensions need to be increased to a sustainable amount,” she said. “One trend we are seeing is inter-generational disadvantage, where you have a third or fourth generation resident who has never worked in their life struggling to survive financially.
“We need to have structures in place to support these people to get back into the workforce through accessible education and employment opportunities that will break the poverty cycle.”
Good Shepherd youth worker Stephanie Clarke called for more youth engagement programs and upgraded infrastructure in St Albans to keep up with surrounding suburbs like Sunshine. “There needs to be more community spaces to connect disengaged youth in the community,” she said. “It needs to be a collaboration of welfare agencies, the council and government authorities.”
