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Like us in the Filipino Australian community, Australia as a country has been asking the same question.
Happily, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has today obliged with a release of new information to help all of us assess how we are doing – in society, in our economy and in the environment.
The statistical information from the ABS covered the period 1996-97 and 2006-07. Reading through the ABS release, one could glean that the answer to the question is: “Yes.”
Here are highlights of the ABS release:
1. Australia is generally richer in terms of national income and wealth. Our net disposal income per person grew by 2.9% on average each year. Average net disposable income reached $39,000 in 2006-07, and Australia’s real net worth was over $254,000 per person in 2007.
2. Productivity in Australia rose 1.1% on average per year.
3. Australia’s unemployment rate fell from 8.37% in 1997 to 4.4% in 2007.
4. We are living longer. Life expectancy has increased by 3 years. A boy born two years ago could expect to live to 79 years while a girl could expect to reach 83 years.
5. In education, Australians these days are more educated than their counterparts in 1997. In 1997, the ABS found that almost 60% of 25-64 year olds had a degree or certificate, up from 46% in 1997.
6. Crime rate? There is a mixed trend in this area. A small increase in personal crime (assault, sexual assault or robbery) rate between 1998 and 2005 from 4.8% to 5.3%, but a decline in the rate of household crimes (break-ins and motor vehicle theft) was noted from 9.0% to 6.2% during the same period.
7. With regard to the environment, the ABS reported that there are now more threatened species. Between 2000 and 2007 the number of bird and mammal species which were extinct, endangered or vulnerable rose from 153 to 174 (up 14%).
One could only hope that service providers including insurance companies will take heed of this latest ABS statistics. For example, will insurance companies now reduce household insurance premiums considering that the so-called “household crimes” have declined?
It will be interesting to watch. #
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