The Index of Relative Socioeconomic Advantage and Disadvantage (Irsad) is a measure based on census data that summarises the economic and social conditions of people and households within an area.
It combines figures on income, mortgage, profession and other variables into a single figure that measures advantage and disadvantage across Australia. The Australian Bureau of Statistics broadly defines relative socioeconomic advantage and disadvantage in terms of people’s access to material and social resources, and their ability to participate in society.
Here, you can see the results for all areas by which decile they fall into (i.e. each region is sorted into 10 equally-sized groups, ordered by Irsad score). For both decile, rank and Irsad score, lower values indicate greater disadvantage, while higher values indicate greater advantage. For comparison, we’ve included the census results for each area as well.
Top five most disadvantaged areas (SA2)
From most disadvantaged to less disadvantaged
1 - Yuendumu - Anmatjere, NT
2 - Thamarrur, NT
3 - Aurukun, QLD
4 - Yarrabah, QLD
5 - Sandover - Plenty, NT
Top five most advantaged areas (SA2)
From most advantaged to less advantaged
1 - Forrest, ACT
2 - Barton, ACT
3 - Pymble, NSW
4 - Duntroon, ACT
5 - O’Malley, ACT
