ABSTRACT
What is it like to be a child in Australia? About 4.8 million children live on an enormous island continent, mostly in coastal settlements and within striking distance of a beach or a swimming pool, playing grounds and school. Their drinking water is mostly clean, basic health care is free and they are likely to have their own bedroom, in a reasonably sized and affordable house. Australia is a “lucky country” – unless the child is Aboriginal or a Torres Strait Islander; or has arrived in the country without proper travel documentation, or has a disability, or needs the care of the state: then the luck changes.
