Rural Disadvantage in Australia

The current surge of interest in Australian rural social work could subside for the want of relevant literature which is readily accessible to practitioners, students and teachers. This paper has been written primarily to provide a critical overview of literature bearing on rural and remote area disadvantage in Australia. Rural disadvantage is described according to (a) well-being (general indices, income, prices, poverty, unemployment, health and education), and (b) service deprivation (income security, health, education, welfare and essential services).