Abstract:
The idea of geographical distribution of disadvantage, poverty and social exclusion has long been captured in Australia in the use of the phrase 'wrong side of the tracks' (Dusevic 1995), which has, interestingly, been found to be a particularly Australian concept (Muntz 2001). Many Australian towns are divided by railway tracks, a major road and/ or a river, with poorer con1munities often concentrated on one side of that divide. This geographical divide is especially poignant for Indigenous Australians, with traditional 'town can1ps' historically located on the less attractive outskirts of a town. Pockets of concentrated disadvantage continue to exist in rural, regional and urban Australia and have been associated with low educational attainment and high levels of crime (Vinson 2007).
