Australian Social Trends 2006 is the 13th edition of an annual series that presents information on contemporary social issues and areas of public policy concern. By drawing on a wide range of ABS statistics, and statistics from other official sources, Australian Social Trends describes aspects of Australian society, and how these are changing over time. It is designed to assist and encourage informed decision-making, and to be of value to a wide audience including those engaged in research, journalism, marketing, teaching and social policy, as well as anyone interested in how we live today and how we've changed over recent decades.

The material presented in Australian Social Trends 2006 is organised into nine chapters. As in previous editions, each of the first seven chapters represents a major area of social concern (i.e. population, family and community, health, education and training, work, economic resources, and housing), with an eighth chapter covering other areas of concern (e.g. crime and justice, culture and leisure, and the environment). The ninth chapter provides international comparisons for a number of these areas. Australian Social Trends also contains an introduction which is designed to further explain the rationale behind the publication and describe its main aims and features.

The opportunity has been taken to present some articles which expand and update analysis of topics examined in previous editions using the most recently available data. For example, in this edition, such articles cover government and non-government schooling, migrants' labour force participation and the environmental impact of household energy use. There are also articles on topics of interest not previously examined, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth, community participation of people with a disability, the distribution and composition of household wealth, and mortality improvements among people in their 50s.The national and state summary tables which present key social indicators in each of the seven major areas of social concern have been updated, as have the tables comparing Australia with major OECD countries, our closest neighbours, and our trading partners. The number of articles listed in the cumulative index now comes to over 400, published across all 13 editions.

Australian Social Trends has been produced on an annual basis since 1994. The 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 editions are available from this website. The current edition (Australian Social Trends 2006) is available for purchase in hardcopy (as are several of the earlier editions) and also available free in pdf format. Individual articles can be accessed via the Cumulative Topic List.

Abbreviations and symbols used in this publication can be accessed at Abbreviations and symbols.