Policy context

Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) is a product developed by the ABS that ranks areas in Australia according to relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage. The indexes are based on information from the five-yearly Census.¹

SEIFA is comprised of four distinct indexes, each tailored to summarize specific Census variables and address different aspects of socio-economic advantage and disadvantage. These four indexes are: the Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage (IRSD), the Index of Relative Socio-Economic Advantage and Disadvantage (IRSAD), the Index of Education and Occupation (IEO), and the Index of Economic Resources (IER).²

SEIFA serves multiple essential purposes, including the identification of regions in need of funding and services, the exploration of potential business opportunities, and the facilitation of research into the connection between socio-economic disadvantage and a range of health and educational outcomes.³