Date: 9 April 2026 More than one million Australians face deep, persistent disadvantage. The ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course is identifying root causes and developing targeted, community-based solutions to break the cycle. Professor Janeen Baxter, Director of ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families of the Life Course. Image Credit: Supplied. Centre Director Professor Janeen Baxter says their research focuses on people who experience multiple forms of disadvantage over long periods - not just temporary setbacks. ‘They're not just moving in and out of economic disadvantage, due to job loss or family changes such as re-partnering, but they remain disadvantaged for long periods of time.’ As inequality continues to rise globally, Professor Baxter warns that emerging challenges like climate change, job displacement due to artificial intelligence and housing crises require urgent attention. The Centre uses a multidisciplinary approach to understand how factors such as mental health, geography and economic status, combine to shape people's lives. Research teams also work closely with both government and sector partners to deliver the most impact. The Centre, for example, worked with the Queensland Government to investigate the effectiveness of a pilot program which provided low-income families stable housing. It also analysed the effectiveness of the Australian Government funded ‘Adult Migrant English Program,’ conducting the most comprehensive study of the program since its operation. Parent holds a baby while placing laundry on a drying rack. Image Credit: iStock, Fly View Productions. More recently, a group of researchers from the Centre ran a co-design workshop with Mission Australia to figure out how schools can better support youth wellbeing. Over two days, workshop participants – which included young people, school representatives, youth-sector industry partners and academics – identified gaps and proposed innovative solutions. Innovative methods and building new data infrastructure are a key part of the work of the Centre. In one project, researchers used a technique called photovoice— asking homeless participants to document their lives through photographs and narratives. The project culminated in an exhibition and accompanying narrative driven by the participants themselves, and attended by community, researchers, government and industry stakeholders. Photograph created using photovoice technique. Image Credit: Supplied. ‘It was a really powerful way of giving them agency,’ she says. Professor Baxter’s own work focuses on family dynamics, and how changes in family structures and circumstances influence long-term social outcomes. ‘Disadvantage starts very early in life and is compounded overtime. Poor early childhood experiences can lead on to poor outcomes in school, which then lead on to reduced employment opportunities, poor health and wellbeing, and social isolation,’ she notes. Professor Baxter was the first in her family to attend university. She says an ARC-funded postdoctoral position gave her the opportunity to pursue a research career. Now also a Kathleen Fitzpatrick Laureate Fellow, Professor Baxter credits the Centre of Excellence as a major turning point in her career. ‘It really enabled me to collaborate beyond sociology, to work with statisticians, geographers, economists, epidemiologists and psychologists, and to think about large-scale programs of research in partnership with policy and community stakeholders rather than pursuing more narrow discipline-specific research questions.'