State of Australia's Mothers: Queensland toughest state to be a mum, Save the Children report finds

By social affairs correspondent: Norman Hermant

The Australian Capital Territory is the best place to be a mother in Australia, while Queensland is the toughest, according to the first ever State of Australia’s Mothers report released by the NGO Save the Children.

The report looked at a series of factors to rank the best and toughest states and territories in which to be a mother.

The ACT is followed by Western Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia. The Northern Territory and Tasmania tied for sixth place, and Queensland finished at the bottom of the rankings.

“Where you are living in Australia, regardless of your cultural background, regardless of your income, you shouldn’t have to do it tough compared to others when you’re a mum,” said Annie Bodmer-Roy, one the report’s co-authors.

“We’re in Australia. We’re amongst the best in the world when it comes to being a mum at a national level. That shouldn’t change regardless of where you live.”

Image via ABC.

Australia routinely ranks in the top 10 in Save the Children's State of the World's Mothers report. But Save the Children found within Australia, there were significant discrepancies.

The report considered five key factors for each state and territory:

• Mother's health, measured by the number of doctors visits while the mother was pregnant
• Children's health, measured by checking key areas of development
• Mother's education, measured by the percentage of women who complete Year 12
• Economic status, measured by average household income
• Mother's access to social resources

Aboriginal and Torres-Strait Islanders behind on almost all indicators

Helping the ACT to its top ranking was its high rate of mother's education, with 84 per cent of women completing Year 12. It also has Australia's highest weekly median family income: $3,060.

"Canberra is just a fabulous place to be a mother," said Ebony-Maria Levy, who is raising her two-year-old son Edward in the city. The best thing about being a mother in Canberra, she said, was its "supportive ease".

"One doesn't really need to think too much about the daily logistics of living," she said.

Ms Levy recently relocated from Sydney. She said the services she needed to be a mother were now much more accessible.

"Standard routine doctors appointments, the odd occasional hospital visit, we've never had to wait. We can always get an appointment to see our family GP."

The State of Australia's Mothers report found that is not the case across the country. One of its key findings is that on average, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are behind non-Indigenous Australians on almost all typical indicators of wellbeing.

And there is another reality that plays out in every state and territory: it is tougher to be a mum in regional Australia.

In both New South Wales and Victoria, almost all of the top 10 areas to be a mother are in Sydney and Melbourne. The toughest areas, at the bottom of the state rankings, are regional towns.

In Maryborough, about two hours out of Melbourne, mothers were not surprised by that result.

"You kind of get put on the back burner, because you're so much further away," said Maryborough mother Bianca Butler.

Her four-year-old son Connor lives with Global Development Delay. Seeing specialists in Melbourne, and even a physiotherapist in Castlemaine, about 50 kilometres away, is a struggle.

"Things take so much longer in the chain to actually get all of that access, and that help. Even early childhood intervention services, there's none of that in Maryborough."

Significant spending increase needed to implement recommendations

Caroline Thoroughgood is now looking after her 13-month-old daughter Freya — the fourth child she has raised just outside of Maryborough.

"I think access to some services, paediatricians and doctors and things like that can be quite hard to get into. There's no paediatricians in town, so you have to travel," she said.

She said she would like to see some recognition and even financial assistance for mothers in regional Australia.

"If you have to go see a paediatrician out of town, there's extra funding available to cover the cost of your travel," she said.

"Or, you've got a travel time on top of your appointment time. So don't make it first thing in the morning at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne."

The report makes several recommendations, including calling for more investment in high-quality healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers and children. It also recommends boosting resources for early intervention to help poor families.

Save the Children's Annie Bodmer-Roy said the organisation was well aware the report's recommendations would mean significant spending increases. She was happy to push the debate forward.

"The budget's just been released. This report is quite timely, in that it forces us to look at the budget through the lens of mothers," she said.

"And I don't think that that's something that's regularly done."

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This post originally appeared on ABC News.