Australians are living longer, are more educated and have more income to spend, according to the latest edition of the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Measures of Australia's Progress, released on May 31.

The report - the third in a series which began in 2002 - looks at a range of factors which influence Australia's progress, and aims to present them in a way which allows readers to make up their own minds on whether life is getting better.

The latest report indicates a number of trends across a wide range of areas, including:

. Children born in 2004 will live two to three years longer than those born 10 years earlier. However Indigenous Australians' life expectancies remain well below those of other Australians.

. 58% of Australians aged between 25 and 64 have vocational or higher education qualification, a jump of 12% since 1995.

. Australia's real net national disposable income per capita grew by around 3.0% a year between 1994-95 and 2004-05. Between 1994-95 and 2003-04, the real income of people described as "less well-off"Australians and those in the "middle" income group grew by 22%.

. National productivity has risen by 1.3% per year between 1994-95 and 2004-05.

. "Personal crimes", particularly assaults, increased from 4.8% to 5.3% between 1998 and 2005. However, the number of "household crimes" - actual or attempted break-ins to cars and houses - fell from 8.3% to 6.2%.

. Available data points to a decrease in biodiversity in Australia during the past decade, with more bird and animal species endangered. However land clearance - a factor contributing to biodiversity decline - decreased by 38% between 1993 and 2003.

. Available data points to a decline in the quality of some of Australia's waterways. Australia's air remains pretty clean by world standards, with available indicators pointing to an improvement in quality over the past 10 years. Australia's total net greenhouse gas emissions in 2003 were up 1% on 1990 levels.

No new detailed data is presented under the Community and Social Cohesion Category - which looks at areas surrounding community connection, social participation, volunteering and donating.

The report can be downloaded for free from the ABS site at http://www.abs.gov.au