Abstract
This paper postulates that a society’s progress might best be measured via human development, primarily occurring through participation in social, economic and civic networks. The paper argues that the uneven distribution of development opportunities (and resulting benefits) underlies the substantial human development gaps in subpopulations, using as an example Aboriginal Australians vs. the rest of the Australian population. The paper highlights the need to identify the pathways of participation and ways to enrich them. To do so, the authors argue that demographic measures need to give way to better measures of developmental resources. They then present some common demographic variables along with an expanded variable framework based on a human development perspective. Also presented is cross-sectional data that demonstrate that developmental resources within families and between societal contexts are linked.