New frameworks and indicators are needed that relate more directly to the actual experience of poverty by capturing its multidimensional nature. This article focuses on the deprivation and social exclusion approaches, and examines the extent of each among Australian families using data from The Left Out and Missing Out social survey. The research identifies a set of items that constitute the essentials of life - things that no one in Australia should have to go without - and these form the basis of the indicators of deprivation (missing out on them because of a lack of resources) and exclusion (being left out of participation in common activities). The deprivation indicators highlight the fact that many families are unable to afford to meet even the most basic needs for food, shelter and good health. The exclusion indicators show how lack of access to important health and community services and exclusion from social and economic activities are also common. Addressing the different dimensions of social disadvantage will not emerge as an automatic spin-off of efforts to maximise economic growth, but developing programs to combat the different forms of social disadvantage is an important challenge.