Australia has slipped in a global child welfare ranking report which shows a poor record on the environment and deterioration in education and employment standards.The second Child Prosperity Index by international aid agency Save The Children rates the world's top 20 economies on the health and welfare of young people.Australia dropped from third place in 2014 to fourth this year, with the research identifying inaction on reducing carbon emissions and disparity in education across the country.Germany was ranked first, followed by France and Japan in the report which rates health, education, gender equality, income, safety, employment, infrastructure and environment.Australia performed well in categories such as income (3rd) and safety (4th) but poorly on the environment where the country was ranked 13th, putting it just ahead of Russia.The report found the United States, Canada, Australia and Saudi Arabia had the highest per capita carbon emissions.Australia was also singled out for inequity in education across race and regions.The report found 60 per cent of indigenous young people finish high school compared with 90 per cent of non-indigenous children. Just over half the children in the Northern Territory complete high school compared with almost 100 per cent of children in the ACT.Save The Children Australia chief executive Paul Ronalds said a country's wealth did not necessarily result in equal opportunity."Few would argue that a child's life chances should be determined before they are born," he said."Yet our analysis shows that even among the world's most developed, powerful and rich economies, there can be vast disparity in how children are treated and how prosperous their futures appear to be.  
Growth does not necessarily deliver equality of life chances between children."Countries like Australia must measure their progress by viewing economic growth as a means to an end - an end that delivers social, environmental and economic prosperity for all and especially children."The report will be released on Friday ahead of a G20 finance meeting in China.Save The Children has asked G20 finance ministers to adopt fairer tax systems, support equality for all children and track how their countries are progressing.