With no end in sight to the cost-of-living crisis, there is a push for Australia to change the way it thinks about poverty, including allowing the government to set and measure an official poverty line. Social services say Australia should follow in New Zealand’s footsteps, by recognising the effects of poverty on children and passing legislation to measure, and eventually resolve the problem.
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00:00Josh isn't like most high school students. He's given a TED Talk and advocates on youth
00:09issues across the nation, but he also misses out because he's living in poverty.
00:15I sometimes either stay up a bit later than most thinking about this exact topic and how
00:22to best support my family. I sometimes take up jobs outside of the home just to make sure
00:31that the family can get by.
00:33That's on top of helping care for his 10-year-old sister who has a number of complex medical
00:37needs and requires round-the-clock care. The family gets a carer's pension, but mum Laura
00:43says it's not enough, even if things seem OK.
00:46They may look at us from the outside and not realise just actually how tough and how much
00:52stress and budgeting and thought and everything, planning perhaps, goes into making sure that
00:58my children are fed and clothed.
01:01Come on Shasha, let's go collect the eggs.
01:03It's estimated about one in six children are living below the poverty line, but we don't
01:07know exactly how many. Josh and his mum are supporting a campaign run by End Child Poverty,
01:13calling for Australia to legislate a commitment to measuring the problem and ending it.
01:18It places an accountability on government, but more importantly I think it keeps the
01:23Australian community informed. Currently the Australian community has no idea what child
01:28poverty is like in this country.
01:30While countries like the US, Canada and New Zealand all have government measured poverty
01:34lines, Australia doesn't. Research for the campaign from the Australia Institute shows
01:40four in five Australians support the government regularly reporting on poverty and lifting
01:45income support.
01:47Poverty is a policy choice. These are things that can be addressed. We know how to do them.
01:52It requires a will, but if we're not even measuring it then it makes it very easy to
01:56hide it.
01:57New Zealand introduced similar legislation in 2018.
02:01It's really important because it ensures that ongoing focus is there for successive governments.
02:09It means that it doesn't slip out of focus when issues of the day come up.
02:14Local Services Minister Amanda Rishworth didn't answer questions about the idea of
02:18similar legislation in Australia, but she says the Commonwealth has committed $200 million
02:23to help local communities reduce disadvantage in their areas.
02:27Laura wants to see payments increased and a pledge to measure poverty.
02:32We're not going to have an idea as a nation how we are actually tracking and I feel like
02:38by the government not doing that thus far, it's very, very easy to just pretend that
02:43there is no issue with poverty.
02:45With inflation still running hot, it's an issue unlikely to shrink any time soon.