17 - 23 October 2020

Poverty exists. Poverty hurts us all. We can all do something about it.

This Anti-Poverty Week we are calling on our governments to unlock poverty for millions of Australians by

raising income support above the poverty line and investing in social housing.

 Living in poverty is too much like living in permanent lockdown

The ability to do important things is taken away from you.  Decisions that affect your life are made without your input.  You are reliant on the kindness of others.  It’s difficult to see what you can do to change the situation.  Not having enough money to cover the necessities including housing restricts daily life and crushes hope for the future. 

During the 2020 lockdowns, around 3 million Australians, 1 million of them children, were protected from poverty when the Federal Government did the right thing and doubled working age payments. Payments are now as low as $44 (JobSeeker) and $36 (Youth Allowance) per day - well below the poverty line.  The poorest adults and children living under pandemic lockdowns in 2021 are being excluded from the COVID Disaster Payment.  

The housing affordability crisis is worsening especially in regional Australia – rents have increased 11.3% in past year in regions on average (and more than 20% in some regions of Queensland, WA and NSW) and 5% on average in capital cities. Commonwealth Rent Assistance hasn’t had a real increase in 21 years and only covers a fraction of actual rent paid. 

Women and children escaping violence face homelessness and poverty due to lack of affordable housing and low social security payments. There is a national shortage of 433,000 homes for people in the lowest 20% of household incomes who are either homeless or in rental stress and at high risk of becoming homeless.  

Raise the Rate for Good and Everybody’s Home campaigns for actions you can take including signing the Petition which calls on the PM to support more social housing for women and children fleeing violence. 

See  the 2021 Website Page Here 

Access the Updated Promotional Kit Here