New Study Finds Nearly Three Million Australians Are Living in Poverty

The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) has released their latest snapshot of national poverty and the results aren't good. During 2014-15, there were 2.99 million Australians (13.3 percent of the population) living below the poverty line, which is set at $343 a week, per adult, after taking into account housing costs.

While this number is down from 2012 when it was 13.9 per cent, it's far higher than a decade ago. In 2004, around 11.8 percent of Australians were living in poverty. This indicates that despite a decade of strong economic growth, Australian efforts to combat poverty have made negligible inroads. As the report highlights, "Australia's poverty rate remains above the OECD average, despite our relative prosperity."

In fact, out of 36 OECD countries, Australia has the 14th highest rate of poverty. For comparison, Iceland's poverty rate sits below five percent. As report contributor Professor Peter Saunders writes, "The fact that there are six countries with a poverty rate of eight percent or less shows that it is possible to make substantial in-roads, even in countries that we have consistently outperformed economically."

Perhaps one of the most troubling aspects of the report was the finding that the number of Australian children in poverty has jumped to more than 730,000. This is an increase of two percent. Most of these kids are living in single-parent households, and two-thirds rely on welfare benefits to pay their bills.

In the report's forward, Dr Cassandra Goldie, CEO of ACOSS, calls for government action and a cession of high income tax cuts. "Our political leaders often seem more concerned with providing the next tax cut than with reducing poverty and inequality," she writes. "We need to shift the mindset that poverty is a reflection of the individual and instead view eradicating poverty as a shared responsibility."

Ironically, the report was released three days after the Federal Parliament approved a tax cut for those earning over $80,000 a year. The Greens described the move as giving the wealthiest Australians "an extra $6 a week for a coffee and a bite of a muffin."