The OECD defines the poverty line as half the median household income. In Australia, the poverty line works out to be $489 per week for a single adult, and $1027 per week for a couple with two children.
Australia is one of the richest countries in the world, yet, 1 in 8 of us live in poverty today. That's more than 3 million people in Australia living in poverty*.
Poverty is a state of deprivation in which people or communities lack access to resources and basic necessities needed to live a healthy and dignified life. Living in poverty means not being able to afford medical care or access to basics such as electricity, shelter, and food.
Estimates of the extent of poverty in Australia
More than one in eight people (13.4 per cent) and one in six children (16.6per cent) lived below the poverty line after taking account of their housing costs. In total, there were over three million people living in poverty, including 761 000 children.
The term "poverty traps" refers lo circumstances where the income tests in the Australian social security system trap social security recipients into dependence on Government income support.
Causes of poverty and inequality in Australia. A combination of factors contribute to poverty – a lack of money or resources for the basic needs of life – and inequality – unequal distribution of income and wealth.
Australia is a signatory to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. The first of these goals is “No poverty”. However, Australia has the 15th highest poverty rate out of the 34 wealthiest countries in the OECD – higher than the average for the OECD; higher than the UK, Germany and New Zealand.
Increase wages – especially the minimum wage, to reduce inequality and leaving low-income earners behind. Rebuild employment services, to truly help disadvantaged job seekers, especially those who are long-term unemployed to find work.
Five causes of poverty
Poverty is not just caused by individual circumstances but by major inequalities built into the structure of Australian society. Some of the main causes of this inequality and poverty are access to work and income, education, housing, health and services.
Unemployment was a key generator of poverty – about half of all Australians aged 15 years and over who were unemployed lived in poverty. Poverty increased among the unemployed in the late 1990s.
There are two broad views as to why people stay poor. One emphasizes differences in fundamentals, such as ability, talent or motivation. The other, the poverty traps view, differences in opportunities which stem from access to wealth.
Poverty is associated with substandard housing, hunger, homelessness, inadequate childcare, unsafe neighborhoods, and under-resourced schools.
There are several factors that make it difficult for people to escape poverty. A lack of access to capital is a major contributor to poverty traps as is poor education, infrastructure, and healthcare.
Mungallala Methodist Church was built in 1964. It has now closed. In 2016, the Australian Taxation Office listed Mungallala as having the lowest mean taxable income by postcode, making it the poorest town in Australia, which led the ABC to do a documentary on the town for their online "storyhunters" program.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) defines the poverty line as half the median household income of the total population2. In Australia this translates to a single adult living on less than $426.30 a week. For a couple with 2 children, it was $895.22 a week1.
Australia is a highly developed country with a mixed economy. As of 2023, Australia was the 13th-largest national economy by nominal GDP (gross domestic product), the 19th-largest by PPP-adjusted GDP, and was the 20th-largest goods exporter and 24th-largest goods importer.
Poverty is the severe lack of certain possessions which significantly reduces the quality of a person's life. People living in poverty struggle to meet basic needs, including having limited access to food, clothing, healthcare, education, shelter and safety.
Measured using the well-accepted Gini methodology, the actuaries calculated Australia's Gini coefficient for individuals to be 0.46 (where zero refers to low inequality and one is high inequality). Australia's Gini has increased seven percentage points over the past 40 years, the report observed.
Australia poverty rate for 2018 was 1.00%, a 0% increase from 2016. Australia poverty rate for 2016 was 1.00%, a 0% increase from 2014. Australia poverty rate for 2014 was 1.00%, a 0% increase from 2010. Australia poverty rate for 2010 was 1.00%, a 0.3% increase from 2008.
A significant driver of poverty and homelessness in Australia is the rising cost of housing – as it becomes increasingly difficult to make ends meet, many families are facing financial instability and vulnerability. As of March 2023, the median national rent in Australia is $565 a week, a 13% increase since last year.
These include: increases in the rate of return on investments; changes in the tax-transfer system which have benefited high income earners; increased access to the labour market, especially for women; changes in education patterns; and people having children later. Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS cat no.
Aid and government support in health, education, and infrastructure helps growth by increasing human and physical capital. Poverty alleviation also involves improving the living conditions of people who are already poor.
First, a high rate of poverty impairs our nation's economic progress: When a large number of people cannot afford to purchase goods and services, economic growth is more difficult to achieve. Second, poverty produces crime and other social problems that affect people across the socioeconomic ladder.