Majority of Australians Back Action to Track and Address Child Poverty #

Four in five Australians (83%) want the Federal Government to officially define and measure poverty levels, and for income support payments to be boosted to prevent children from living in poverty, according to new research by the Australia Institute.

The Federal Government has no official definition or measure for tracking and reporting on national poverty levels.

The End Child Poverty campaign teamed up with the Australia Institute to release new data showing Australians want the Federal government to ensure no child lives in poverty.  It finds the majority of Australians want an end to child poverty and want the government to introduce a definition and measure that would reduce the child poverty rate in Australia.

We launched the End Child Poverty campaign in April 2024, calling on the Albanese government to legislate an end child poverty – similar to New Zealand and Scotland.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT HERE #

Key Findings:

• Four in five Australians (83%) want the Federal Government to regularly measure and report on poverty rates in Australia.
• An overwhelming majority of Australians (81%) agree that income support payments should be set at a rate that does not cause any child to live in poverty.
• Australians are highly concerned that Australia has a high child poverty rate compared to other developed countries (69%), and about the effects of this on health and lifespan (83%) as well as education and employment (85%).
• One in six Australian children (about 761,000 children) live in poverty according to research from ACOSS and UNSW.
• The OECD finds that Australia’s youth poverty rate is the 13th-highest among member nations, surpassing the UK, Germany and Canada.