In Anti-Poverty Week (October 13-19), I stand with other Australian Children’s Commissioners, Guardians and Advocates in calling on Australian governments to end child poverty.
We call on governments to address the structural barriers that contribute to poverty and take bold action to break intergenerational cycles of disadvantage and marginalisation that continue to have devastating implications for families, communities, and children.
All children are entitled to grow up safe and health, and to get the support they need to reach their full potential.
This includes:
- having their health, wellbeing and developmental needs fulfilled
- having adequate housing, food and healthcare
- fully participating in their education and community.
They should be able to go on school trips, enjoy family outings, play regular sport, and engage in their communities.
And yet poverty faces far too many children, with more than 761,000 Australian children 15 and under living in poverty.
Child poverty is a vexing issue nationally, but is concentrated in Tasmania, particularly in a small number of communities.
Tasmania is home to around 115,000 children and young people aged less than 18, representing almost a fifth of our population.
In 2021, Tasmania had among the highest levels of disadvantage compared to the rest of Australia with more than two-thirds of children and young people living in areas of relative disadvantage; characterised by low income, low educational attainment, and high unemployment.
The Children’s Policy Centre has defined poverty based on the things Tasmanian children say matter most to them: It means that children do not have the material basics, their opportunities are limited, and crucial relationships are not in place or are under pressure.
Structural barriers mean that those who experience poverty as a child are:
- up to three years behind at school, compared with their peers by age 15
- 3.3 times more likely to experience poverty as an adult
- 2.5 times more likely to live in social housing
- 2.5 times more likely to experience financial stress
- more likely to experience poor mental and physical health.
We also know that those living in poverty can experience greater exposure to the child protection system (when authorities mistake poverty for neglect), which can in turn lead to increased likelihood of experiencing violence, social isolation and, for some, leading to contact with the criminal legal system.
Decades of policies, system structures and limited access to resources have prevented any real increase in wages, and income support payments have contributed to the chronic disadvantage experienced by many.
Cost of living pressures have been left unchecked leading to exponential housing costs, reduced housing supply and food insecurity.
These ever-increasing costs have disproportionally affected families who are on low incomes, single parent families and young people.
Australian governments can act now to address child poverty by taking these four actions:
- establish a national child poverty taskforce and strategy, inclusive of long-term strategies to increase opportunities for young people to break cycles of adult poverty, for example through increasing the minimum wage for apprentices and reducing the cost of higher education
- show commitment to ending child poverty through national law, including legislation to regulate pricing on essential items (e.g. staples, fresh vegetables, fuel, GP visits, female hygiene products)
- increase income support payments, including enabling children and young people under 18 to access leaving violence payments; and
- establish a minimum national poverty line that is regularly measured, monitored and reported upon.
Child poverty can be overcome. Australian governments have the power and resources to stop it.
The persistence of child poverty in Australia – a modern and thriving nation – is indefensible.
Isabelle Crompton, Acting-Commissioner for Children and Young People