ACOSS says inequality is growing in Australia

The peak body for the community and social welfare sector, the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), says there is growing inequality in Australia, with disadvantaged groups and people struggling on low incomes.

“The indications are that more people are hitting hard times and falling into poverty,” said Dr Cassandra Goldie, ACOSS chief executive officer.
 
“At last count it was estimated that over 2.2 million people in Australia were living in poverty and 105,000 were homeless, but we believe these numbers are likely to be higher.
 
“Preliminary figures from our 2011 Community Sector Survey show the number of people accessing and being turned away from services is increasing, especially in the areas of disability, housing and homelessness, and youth welfare services,” she said.

“The largest increase is in area of financial support and/or emergency relief, which has seen a 47% increase in the numbers of people turned away. Across our network, which comprises thousands of community and social services groups around the country, including the big charities, there have been reports of a surge in demand for emergency help during the Christmas holiday period, attributed to the accelerating cost of living pressures. 

“The cost of essential items and services like food, rent, energy, health, education, clothing and transport costs continue to go up. Since 2000, the cost of living in Australia, as evidenced by the CPI has risen by 34% with energy expenses in particular doubling in the past decade and expected to double again in the next five years.

“Although there have been some efforts by the Australian Government to alleviate these pressures, especially in response to the recent global financial crisis, with lump-sum payments to families, pensioners and carers, and increases to pensioners, other disadvantaged groups, such as those on Newstart and sole parents have missed out. Even when there are slight increases to meet increases in cost of living, these groups always receive less because of the way payments are indexed.
 
“All of this paints a worrying picture that challenges our long held notion of a fair and egalitarian society and requires the attention of our key policy and decision makers. We have urged action on a number of fronts, including reforms to social security payments, employment services, and our taxation system,” said Dr Goldie.