Australian Society, Systems and Policies: Poverty in Australia

This paper reflects on the detrimental social issue of poverty in Australia. It analyzes the policy introduced by the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) and its impact on the society.

Running head: AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY, SYSTEMS AND POLICIES
AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY, SYSTEMS AND POLICIES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY, SYSTEMS AND POLICIES
Executive summary
This paper is going to reflect on the detrimental social issues that is currently prevalent in the
Australian society which is poverty. This paper will analyze the policy introduced by the
Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) which created reports on the rate of poverty in
Australia in order to get the attention of the government so that the government makes suitable
measurable steps that will help in curbing the poverty rate in the country. This paper will also
provide the significant changes and the impact of the policy on the society and how it has helped
in curbing the issue of poverty in the society.

2AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY, SYSTEMS AND POLICIES
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
Background of poverty in Australia............................................................................................3
Poverty in Australia, social polciy...............................................................................................4
Impact of the social policy in Australia.......................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6

3AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY, SYSTEMS AND POLICIES
Introduction
Social policy are ways the societies all over the world meet the needs of the human
beings in society for education, health, work, well-being and security. Social policy usually
addresses the way societies and states respond to the global challeges of economic change,
demographic, migration, globalisation, social and poverty. Social policy tend to analyze the
various roles and characteristics of family, national government, market, civil society,
international organisation and market in providing the necessary support and services during the
life course of an individual (Jenson and Fraser, 2015). The support and services include
education, pension, social care, income maintainance, unemployment support and poverty
reduction (Jenson and Fraser, 2015). This paper is going to reflect on the social policy, Poverty
in Australia and discuss about the background of the policy and the aftermath of the policy in
Australia today.
Discussion
Background of poverty in Australia
In Australia, poverty means the people who live in relative poverty, which is the living
standards of the people fall below the community standard. People in Australia who are living in
poverty are not provided with sufficient resources and fruitful opportunities like dental and
health care, education, housing, recreation, employment opportunities and food (McDonald
2013). According to reports, around 13.2% which is more than 3 million people are living below

4AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY, SYSTEMS AND POLICIES
the poverty line. Around 17.3% which is around 739,000 children belong to the category below
the poverty line (Acoss.org.au 2019).
The report that was presented by ACOSS further found out that among eight adults one is living
in poverty and amoung six chidlren one is living in poverty. The people who are experiencing
poverty are mostly people who rely on the allowance provided by the government like Newstart
and Youth Allowance.
Many trends in poverty can be witnessed through reports presented by ACOSS in
Australia. By the family type it has been seen that lone parents are the ones who exprience
highest poverty rates which is at 33.2% (Acoss.org.au 2019). However this is not a new trend
and according to scholars, lone parents have lived under the poverty line for the past last decade
in Australia (Skinner et al 2017). The rate of the lone parents is still increasing in the Australian
society.
The trend in terms of child poverty was influenced by the economic conditions however
the changes in the social security since GFC have lead to the increase in poverty rates among
children rather than reducing it..
Fletcher and Guttmann (2013) states that Australia is a country where since time
immemorial the rich people in the country are becoming wealthier and the poor has become
poorer. It has also been seen that the indigenous people in Australia have been living in poverty
for a very long time with lack of sufficient resources, proper dwelling and medical facilities.
Poverty in Australia, social polciy

5AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY, SYSTEMS AND POLICIES
Poverty in Australia is an important policy that was formulated by the Australian Council
of Social Service (ACOSS) (Acoss.org.au 2019). The government of Australia has not
implemented any systematic or structured plan for the reduction of poverty rates in the country
and there is no such monitoring and reporting on this major social issue by the government. With
increase in inequality and poverty rates led to the introduction Poverty in Australia.
Poverty in Australia in collaboration with ACOSS amd the University of New South
Wales creates reports to make sure that the people of Australia understands the profile and
prevalence of poverty in the country. This report is created to understand clearly and reduce the
inequality and poverty in Australia. This policy provides an independent, authoritative and robust
research series that monitors the nature, level and trends in inequality and poverty in Australia
and als explores the underlying consequences, causes and policy impacts. The aim of Poverty in
Australia is that, informed by the research that has been created by them, the national
government of Australia, communities and businesses take measurable action to reduce
inequality and poverty in the country (Acoss.org.au 2019). According to the reports that had
been put forward by ACOSS it has been seen that to suffice the physiological and psychological
needs of the people, a single adult who is living alone will need $433 a week and for a week a
couple with one children will need around $909 a week. However, it has been seen that the
people in the country are provided with $135 per week which is below the poverty line
(Acoss.org.au 2019).
Impact of the social policy in Australia
Poverty in Australia has helped the government take notice of the alarming issue that
have been aggravating in the country. After providing the reports on the adversity of the issue of

6AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY, SYSTEMS AND POLICIES
poverty it has been seen that the government has grasped considerable steps to reduce the
poverty in the country. After considering the measurable steps it can be seen that the poverty rate
of Australia has reduced to 13.2% which was 13.8% before during the 90’s. (Martinez and
Perales 2017). The growth has been very slow however it is bringing significant changes.
The government of Australia has taken measurable steps in remote areas to imporve the
healthcare facilities, dwelling and education for the aboriginal children. According to reports, the
general population life expectancy of the women have increased to around 26.7 years and 28.7
years in men. It has been seen that there has been exceptional reductions in the impact of
diseases on the general population (Humanrights.gov.au 2019). This shows significant
improvement in life expectation and health.
The governmnet of Australia has created the Australian Aid program which is said to be a
resource for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) staff with responsibilities
related to aid management. The aim of the aid program was to promote the national interest of
Australia by cntributing to poverty reduction and the economic growth of the country
sustainably. They supported the dveelopment of the private sector and also in strengthening
development of the people which resulted in employement growth which helped in reducing the
poverty rate in the country.
Conclusion
Poverty is considered to be one of the biggest social issues in Australia and this issue has
been in the country for ages. Poverty in Australia, a social policy dveeloped by ACOSS has
managaed to grab the attention of the governmnet of Australia by providing poverty reports that
are alarming and shows the poor reality and adverse conditions of people in the society. This

7AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY, SYSTEMS AND POLICIES
report has made the government of Australia take measurable steps that has contributed to a slow
but significant growth in reducing the poverty level in the country. Thus it can be concluded that
Poverty in Aid has been successul in spreading awareness about the growing social issue among
the people as well as the government and encouraged the government to take measurable steps to
mitigate the situation.

8AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY, SYSTEMS AND POLICIES
Reference
Acoss.org.au (2019). [online] Acoss.org.au. Available at:
https://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ACOSS_Poverty-in-Australia-
Report_Web-Final.pdf [Accessed 20 Sep. 2019].
Acoss.org.au (2019). [online] Acoss.org.au. Available at:
https://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ACOSS_Poverty-in-Australia-
Report_Web-Final.pdf [Accessed 20 Sep. 2019].
Acoss.org.au (2019). Poverty – ACOSS. [online] Acoss.org.au. Available at:
https://www.acoss.org.au/poverty/ [Accessed 20 Sep. 2019].
Fletcher, M. and Guttmann, B., 2013. Income inequality in Australia. Economic Round-Up, (2),
p.35.
Humanrights.gov.au (2019). A statistical overview of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
peoples in Australia | Australian Human Rights Commission. [online] Humanrights.gov.au.
Available at: https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/statistical-overview-aboriginal-and-
torres-strait-islander-peoples-australia [Accessed 20 Sep. 2019].
Jenson, J.M. and Fraser, M.W. eds., 2015. Social policy for children and families: A risk and
resilience perspective. Sage Publications.
Martinez, A. and Perales, F., 2017. The dynamics of multidimensional poverty in contemporary
Australia. Social Indicators Research, 130(2), pp.479-496.
McDonald, C., 2013. Poverty in Australia and the social work response. Asia Pacific Journal of
Social Work and Development, 23(1), pp.3-11.

9AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY, SYSTEMS AND POLICIES
Skinner, C., Meyer, D.R., Cook, K. and Fletcher, M., 2017. Child maintenance and social
security interactions: The poverty reduction effects in model lone parent families across four
countries. Journal of Social Policy, 46(3), pp.495-516.