Challenges in Australian Families

Running head: CHALLENGES IN AUSTRALIAN FAMILIES
CHALLENGES IN AUSTRALIAN FAMILIES
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1CHALLENGES IN AUSTRALIAN FAMILIES
Introduction
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, it has been estimated that the standards
of living in Australia have been increasing at an alarming rate, resulting in rising costs incurred
during procurement of basic commodities, services and products. Such high costs and standards
of living not only influence decisions underlying the daily lives of citizens, but also heavily
determine the functioning and efforts of social workers as well as the implementation of policy
frameworks aimed at improving the social wellbeing of communities and nations (Western &
Tomaszewski, 2016). The following paragraphs of this paper will aim to shed light on the issue
of high living cost in Australia as per the political, cultural and social diversity of Australia, the
impact of this challenge on social policy and practice, the ethical and theoretical frameworks
which will guide social workers to address this challenge and the impact of this challenging issue
of high living cost on Aboriginal communities of Australia.
Discussion
Political, Cultural and Social Diversity
As postulated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there is a need increase taxes paid by
income at rates of 2 to 2.5 % for the purpose of achieving the rising standards of living, as well
as across basic commodities required for daily life such as transport services and fuel. While
high rates of living may be a reflection of positive economical growth across the nation, such
increments are associated with increasing difficulties in terms of affordability since the rise in in
the daily wages of citizens are not as high as the reported rising costs of living. Additionally he
high costs of living may result in financial hardships across socially disadvantaged communities

2CHALLENGES IN AUSTRALIAN FAMILIES
hence leading to disparities across the nation in terms of overall achievement of social wellbeing
(Lee, Kane, Ramsey, Good & Dick, 2016).
Prior to addressing the challenging issue of high cost and standards of living which are
expensive in Australia, there is need to first, address the diversity of the nation. Australia is a
country of diverse and cultural background, comprising of citizens belonging to not only from
native Australian communities but also from Indigenous populations such as the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander communities (Bohingamu Mudiyanselage et al., 2017). Additionally, the
cultural diversity of Australia also comprises of individuals from various ethnic communities
such as, Indians, Chinese, German, Scottish, English, Irish, Italian and Chinese. While the high
numbers of ethnic groups reflect the high cultural diversity of the nation, the prevalence of the
same can result in disparities in achieving positive outcomes of social wellbeing. It is worthwhile
to note that individuals belonging to culturally diverse communities, varied from mainstream
Australia culture are often at a disadvantage (Nghiem, Khanam, Vu & Tran, 2019). This is due
to the fact that issues like cultural discrimination, language barriers and newly acquired
immigrant status results in reduced accessibility to employment, leading to reduced acquisition
of financial resource, low income and a difficulty to meet high costs of living. Hence, this
reflects the key association between cultural diversity and challenges to social wellbeing in the
form of culturally diverse people being unable to keep up with the rising costs of living in
Australia (Rosewall & Shoory, 2017).
It is also worthwhile note that the population of Australia consists of multiple social
groups, diverse from each other. These include groups such as children, adolescents, adults and
the elderly. Of these, social groups such as the elderly, chronically ill as well as individuals who
are unemployment must be addressed with greater priority (Whiteford, 2017). A reported by