00:00Josh isn't like most high school students. He's given a TED Talk and advocates on youth
00:09issues across the nation, but he also misses out because he's living in poverty.
00:15I sometimes either stay up a bit later than most thinking about this exact topic and how
00:22to best support my family. I sometimes take up jobs outside of the home just to make sure
00:31that the family can get by.
00:33That's on top of helping care for his 10-year-old sister who has a number of complex medical
00:37needs and requires round-the-clock care. The family gets a carer's pension, but mum Laura
00:43says it's not enough, even if things seem OK.
00:46They may look at us from the outside and not realise just actually how tough and how much
00:52stress and budgeting and thought and everything, planning perhaps, goes into making sure that
00:58my children are fed and clothed.
01:01Come on Shasha, let's go collect the eggs.
01:03It's estimated about one in six children are living below the poverty line, but we don't
01:07know exactly how many. Josh and his mum are supporting a campaign run by End Child Poverty,
01:13calling for Australia to legislate a commitment to measuring the problem and ending it.
01:18It places an accountability on government, but more importantly I think it keeps the
01:23Australian community informed. Currently the Australian community has no idea what child
01:28poverty is like in this country.
01:30While countries like the US, Canada and New Zealand all have government measured poverty
01:34lines, Australia doesn't. Research for the campaign from the Australia Institute shows
01:40four in five Australians support the government regularly reporting on poverty and lifting
01:45income support.
01:47Poverty is a policy choice. These are things that can be addressed. We know how to do them.
01:52It requires a will, but if we're not even measuring it then it makes it very easy to
01:56hide it.
01:57New Zealand introduced similar legislation in 2018.
02:01It's really important because it ensures that ongoing focus is there for successive governments.
02:09It means that it doesn't slip out of focus when issues of the day come up.
02:14Local Services Minister Amanda Rishworth didn't answer questions about the idea of
02:18similar legislation in Australia, but she says the Commonwealth has committed $200 million
02:23to help local communities reduce disadvantage in their areas.
02:27Laura wants to see payments increased and a pledge to measure poverty.
02:32We're not going to have an idea as a nation how we are actually tracking and I feel like
02:38by the government not doing that thus far, it's very, very easy to just pretend that
02:43there is no issue with poverty.
02:45With inflation still running hot, it's an issue unlikely to shrink any time soon.
Comments