Poverty in Australia

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Poverty in Australia is a contentious political issue. There are still remains of genuine, or absolute, poverty in Australia especially in Aboriginal communities. However many on the Left of Australian politics argue that relative poverty ought to be the appropriate measure. This looks at the percentage of the population that earns under the average annual earnings. This measure is useful for bodies such as the Australian Council of Social Services because it means poverty can never be abolished. Many on the right of Australian politics argue that this relative measure is a mistake because it hides the existence of genuine absolute poverty in Australia by looking only at those who, for whatever reason, learn relatively little.

Poverty figures for Australia are presently unavilable according to the CIA World Factbook[link]. Bob Hawke has since decided on a poverty figure of 1 million Australians[link]. This is lower than nearly any other country on the list.

Australia’s poverty rate was 12.9% from the most recent data on poverty rates in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development) countries. This is the second highest rate in the OECD after the United States with a rate of 19%.

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