An estimated one in nine Canberrans lives in poverty, but the ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) warns that we cannot properly tackle the problem until we can adequately measure its different forms. 

ACTCOSS is calling for governments to develop a multidimensional model of poverty, drawing on census data and the ACT’s Wellbeing Framework. Senior policy adviser Dr Jacob Priergaard said that income-based figures can show how many people fall into poverty — but not what type of poverty, nor its causes.

“At the moment, based on the absence of data that we have, I think a lot of it is largely guesswork,” Dr Priergaard said.

Poverty is not merely a lack of income; it can take the form of educational disadvantage; insecure or inadequate employment; material deprivation; poor health; housing insecurity; and weak social capital, including isolation from supportive family, friends, and community networks. 

These dimensions often overlap. Someone experiencing housing poverty may also struggle with health, education or employment, while a migrant with little income may nevertheless have strong social capital.

“The government is in a position of needing to be wise in its investments because it doesn’t have infinite resources,” CEO Dr Devin Bowles said. “Having a clearer view of the different dimensions of poverty could really help government make well-informed decisions about where to invest in Canberra’s health and well-being.

“So, if, for instance, it comes out that a high proportion of Canberrans are experiencing some degree of housing poverty, and a lower fraction are experiencing a degree of employment poverty, that is really actionable information for government drawing up a budget and deciding where to put its money.”

Australia has no official poverty line, making it difficult for governments to determine how many people need help, direct resources effectively, or measure whether policies are reducing disadvantage.

“If we can’t measure how many people are in poverty, it’s very hard to provide the resources to get people out of poverty, and it’s very hard to track how we as a country are doing in making sure that as few Australians as possible live in poverty,” Dr Bowles said.

“At an individual level, poverty creates a huge amount of suffering in the ACT.  We see that in the lives of people who are experiencing poverty at the moment, but then we also see it in the lives of those people years down the track when they’ve not been able to fully realize their potential.

“Any society’s greatest asset is its human potential, and the cost of poverty in reducing human potential is absolutely terrible. At a society-wide level, we see increased expenditure in things like avoidable hospital admissions and the prison and criminal justice system more broadly, where if we had invested in keeping people out of poverty, we could have avoided many of those expenses.”

As living costs rise, poverty is increasing. Many households – including families where both partners work – are needing assistance for the first time. ACTCOSS members are increasingly seeing people seek material assistance who once donated to charities themselves. 

“There’s this unwritten social agreement in Australia that people who are giving it a go should have a fair go,” Dr Bowles said. “Increasingly, people are giving it a go and not really receiving the fruits of that. Despite their best efforts, they are still living in poverty.”

Housing is one of ACTCOSS’s greatest concerns. High rents and limited public and community housing put the private rental market out of reach for many low-income Canberrans, while Anglicare’s Rental Affordability Snapshot found Canberrans on income support could not afford to rent here.

Cost-of-living pressures affect people in poverty more severely because they have no financial buffer.

“When they are faced with needing to tighten their belts, they’re already buying only the essentials, and only the cheapest version of those essentials, so there’s not a way for them to cut back without significantly damaging their health or well-being,” Dr Bowles said.

The first signs of poverty are often almost invisible. Dr Priergaard said parents might begin by skipping meals so their children can eat; buying less food; going without heating; or missing medical appointments. They might hide their poverty until, in desperation, they seek emergency food or financial assistance from overstretched community organisations.

Dr Priergaard said Australia’s social security system was organised largely around people who could not work because they were unemployed, disabled, or elderly. It was not designed for a situation in which employed people could no longer afford their bills.

“The system we have in place to keep people out of poverty is not doing a good enough job,” Dr Bowles said.

ACTCOSS wants the ACT government to overhaul the concessions and targeted assistance system, which it says was designed more than a decade ago under very different economic circumstances.

It also wants the Federal Government to raise income-support payments to a level that allows recipients to live with dignity.

“Keeping people out of poverty is not the responsibility of any one individual,” Dr Bowles said.

“It’s the responsibility of whole communities, whole countries, and it relies on the decisions of communities and countries much more than the decisions of individuals.”