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Poverty in SA in the spotlight for Anti-Poverty Week

MEDIA RELEASE: This week is Anti-Poverty Week – held each year to help raise important conversations about poverty in our state and beyond it, and what we can do better. This year, a key focus of Anti-Poverty Week is to shine a light on the fact that in Australia today 2.65 million people are struggling to survive on income payments that are well below the poverty line. That is over one in 10 Australians. Many are at risk of homelessness due to a shortage of affordable housing. And it’s not just about income support – SACOSS has also highlighted the significant challenges faced by households who rely on wages for income and yet still live below the poverty line. SACOSS continues to strongly advocate, together with ACOSS and many others, for the federal government to raise the rate of income support above the poverty line. We are also calling for urgent and significant investments in public housing, from both state and federal governments. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic make action in this space even more pressing. “We know that far too many South Australians are struggling so hard just to meet the most basic of needs,” said SACOSS CEO Ross Womersley. “It is simply not good enough.”
“We are a prosperous state in a prosperous nation – if we cannot provide adequate support and measures to ensure that people can meet fundamental, basic costs of living, we are simply not trying hard enough.” – Ross Womersly
Just last week, the renter survey report released by the Anti-Poverty Network of South Australia showed that, of the survey respondents, 1 in 4 people said they had less than $14 a day ($100 a week) left after paying their rent. Alarmingly, 77% said the cost of rent often impacted their ability to pay their bills on time, or eat well, that they sometimes had to skip meals, or avoided fresh food. “These statistics are disturbing, and highlight the reality that too many South Australians are currently facing,” stated Mr Womersley. “Increasing rents and house prices mean people are struggling to stay housed, or are forced to live in overcrowded, sub-standard or unsuitable homes. SACOSS has proposed a range of measures to help address rental affordability woes, including a significantly increased investment by the State Government in public housing. “While poverty sounds like something that may be too big to fix, it really isn’t. Raising income support above the poverty line and investing in public housing are keys to addressing poverty this Anti-Poverty Week. Our state and federal government can make huge differences in people’s lives,” Mr Womersley stated. “This would be a great week to see our State Government step up and commit to these measures. And we’d love to see them take the argument for raising the rate of income support to the Federal Government, too. Straightaway, a measure like that would lift so many South Australians out of poverty, and into a brighter future – for all of us.” In addition to action on rental affordability, some other practical immediate steps the SA State Government can take to address poverty include to:
  • Implement the recommendations for review and reform of our state concessions system, arising from the SACOSS Report ‘The State of Concessions in SA’, including widening criteria to capture people on low incomes who are not able to access concessions.
  • Act on digital exclusion: the new frontier of poverty, committing to the set of digital inclusion goals identified by SACOSS.
  • Implement the SACOSS Anti-Poverty Package, which contains 12 simple steps the SA State Government can take to remove some specific poverty premiums, poverty traps, and barriers to access for a range of government policies and practices.
“Ignoring the opportunities to address poverty is a choice that our governments make every day they don’t take action on our behalf as a community. We know it doesn’t have to be this way – so let’s collectively demand some real action to fix it. We are a fairer community than this.” Mr Womersley stated. Access to housing is a key focus of a free forum tomorrow (20 October) at 12 noon at the UniSA West Campus, co-hosted by the St Vincent de Paul Society and the Anti-Poverty Network SA. SPEAKERS/PANELISTS
  • Helen Connolly, Commissioner for Children & Young People; Chair of Anti-Poverty Week
  • Ross Womersley, CEO, South Australian Council of Social Services (SACOSS)
  • Josh Peak, Secretary, Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA)
  • Tim Best, Operations Manager, Vinnies Men’s Crisis Centre
  • Associate Professor Anna Ziersch, Flinders University, College of Medicine and Public Health
  • Pas Forgione, Coordinating Committee Member, Anti-Poverty Network South Australia
  • Amethyst deWilde, Coordinating Committee Member, Anti-Poverty Network South Australia
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08 8305 4222

sacoss@sacoss.org.au

Marjorie Black House
47 King William Road Unley SA 5061

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KELLY VINCENT

Kelly is a writer and an advocate living on Kaurna land. At age 20, they won the State Theatre’s Young Guns Award for young playwrights for Gravity. At 21, they became Australia’s youngest Member of Parliament and first-ever appointed specifically on the platform of disability rights. From 2010 to 2018, Kelly represented the Dignity Party in the Upper House of South Australia’s State Parliament, making vital changes to the way service providers, the built environment, and the justice system respond to the needs of disabled people. They are now Creative Director of True Ability, a disabled persons’ theatre company they co-founded in 2020.

CHERYL AXELBY

Cheryl is a proud Narungga Woman, living on Kaurna land, and is passionate about improving the quality of life for her people. Cheryl has extensive experience working with Aboriginal communities, and federal and state government sectors at senior and executive level in a career spanning over 43 years. Currently she is National Co-Chair of Change the Record, Head of Aboriginal Housing – Housing SA and in March 2024 she was elected as the Central Region 1 representative in the historic First Nations Voice to SA Parliament.

DAVE ADAMSON

Dave moved to Australia following a 30-year academic career in the UK. He has since worked in the Community Housing sector and authored the 2016 Towards a National Housing Strategy, and helped to establish the Everybody’s Home campaign. He also researches the interface between poverty and climate change and actively supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. He has worked with government at all levels and has experience of policy development and evaluation. He is co-author of Sustainable Places: Addressing Social Inequality and Environmental Crisis (2022, Routledge). In his spare time he plays and builds guitars.

ROHAN FEEGRADE

Rohan is an experienced and forward-thinking CEO, senior executive and board director with demonstrated expertise across the not-for-profit, private and government sectors. Currently CEO of Lutheran Care, he has proven record for creating substantial organisational, stakeholder and client value, and has extensive experience in strategically positioning organisations for transformational change and growth within the health, disability, education and community service sectors. Rohan is a socially responsible professional, genuinely passionate about creating opportunities for people who live with disadvantage and disability, always acting ethically to serve those he works with and for.

DR JEN CLEARY

Jen is a human geographer, with a background spanning social services and social policy ,vocational and higher education and regional, rural and remote research and development. She is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Centacare Catholic Country SA (CCCSA), a for-purpose organisation providing social services in regional, rural and remote communities in South Australia, across a footprint of some 980,000 square km. She was awarded a PhD in Geography from the University of SA in 2014. She holds an adjunct professorial position with the Centre for Social Impact at Flinders University and is a member of the Advisory Panel for the University of SA Justice and Society Arts Program.

NANCY PENNA

Nancy has than 30 years of experience in South Australian community services, and a a unique understanding of the political and social landscape and the issues and opportunities facing South Australia. Currently responsible for the strategic and operational oversight of AnglicareSA’s community services portfolio, she has previously held executive roles in government within child protection and disability, with her executive experience underpinned by her earlier career as a social worker in child protection and youth justice. She is also Chair of the Child and Family Focus South Australia (CAFFSA) Board and most recently on the Housing Security for Older Women Taskforce.

NICOLE CHAPLIN

Nicole is a dedicated and experienced youth support professional, specialising in solutions for disadvantaged young people in South Australia. As CEO of St John’s Youth Services, she oversees innovative programs like youth110 and Foyer Port Adelaide. With over thirty years in the community sector, Nicole has built extensive networks and her expertise spans governance, service delivery, policy development, and partnerships. Recognised with the 2018 AHI Inspirational Leader Award, Nicole is an active participant in housing and homelessness networks. She holds leadership roles in various organisations, including Anglicare Australia’s National Reconciliation Network.

EMMA CROSBY

Emma is a chartered Accountant with more than 15 years experience as a board member, finance and business professional, strategic advisor and company secretary. She has strong values and a passion for enabling and leading organisations to meet its operational and strategic direction through long-term financial sustainability, operational efficiency, innovation, leadership, transformation and partnerships. As Treasurer and Board member at SACOSS, she is committed to successfully leading and making a purposeful impact to the organisation and its stakeholders.

David PANTER

David has worked in health and social care for almost 45 years, over half of which has been as a Chief Executive. In the UK he initially worked in the NHS and more latterly in local government, where he was Chief Executive of Brighton & Hove City Council. In 2004 David was recruited to the South Australian public health system for over 10 years leading reforms including the development of the new Royal Adelaide Hospital. From 2015-2022 David was the Chief Executive of not-for-profit aged care provider ECH. At the end of January 2022 David became the Chief Executive at Minda, SA’s largest provider of services to people living with an intellectual disability.

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