Week to fight for end of poverty

Published on 19 October 2021

Bringing awareness to the factors that lead to poverty and those who experience it is the aim of Anti-Poverty Week, which runs from 17 to 23 October.

The focus for this year’s Anti-Poverty Week is on raising income support above the poverty line and investing in social housing.

Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds, who spoke at this morning’s launch event, said management of income support payments during the COVID-19 pandemic not only demonstrated that raising the rate is possible, but that it could make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.

“We’ve heard from people who can speak first hand of the positive changes they were able to make in their lives, and their families’, thanks to the increased rate of income support that was available last year,” Cr Reynolds said.

“As one of the wealthiest nations in the world, it is unconscionable that we have so many individuals, families, and children living below the poverty line. Raising the rate and providing housing are two things that will really help to change this.”

Through the peak of the pandemic in 2020, City of Hobart surveyed a number of food relief services operating in the area. The results found a noticeable change in the services’ client base, with fewer clients on income support needed to access the services, and the presence of international students and temporary visa holders increasing.

“What we saw last year in our area was that the increased payments led to a reduced reliance on food services,” Cr Reynolds said. “This speaks directly to the significant outcomes that can be achieved by raising the rate permanently.”

Speakers at this morning’s launch of Anti-Poverty Week 2021 included Salvation Army Tasmania’s State Leader Captain Kim Haworth, and Hobart resident Angela Finch (pictured), who shared her own experiences as a recipient of income support and the COVID-19 supplement, after leaving a domestic violence situation with her three children.

More information about Anti-Poverty Week is available at antipovertyweek.org.au.