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Missing out : which income support recipients are most at risk of hardship?
6 July 2009
New research published by ACOSS finds that those on the lowest social security payments face the greatest hardship. The social security system is poorly designed to prevent poverty.
The ACOSS report draws on a study by the Social Policy Research Centre, in collaboration with ACOSS and member organisations, that surveyed access to essential items across the Australian population in 2006. Respondents were asked what they regarded as the essentials of life, whether their household had these items, and if not, whether this was because they could not afford them. Examples included a decent and secure home and access to dental treatment when needed. Only those items which more than half of those surveyed considered essential were used as indicators of deprivation.
By Peter Davidson, Senior Policy Officer, ACOSS