Child poverty was reduced by 30 per cent before. It can be done again.

ACOSS is marking the beginning of Anti-Poverty Week with a renewed call for government to stop attacking Australia’s social safety net, and the people who need it, and instead focus on reducing child poverty in Australia, as it has been done before.

At our Press Conference today, we honour the Hawke government’s legacy of reducing child poverty by a massive 30 per cent, while shining a light on the increasing child poverty today.

Download the ACOSS briefing on child poverty in Australia

ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie is joined by former Minister for Social Security, the Honourable Brian Howe AO who led the Hawke Government’s Family Package which successfully reduced child poverty in Australia by 30 per cent, leading social policy researcher Professor Peter Whiteford, community workers and parents with lived experience of poverty, from the Hawke era and now.

The Honourable Brian Howe AO says when he was appointed Minister for Social Security in 1984, he invited a group of social policy researchers to meet with him.

“I asked them to deliberate with me on the question, ‘if you were the Minister what would be your highest priority for reform?’” said Mr Howe.

“The last line on the butcher’s paper said ‘create a guaranteed minimum income for children’. Then, Professor Bettina Cass together with Peter Whiteford proposed a mechanism for ensuring and benchmarking the adequacy of child payments.

“Recognising the critical importance of Indexation, they proposed a system of payments in line with movements in average weekly earnings and the extension of uniform rent assistance to low income families as part of the family package. This work provided the basis for the 1987 budget commitments to social security payments for families that would over time lift families above the poverty line.

“The family package created a measure of adequacy not apparent today.

“The social security system should not be a fund from which governments draw to meet budget shortfalls, but rather it should be an institution designed to outlaw poverty and enhance citizen rights, contributing to the building of a fairer Australian nation,” he said.

Dr Cassandra Goldie says the basic need of families to have enough money to live with dignity has not changed.

“Child poverty is a government choice, not a given. It is unfathomable that our government chooses to set policy agendas that increase the number of children living in poverty in this country, particularly children of single parents,” said Dr Goldie.

“So many children are missing out on what we all see as essentials: attending school excursions, getting new school clothes and books, doing sport or a hobby after school, and going on a family holiday once a year.

“Nationally, one in six children are living below the poverty line, and almost half of all children living in poverty are in single parent households.

“It doesn’t have to look like this. We’ve reduced poverty in Australia before. We can do it again.

“In 1987, the government instituted a holistic package of reforms that increased assistance for low-income families and benchmarked income support payments to the cost of children. The package also put in place housing, education, training, childcare and tax reforms to help low-income families. This package reduced child poverty by an amazing 30 per cent.

“Bob Hawke’s government did more than any has done since to reduce families living in poverty. With child poverty on the rise, it is time for government to commit to reduce child poverty.

“Today, we call on the Federal government to commit to a headline goal of reducing poverty by at least 50% by 2030, consistent with its commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals.

“The first step that government can take to achieve this goal is to raise the lowest social security payments. Lifting unemployment payments and Family Tax Benefits for families with low incomes would have the greatest immediate impact on children living in poverty.

“It’s time for our Federal government to provide leadership and put children first to reduce child poverty.

“People on low incomes in Australia, including single parents and their children, need an adequate income to live free from poverty.

“Together we can end poverty. We just need the political will to make it happen.”

Download the ACOSS Briefing Note on Child Poverty in Australia