Equality Speaks

Australia may have dodged the bullet that has put the US, Britain and most European economies on life support, but our 2009 collection of essays shows that – despite our enviable economic position – Australia is not the egalitarian paradise that many believe it to be.

Equality Speaks features an eclectic mix of writers who highlight a common challenge – to use our (relatively) stable economic times to make the shift to a fairer Australia. It brings together some of our sharpest minds to look at paths to a more equal Australia in areas like transport, homelessness, education, women, tax, refugees, work and employment amongst others. It includes new research on the distribution of wealth in Australia.

Income Support and Poverty

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"By a number of measures Australia's... social security system has not succeeded in alleviating poverty..." Thomas and Coad

Australia is often reported to have high levels of welfare dependency requiring restrictions in spending on social security payments. This is not however the case. When compared with other wealthy countries, Australia has a comparatively low percentage of people of working age reliant on social security (18%). By a number of measures Australias… social security system has not succeeded in alleviating poverty, particularly among children and the elderly.

The issue of poverty and social security is taken further by Gerard Thomas and Melissa Coad in Income Support and Poverty in Australia.

Although Australia is reported to have high levels of ‘welfare dependency’, the percentage of working age people who depend on income support in Australia is low compared with other countries. Australia’s overall poverty rate is slightly higher than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average. Poverty is especially high among older Australians — nearly one third of over 65-year-olds in Australia have an income below the poverty threshold, while nearly one in five people over 65 years of age are ‘persistently poor’.

The Australian Government has recently responded to old age poverty and has increased the maximum rate of the age pension. The authors argue that these increases will exacerbate inequality in other parts of the system, for example between pensioners and the unemployed and single parents who are also doing it tough. They argue for a benchmark of ‘sufficiency’ so social security is equitably applied to all those in need.

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