Face of poverty
More than 500,000 struggle to make ends meet
GEELONG’S Belinda Robart counts herself among Victoria’s half a million people living in poverty. ‘‘It’s very scary,’’ she said yesterday.
BELINDA Robart is due to welcome her first child close to Christmas, but isn’t sure where they will live.
She counts herself among Victoria’s half a million people living in poverty and sums up her feeling with a few words.
‘‘It’s very scary,’’ she said yesterday.
‘‘There’s just wishful thinking something is going to come up before she’s born.’’
Home for now is emergency accommodation at Belmont’s SalvoConnect, where she shares a unit with her sister, Narelle, and Narelle’s partner, Tiffany Woolhouse.
The three spoke of their challenges yesterday as a new Victorian Council of Social Service report shows 526,700 Victorians live with an income below the international poverty measure.
‘‘This means that almost 12 per cent of the Victorian population are struggling every day to make ends meet,’’ VCOSS chief executive Penny Wilson said.
‘‘We see this reflected in the growing number of people who are accessing emergency relief services and seeking out financial counselling to cope with the high cost of housing and the impact of Victoria’s variable economy.’’
The report, released during Anti-Poverty Week, found one in eight people overall and one in six children were living below the poverty line and that many people reliant on social security payments were also in poverty.
Poverty is set at 50 per cent of the median disposable income for all Australian households, $358 after-tax disposable income for a single adult a week and $752 after-tax disposable income for a couple with two children a week.
Ms Woolhouse said she had $127 a fortnight for food and living after payments for other obligations, including rent for a flat in Morwell, were removed from her Centrelink payment.
‘‘We’re practically just relying on my partner’s pay, which is just $ 400 a fortnight,’’ she said.
She said the three had left Morwell after being bashed and robbed and arrived in Geelong three weeks ago.
SalvoConnect Barwon South West network director Lisa Dalla- Zuanna said trends of need were apparent among poverty- stricken people seeking help in Geelong. Many were going without treatments, including dental work.
‘‘And especially they can’t afford medications, which of course then impacts on behaviour, which then impacts on what happens out on our streets,’’ she said.
‘‘ And with the financial grind on people there’s the loneliness it creates because people can’t afford to go out and socialise.’’
Give Where You Live chief executive Bill Mithen said it seemed unthinkable that people were living in poverty in Geelong .
‘‘This report is backing up what we’ve said earlier in the year and we’re still saying, too many households in Geelong are not earning enough money which leads to a whole range of issues we need to address,’’ he said. ‘‘There’s lack of opportunity for education, certainly health issues and food security.’’