Families in poverty in Australia Essay

One of the important global plan is to eliminate poverty by 2015 as per UN Millennium Development Goals. Every day approximately 30,000 children are losing precious lives due to living in precarious conditions. (Make Poverty History) It is high time to bring a big change in the lives of people who deserve to meet the minimum needs for living. Not just one nation or two whereas a collective effort of all people beginning from Australia to the remote parts of other nations, is required to completely eradicate poverty. Especially in Australia poverty is on the rise from 7. 6 per cent to 9.9 per cent between the period of 1994-2004 (Australian Fair Campaign) Poverty levels are at a higher rate when compared with the poverty line of UK and Ireland. In spite of the fact that Australia’s economy is growing, there are two million Australians living in poverty according to (ACOSS) Australian Council of Social Service. Australia is ranked 14th in the developed world for poverty (UN Human Poverty Index) â€Å"There are two many areas where Australia is falling behind other OECD nations† â€Å"Governments need to ensure the benefits of the economic prosperity are shared with all Australians†(ACOSS President Lin Hatfield Dobbs) The following indicate the status of people in Australia as on September 2001. (Australian Bureau of Statistics) (a) There were 672,500 unemployed (officially) (b) There were 563,500 underemployed (c) 800,000 would like to work more This paper picks an issue of families living in poverty especially belonging to Australia which is a renowned nation for tourism and rich in natural resources. What are the ground reasons for continuous existence of poverty in a nation where there are industries, clean environment and beautiful landscapes which encourage foreign tourists to choose Australia as a destination point to reside either as a tourist or as an immigrant. Similarly, there are reputed educational institutions and universities in Australia which if collectively notified that a greater number of foreign students enroll for career advancements in Universities of Australia than the domestic students of Australia. This gives out a fact that, people around the world select and consider Australia as one of the best nation to opt for to reside as an immigrant, as a tourist, as a foreign student or for expansion of business ventures. An overall view about Australia as a nation produces a fact that, it invites tourists of all cultures and backgrounds and offers a multi-ethnicity atmosphere to all its residents. In the order of pursuing other priorities of economic development of nation, Australia could possibly be giving a lenient view to its domestic citizens and families in providing jobs, medical health schemes which otherwise are provided at a lesser cost in the other parts of Europe, in order to take care of its citizens as a premium issue, which is very important economic aspect that resident families are cared and nurtured after all families make societies which in turn make a healthy nation. In order to find how well and happy families are, a poll opinion was considered by Brother hood of St. Laurence in Australia which revealed that a mindset of middle class economy is prevalent and poverty is always secondary (Stewart 1996). An analysis and understanding of poverty has basically two phases. (1) a phase of listening (2) a phase of dialogue. Brotherhood has considered the poll of general public, group discussions, politicians, academics, telephone interviews, business leaders, community leaders which included both qualitative and quantitative findings. Basing on the general public opinion, the following findings were the result of Brotherhood’s research on poverty in Australia. Firstly and quite observantly, Brotherhood stated that poverty is least rated at 5 per cent as compared to any other issue such as unemployment, education, health, environment and other chronic issues of narcotics and games of casino or betting. The other ratings are, drugs at 25%, unemployment at 17%, divide between rich and poor at 16%, education at 13%, health at 9%, environment at 9%, gambling at 7% and poverty at 5%. Poverty line as established by Henderson in 1973 explains that an income of $62. 70 is a benchmark which is a disposable income for a family of four. (parents + two children).