Maintaining momentum in defining and measuring poverty in Australia
It is nothing short of alarming that, despite Australia’s status as one of the world’s wealthiest countries, poverty rates in Australia have remained relatively unchanged for almost 25 years.
It is nothing short of alarming that, despite Australia’s status as one of the world’s wealthiest countries, poverty rates in Australia have remained relatively unchanged for almost 25 years.
Addressing this issue – especially in the face of the cost-of-living crisis – was the focus of the Defining and Measuring Poverty Symposium held on Monday 18 November 2024 at the University of Melbourne.
Watch the key themes from the symposium unfold, through this visual story captured by graphic artist, Debbie Wood.
The event marks the latest step developing the Defining and measuring research project currently underway as part of the University of Melbourne’s longstanding partnership with the Brotherhood of St. Laurence (BSL).
The symposium was opened by Prof Beth Webster (Director, Melbourne Institute) and Dr Travers McLeod (Executive Director, BSL) and saw more than 60 public servants, advocates, industry experts, academics and people with lived experience gather to discuss a proposed model for defining and measuring poverty in Australia.
Project working group members left to right: A/Prof Sue Olney (School of Social & Political Sciences), Dr Nicole Bieske (BSL), Dr Jennifer Frean (School of Social & Political Sciences), Ismo Rama (BSL) and Dr Melek Cigdem-Bayram (Melbourne Institute) at the Symposium.
The symposium was the first time the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic & Social Research and BSL-led proposal for defining and measuring poverty in Australia – also supported by the University’s School of Social and Political Sciences – had been tabled for discussion.
This work, led by Ronald Henderson Senior Research Fellow Dr Melek Cigdem-Bayram from the Melbourne Institute, was well received and informed a series of breakout sessions that drew on the expertise of attendees, who together focused on testing and refining the monetary-based measure; exploring what could be included in the more detailed multidimensional-poverty indicator; and discussing how these concepts could best be introduced and implemented within an Australian context.
Dr Melek Cigdem-Bayram (Henderson Senior Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute) presents the proposal for the first time at the Symposium.
The symposium is the latest in a series of events that further this research, with a focus on bringing together people from key disciplines to address this gap in policy. Also in 2024, the School of Social and Political Sciences hosted a roundtable of academic experts, as well as several events as part of a visit by Oxford University’s Professor Sabina Alkire to BSL, who specialises in Multidimensional Poverty Indexes.
As the project moves into 2025, it aligns with the 50th anniversary of the Henderson Inquiry First Main Report developed at Melbourne Institute, which was officially released in Parliament by Professor Ronald Henderson and his colleagues at the University of Melbourne in August, 1975. One of the key outcomes of the Inquiry was establishing an income-based poverty measurement tool – the Henderson Poverty Line – to identify Australians who are income poor.
The Defining and measuring poverty project will continue the work of this landmark report in addressing and alleviating poverty in Australia, with the goal of proposing a model to most effectively measure and track poverty rates in the modern Australian context.
Panel Q&A left to right: Facilitator Prof Roger Wilkins (Deputy Director, Melbourne Institute), Prof Sharon Bessell (ANU), Sara Collard (Productivity Commission), Dr Yuvisthi Naidoo (UNSW), Ben Gales (Paul Ramsay Foundation), Dr Melek Cigdem-Bayram (Melbourne Institute).
Questions: Dr Jennifer Frean, jfrean@unimelb.edu.au
Reference: Davidson, P; Bradbury, B; and Wong, M (2022) Poverty in Australia 2022: A snapshot Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) and UNSW Sydney.