Poverty in Australia

Poverty in Australia is a contentious political issue. Many on the left wing of Australian politics argue that relative poverty ought to be the appropriate measure. Relative income poverty, for example, looks at the percentage of the population that earns less in comparison to average earnings. Many on the right of Australian politics argue that this relative measure is a mistake because it hides the existence of absolute poverty in Australia by looking only at those who, for whatever reason, earn relatively little. Some of the latest information on poverty in Australia comes from a study conducted by the Australian Council of Social Service in 2012. The Report, Poverty In Australia, shows that in 2010, after taking account of housing costs, an estimated 2,265,000 people or 12.8% of all people, including 575,000 children (17.3% of all children), lived in households below the most austere poverty line widely used in international research.