It is becoming more expensive to be poor in Australia
Salvos' submission calls for urgent action
The Salvation Army is gravely concerned current cost of living pressures are negatively impacting a large percentage of Australians, but none more than those who are already struggling financially.
In fact, the rising cost of living is now the leading reason people present at The Salvation Army emergency relief services, with the number of clients seeking help increasing at alarming rates. To help address the issue, The Salvation Army has provided a submission to the Senate Select Committee on the Cost of Living to highlight the devastating impact on the people it works with and to suggest measures to address the problems.
The Salvation Army's General Manager of Policy and Advocacy, Jennifer Kirkaldy, who researched and wrote the submission says: "What we have found is that the people who were already doing it tough are now experiencing extreme hardship.
"The people we work with, especially those reliant on government payments, are making impossible decisions between food and rent or essential medicines and school supplies for their children.
"The current situation is unsustainable. Immediate action is needed to relieve pressure on the most disadvantaged in our community."
The Salvation Army has approached this submission with a firm belief that the economy serves the community – not the other way around.
"The Salvation Army's focus is always on those who are experiencing the most significant disadvantage in every crisis. We believe that the Committee, as well as representatives of State and Commonwealth parliaments, must be similarly focused," Ms Kirkaldy says.
As such, The Salvation Army recommends:
- Welfare reform to allow all individuals experiencing unemployment to live with dignity.
- Broad-based community consensus on fiscal reform to complement monetary policy and soften cost of living pressures on those experiencing the most significant financial hardship.
- Housing policy, both in the provision of social and affordable housing and improvements to Commonwealth Rental Assistance, to reduce pressures on housing affordability at all points of the housing continuum.
