Creating Economic Justice and Fairness

We Want a Community in Which Everyone Has Access to Life’s Basic Necessities.

At Anglicare WA, we are committed to creating economic justice and fairness for all Western Australians. By breaking down systemic barriers to poverty, we ensure access to essential resources like financial counselling and support services. Through partnerships and campaigns to focus on raiding the rate of JobSeeker we advocate for change and help shape policies that deliver lasting economic equity in our community.

Our Goal

We want a community in which everyone has access to life’s basic necessities.

“I quite easily could have become another statistic in Australia’s largest cause of death in young men: suicide, if it were not for the hope that I walked away with from my first meeting with Anglicare WA staff. Not only did Anglicare WA help me out of an extremely difficult financial situation that was impacting my mental health, they have totally reshaped how I handle my finances.” – Financial Counselling client

0

Western Australians (13%) live in poverty, including 85,000 children.

0

Households affected by poverty earn less than 50% of the median income.

0

In 2024, 12% of adults in WA reported struggling to pay bills due to income variability

0

15% of WA families reported having to choose between food, medicine, rent, and other essentials

0

15% in WA face rising income inequality, deepening class divides, and social disadvantage

0

3.3 million people and 761,000 children are living under the poverty line in Australia

For people experiencing entrenched disadvantage, securing and maintaining employment can be particularly challenging.

The findings of 100 Families WA research project highlights practical barriers including not having access to transport, childcare, or the right qualifications. Social barriers included a lack of confidence, experiencing fear or anxiety, and requiring greater social support to seek employment or gain a qualification for their desired field. Despite the current low unemployment, there is a shortage of entry level positions that can kick off career pathways.

Young people living independently or in low-income households, face significant barriers to education and acquiring the skills they need to access employment opportunities. These include Bullying and exclusion, stigma, reduced access to digital technologies, and costs associated with education or obtaining a drivers licence. Students growing up in disadvantage often face complex challenges associated with living with domestic violence, family mental health issues or substance abuse, which impacts their ability to develop life skills and progress academically.

Schools are not adequately resourced to meet the increasingly complex pastoral care and learning needs of students. There is a lack of centralised, accredited access point from which schools can get appropriate advice, and limited alternative education pathways for students. Once children are lost within the school system, post school outcomes are poorer.

Those who rely on income support, such as JobSeeker or Youth Allowance, find it impossible to access many of the basic necessities that others take for granted. Problems are compounded by low rental affordability and increasing costs of utilities, transport and food. Increasingly, families are relying on regular emergency relief.

Stagnating wages, the drying up of full-time low skill, entry level jobs and a trend toward casual or short contract work, alongside rising inflation, means that more people in employment are not able to earn a ‘living wage’.

Rising costs of food, accommodation, transport and utilities means that disadvantaged families are increasingly having to make decisions between which bill to pay. Utility costs can send low-income families into bill shock and debt.

People on the lowest incomes spend on average 6.4 per cent of their income on energy, compared to households in the highest income quintile, who pay on average only 1.5 per cent. Electricity is the most expensive utility, peaking during hot summer periods.

Experiences of violence, abuse or neglect are key drivers for homelessness, substance abuse and complex mental health challenges. Currently, there is an average gap of six years between children’s exposure to FDV becoming known to police and health services and children receiving appropriate assessments, support and therapy.

The reasons for this are complex, and include cost and accessibility issues, insufficient funding, and funding structures which limit the types, extent and circumstances in which support may be offered to a child.

The high out of pocket cost of care means that children living in the poorest households are least likely to attend preschool. This leaves them developmentally vulnerable in their first five years of life, and potentially perpetuates the cycle of disadvantage across the life span.

Furthermore, lack of early childhood education and care options, combined with high costs of these services, poses a significant barrier to employment. This is particularly an issue for women, single parents, shift workers and those living in regional areas.

What We are Doing to Help?

Each year, Anglicare WA supports more than 21,000 individuals facing financial stress through a range of services. These include financial counselling, direct financial assistance, support and education, access to the Hardship Utility Grants Scheme, and the provision of no and low interest loans.

In addition to providing these essential services, Anglicare WA actively advocates for systemic change to address the root causes of financial hardship.

Federal Government must:

Permanently increase the rate of JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, Parenting Paymentand other related payments to above the poverty line.
Evidence shows that temporary increases to payments during 2020/21, through the Coronavirus supplement, significantly reduced the material and non-material impacts of poverty and reduced the need for emergency assistance.
Increase the income threshold to allow people on JobSeeker and other income support payments to earn a modest amount before losing benefits.
Increase Commonwealth Rent Assistance and index to local rental markets.
Provide subsidies for digital devices used for education and training.
Facilitate access to low-cost broadband for low-income households.

Federal and State Government must:

Establish the minimum wage as a living wage that is regularly adjusted to maintain a socially accepted minimum standard of living.
Create pathways to industry-level or collective agreements, particularly in low pay industries.
Work together to reform national childcare funding to ensure universal access to high quality early childhood education and care and prioritise accessibility of care in regional areas.
Invest in entry-level job creation.
Work with Workforce Australia providers and people with lived experience to increase pathways to employment through better tailored and person-centred work placements and supported training.

A large group of people sitting watching a presenter

State Government must:

Increase eligibility for state-based utility concessions.

Implement minimum standards for rental properties (including energy efficiency).
Shift to percentage-based energy concessions. Percentage-based concessions are calculated in proportion to usage, so eligible households with higher energy needs receive more assistance and help them cope with fluctuations in energy consumption due to health or seasonal variations.
Allow TAFE colleges discretion to waive education fees for disadvantaged students.
Increase pastoral care funding for schools.
Provide funding to support low-income people into getting a driver's licence.

Join Your Voice with Ours

It takes many voices, from many directions, to bring about social and policy change.

Lend your voice to ours, and help us promote fairness, equity and respect in your own community, within your own sphere of influence.

To become a community advocate, sign up for our Advocate for Change News to get updates on what is happening in our advocacy space and how you can be involved.

Advocate for Change Join Newsletter

Older couple walking with a group holding a sign that says, 'Play your part, to stop domestic and family violence!'

Freedom from Family and Domestic Violence and Abuse

Learn what we’re doing to ensure people live in safety and security, free from violence and abuse.

Ensuring Everyone Has a Home

Anglicare WA’s “Ensuring Everyone Has a Home” campaign advocates for safe, affordable housing in WA, highlighting barriers to stable accommodation and promoting housing as a human right.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Recognition and Justice

Learn how we are enabling a community that values truth-telling, listening, healing and respecting Culture.

Tile that says Anglicare WA proudly supports No Place for Poverty

10 Oct 2025

Anti-Poverty Week 2025

Anti-Poverty Week is coming up (12–18 October), and this year we’re making one thing clear: WA has no place for poverty.

Creating Economic Justice and Fairness

We Want a Community in Which Everyone Has Access to Life’s Basic Necessities.

Our Goal

We want a community in which everyone has access to life’s basic necessities.

The Problem

What Stands in the Way

What We are Doing to Help?

Raise the Rate of JobSeeker campaign

Children & Young People affected by poverty

Partnering with Ngala

Jobs Availability Snapshot

Systemic change is needed to overcome these barriers.

Federal Government must:

Federal and State Government must: