Justice, Opportunity and Shared Wealth for all South Australians

You are here

Anti-Poverty

In 2018 SACOSS made a major submission to the South Australian Legislative Council Select Committee on Poverty. The submission sets out SACOSS' understanding of key issues around poverty, noting the different definitions and presenting data on poverty showing 60,000 South Australian households or 131,000 South Australian people living in poverty (8% of the population) including 22,000 children.

While all SACOSS' work is directed towards the elimination and alleviation of poverty, in 2021 SACOSS specifically reviewed a range of state government services and has identified a range of programs and policies that contain poverty premiums, poverty traps or barriers to access to service. The resulting Anti-Poverty package is not the total of everything that needs to be done, and does not present big new policies. However, it does propose a series of small changes to address problems with existing government programs and policies.

Download SACOSS' 2021 Anti-Poverty Package

Anti-Poverty Week

Anti-Poverty Week aims to strengthen public understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty in Australia and internationally. During the week surrounding the UN’s International Anti-Poverty Day on 17 October, individuals, communities, organisations and governments are encouraged to act to address poverty, through research, discussion and a multitude of other activities. You can see what activities are available in your state here.

Each year SACOSS uses Anti-Poverty Week as an opportunity to talk about solutions to poverty, fairness and a decent standard of living for all South Australians. Up until 2017, SACOSS released an Anti-Poverty Week Statement each year to highlight an agenda for the eradication of poverty in South Australia. The Statement describes the extent of poverty in our state and calls for action to tackle the conditions that lead to poverty. 

Read Anti-Poverty Week Statements