Presentation – Behind the Line: Poverty and disadvantage in Australia 2022
View the presentation by John Curtin Distinguished Professor Alan Duncan, Director of the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, from the launch of the Behind the Line: Poverty and disadvantage in Australia 2022 report on Thursday 3 March, 2022.
This report, the ninth in the Focus on the States series, provides the latest examination of the prevalence of poverty within Australia, how this has changed over time, and which groups in society face the greatest risks of financial hardship and material deprivation.
The report looks at how income poverty has changed through the experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic and examines how Australia’s states and territories compare in the prevalence of poverty and disadvantage, and seek to understand more about people’s journeys into poverty, and the pathways and supports to escape from financial hardship.
The report reveals the scarring effects of childhood poverty on life outcomes in adulthood, and shows the extent to which prolonged experiences of poverty affect mental health and exert psychological trauma. It also puts forward for consideration a range of policy recommendations that would go some way to alleviating and assisting people to escape the poverty trap.