Sign the petition for change here! https://www.change.org/774000_Australian_Children_Live_In_Poverty
774,000 Australian children aged 0 -14 years live in poverty. That’s 1 in 6 kids!
We need a Child Poverty Reduction Act.
Poverty damages children now and across the lifespan.
Every month and every year of their poverty results in severe and longstanding consequences.
For children growing up in poverty, it is not unreasonable for them to expect adults to recognise the urgency of their situation and take immediate action.
Australia’s rate of child poverty is 16.6%. This is well above the OECD average of 12.8%.
In Denmark and Finland, the child poverty rate is around 4% and in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, and Sweden, less than 10% of children live in poverty.
Children have no choice about the circumstances of their birth or childhood. Kids are not responsible for their poverty, and they can’t fix it!
There are solutions.
What’s missing is strong leadership and political will.
Leaving 774,000 Australian children is a policy choice.
Only our political leaders can address the systemic drivers of poverty and implement policy levers available to governments to ameliorate poverty.
A Child Poverty Reduction Act is an important first step.
This is not about politics, it’s about children.
Show our political leaders that children matter!
We must urge our parliamentarians to legislate with measurable targets and actions to achieve this goal. With this push we can meet our international commitments to the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child and UN Sustainable Development Goals.
#1in6EnoughIsEnough
To raise awareness of this important social issue, VCI, in collaboration with Roots TV, have created this powerful video to help adults understand how poverty from a child’s perspective. You can help us raise awareness by sharing the video: Growing up poor in Australia- A child’s voice https://youtu.be/xG0QYxg9ri4
Thank you to the amazing young people connected to Roots TV for assisting us to make the video we are using in the petition!
#1in6EnoughisEnough #ChildPovertyReductionAct