Poverty in Australia

One of the most serious social concerns of the world today is poverty. When we think of the term ‘poverty’ the image of the poor, hungry, homeless, destitute and underprivileged people immediately come into our mind. Simply in this image we can define poverty as “a condition when people lack the means to satisfy their basic needs.”[1] The reality of poverty is vividly seen in poor countries in Asia, the Middle East, most of Africa, and large parts of South and Central America. People from these parts of the world are the most deficient amongst all as they are exposed to starvation or death; or, if not, “they are those people whose nutrition, housing, and clothing, though adequate to preserve life, do not measure up to the population as a whole.”[2]


For the poor daily life is a vicious cycle of struggle and survival; their access to necessities of life and the quality of their lives are considerably lower than the standard way of living. Their daily existence does not meet the moral norms that “humankind needs to be healthy and fulfilled as well as to be sheltered and adequately fed.”[3] Hence, speaking in a broad sense, poverty is not simply a condition of defined by low level of wealth or income rather “poverty is much about powerlessness and exclusion…it is as much a social, cultural, political and spiritual reality as it is an economic one.”[4]


Given the above general description of what it is be poor, we cannot avoid including the questions of inequality and fairness as consequences of poverty. Looking at the biblical background, we can see clearly that poverty is against the divine plan of God. The book of Genesis sees the world as created for the good of the whole humanity. The created world in all its fruitfulness, goodness and beauty is the place where God wishes to be in relationship with us. God’s creation is made available for the whole humanity to equally share and cultivate. In the book of Genesis, we find that humanity is unique from all things that God has created because humanity, male and female, is created in his image and likeness.[5] This unique identity that has been bestowed upon the humanity not only should make all individuals equal; rather it should ensure that the human dignity of every person must be respected and protected.


On this principle, we find that poverty by its nature is contrary to the divine purpose of God’s creation and causes injustice to human dignity. In the Old Testament, the poor have a special place in God. In the Psalms the poor are described as contrasted with their oppressors[6] and they see themselves as having righteous claim on God.[7] God blesses those who come to defend the poor against those who turn against from them. In the New Testament, Christ, the Son of God, becomes the defender of the poor, as throughout his public ministry, Jesus condemned gross inequalities and injustices. Jesus condemns the failure to fulfill one’s responsibility to help others who are in need. Jesus obliges his followers not to turn their back from the poor.[8] The Gospel is about justice for the poor. When Jesus sent his apostles to their mission he asked them to embraced homelessness and simplicity so that they may live in solidarity with the poor.[9]


It is from the love and compassion of Christ for the poor which demands justice, equity and solidarity that the social teaching of the Church, particularly on the issue of poverty, is founded and developed. We find in the papal teachings further developments of the social teachings on poverty as the Church continues its mission to read the “signs of times.” But other than papal teachings “there has been a wealth of treatises and statements from social thinkers, individual bishops, bishops’ conference and synods of bishops.”[10]


The statements of the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference on the issue of poverty since Vatican II testify that there is indeed an enormous wealth of reflection and understanding from the church’s leaders about Christ’s mission to eradicate poverty and defend the poor from their oppressors. The statements of the Australian Bishops during the first decade after the Vatican II (1970-1984) can be summed up as a call of encouragement to alleviate poverty;[11] an appeal for awareness of the country’s responsibility to help the poor nations;[12] and the country’s renewal of commitment in giving aid to the suffering countries.[13] A developed country like Australia, having the privilege of adequate food supply and rich natural resources, has a moral responsibility to act as generously as possible to assist the needs of impoverished countries. It is important to note that the Australian bishops advocated that the aid for developing countries must be based on two main principles: human dignity and social justice.[14]



In the period of 1985-1995 the pastoral statements of the Australian bishops continue the earlier vision on waging war on poverty which entails the education the Australian church in the areas of justice, peace and development. The bishops reiterated their hope for the people to their commitment to justice and development in their personal lives and in their personal goals.[15] They reminded the people that the principle in giving aid was based on a genuine partnership with the poor.[16] The bishops discussed their view on the reality of poverty in Australia such as unemployment, homelessness and the situation amongst Aboriginal people, and looked at the structural causes of many existing forms of disadvantage and deprivation in Australian society.[17]


The Australian bishops’ statements in 1996-2005 depict the reality of poverty apparent in a wealthy country of Australia. At the turn of the third millennium poverty in Australian society reveals itself in the face of homeless children, sole parents, refugees and asylum seekers, and the Aboriginal people.[18] Spiritual poverty as well is prevalent in the modern day Australia in the increasing number of the “unborn children and those struggling with addiction.”[19]


In 1992 the Australian Catholic Bishop’s Conference tackled the issue of poverty and the equal distribution of wealth in Australia by the publication of Common Wealth for the Common Good. This document attempts to apply in the Australian context the idea of the preferential option for the poor. The central message of the bishops’ statements can be summed up in the promotion of solidarity and justice. Solidarity means to “recognise people as social beings with the rights, responsibilities and dignity of interdependent members of very large communities.”[20] It requires a firmness of commitment to the common good and therefore the Australian people must place less value on self-centered individualism. There is an urgency to examine one’s attitude towards acquisition and use of wealth because this always involves social obligations and promotion of justice to people. In this statement the bishops warn, “those of us who are not poor should also review our way of thinking about poor people, try to learn form them and see life through their eyes.”[21]


It is difficult to equate the situation of poverty in Australia with the kind of poverty which is afflicting a Third World country such as the Philippines. There is a wide gap between the standard of living of the poorest people in Australia and millions of Filipinos who dwell in the slums, garbage places, under bridges, and polluted rivers. We can see that poverty in Australia is relative in the poverty in the Philippines in terms of powerlessness, exclusion, the marginalised, and those living ‘in exile’ in one’s own society. Unjust social structures are the main causes of poverty in the country such as corruption, foreign debt problem and also international influence. But besides the products of human actions natural disasters like earthquake, volcanic eruption, flood, typhoon and drought also cause tremendous poverty in the Philippines.


It is not difficult to see the equal significance of the Australian bishops and the Filipino bishops in their vision to eliminate poverty in their own country. The Filipino bishops believe that the role of the Church is to be a sign of hope to poor through the recognition of their human dignity: “Our mission demands that we lift our people of their dehumanizing poverty. We must make it possible for the poor to live in dignity, and in honor, as the children of God. To become the Church of the Poor is our vision.”[22] The bishops in the Philippines follow the same principle of ‘Australian solidarity’: “Together with people of other faiths, we must become one with poor – one people, one nation, one Filipino family.”[23]


The Church has an obligation to proclaim the truth that human suffering due to poverty is not the will of God. In many areas of social problems it is duty of the Church to speak in behalf of the poor. It is important to remember that Jesus Christ himself identifies himself with the poor. Jesus favours and identifies himself with poor, not only to show his compassion to the poor, bur rather to teach them that security cannot be found alone in material wealth but ultimately from the divine providence of God. He gives his own idea of extreme poverty, he says, “foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”[24] And in many occasions Jesus shows his great love and compassion for the poor, the sick, the dying and the underprivileged people of his time. His attitude towards the poor lifts up their human dignity and their position as children of God for “either are they the victim of injustice or they find themselves in position in which they are powerless to resist the oppression of the powerful.”[25] And the role of the Church is to continue this mission. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the Church will be able to translate Christ’s words and actions into the promotion of love, justice and peace.




[1] Philip W. Goetz, ed., The New Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol 9, (Chichago: University of Chicago Press, 1986), 652.
[2] ibid.
[3] James Childress & John Macquarrie, eds., A New Dictionary of Christian Ethics, (London: SCM Press, 1986), 678.
[4] Australian Episcopal Conference, A New Beginning: Eradicating Poverty in the World (Victoria: Harper Collins), 14.
[5] Gen 1:26.
[6] Ps 72:4.
[7] Ps 86:1-2.
[8] “Give to anyone who asks, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.” Mt.5:42;10:8.
[9] Mk 6:9.
[10] Thomas Stafford Williams, “Evangelization and the Church’s Social Teaching,” Catholic International 4 (May, 1993), 227.
[11] Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Australian Catholic Bishops Statements Since Vat II, “Poverty and developing nations,” January, 1970, (Homebush: St. Pauls, 1985), 176-177.
[12] ACBS “Food and the Christian Conscience,” November 1975, 179-183.
[13] ACBS “20th Anniversary of Australian Catholic Relief,” May 1994, 186.
[14] ACBC “Support for Australian Catholic Relief,” May 28,1981, 185.
[15] Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference 1985-1995,, “20th Anniversary of Populorum Progressio on the Development of People,” May 6, 1987, (Homebush: St. Pauls), 121.
[16] ACBS, “25th Anniversary of Australian Catholic Relief,” 2 December 1998, 123-125;
[17] ACBS, “Unemployment,” 5 December 1991, 141-144; “Common Wealth for the Common Good,” September 1992, 145-156; and “Australia’s Rural Communities,” 6 December 1994, 157-159.
[18] “A Statement for Social Justice Sunday 1999” 24 Oct 1999.
[19] “Federation: A time to reflect on the past and plan for the future” 11 May 2001.
[20]Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Common Wealth for the Common Good, (Victoria: Collins Dove, 1992), 129.
[21] ibid. p.142.
[22] Catholic Bishop of the Philippines, “Statement of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference on the Plight for the Poor,” 21 July 1991.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Luke 9:58.
[25] Childress & Macquarrie, eds., A New Dictionary of Christian Ethics, 678.