In September of this year the Western Sydney Anti-Poverty Network, founded in 2020 by Kristy Mounsey, asked the community to complete a survey about their experience of poverty. The main objective of the survey, which was distributed online, was to listen to the people of Western Sydney.
The survey findings, given by the 106 unique Greater Western Sydney-based respondents, included:
- 74% of respondents were receiving Centrelink payments (social security).
- 29% of respondents had lost work due to COVID-19.
- 58% of respondents needed to rely on financial support from friends and family in the previous 12 months.
- 39% of respondents had skipped at least one meal in the previous fortnight because they didn’t have enough money to buy food.
This survey is the first major project of the Western Sydney Anti-Poverty Network, which is committed to raising awareness and advocating for raising social security payments to provide everyone with a liveable income, in order to universally make life worth living. The survey needed to be completed online, due to COVID restrictions. However, as the Network report notes, many people living with poverty do not have access to the Internet, and many others, even should they have access to the Internet, do not have sufficient literacy skills to complete online surveys.
If you’re interested in learning more, you can read the full report here. You can also find the Western Sydney Anti-Poverty Network on Facebook here.