2010 Winter appeal launch

By - Dr Ray Cleary

1 June 2010

Winter is approaching and soon thousands of families around the state will find themselves making a decision between heating the house, feeding the family or buying prescription medication.

This is occurring at a time when despite the Global Financial crisis Australia remains wealthy beyond the minds of many given its population and the resources it has at its disposal.

Paying a fair share of tax remains however a hot topic as we see in the current debates in the public domain between the Federal Government, Opposition and The Mining Council, but one thing is sure, the people who are represented in this years financial hardship survey will never have to worry about who is right and who is wrong. Life is more urgent. It is for them about survival.

A report recently released by the Australia Institute points to evidence that government assistance isn’t reaching those for whom it was intended and that a new approach is necessary. Taxes are intended to distribute the resources of a country to all citizens, while rewarding those who invest. In the current debates distribution of the bounty of the nation remains the core issue and one we need to address as a community.

Survival is the cold hard reality of many families with simply not enough money to go around.

Each year Anglicare Victoria completes a Hardship Survey of people using our emergency relief services.

This year 114 people completed the survey and we found that many are missing out on things that the rest of us would consider basic necessities. Things like a secure home and medical treatment.

In fact, one in three people we surveyed told us they cannot afford a good meal once a day.

Half could not afford to visit the dentist and 40 per cent of the parents we spoke to could not afford to take their children to see a dentist each year.

These are people struggling to make ends meet but falling further behind every day. Almost half of those renting were behind on their payments and more than 40 per cent were behind on basic utilities like gas, electricity and their telephone.

Nine out of ten people surveyed had been forced to borrow money from family or friends in the past year while just over a quarter had pawned or sold personal property to meet their day-to-day needs.

These people are relying on welfare agencies like Anglicare Victoria just to survive. Material aid that was once considered ‘emergency relief’ is now used by many as ‘monthly support’.

On average, the people we surveyed accessed food parcels or other material aid 7 times in the past year. Some people were forced to access a range of welfare providers up to 13 times.

Most of the clients we surveyed this year were receiving either a disability support pension, or a parenting support pension. One in three were receiving however a reduced rate of entitlement. But a lot of people who are entitled to help don’t get it, either because they do not know about it or they are too embarrassed to ask. Perhaps we should have a government advertising campaign to tell people about their rights.

This is just a snap shot of what’s happening every day across the state. Anglicare Victoria expects to help 50,000 individuals and families this year at our emergency relief centres.

Our hardship report also tells us that 17 per cent of those people will not be able to afford to heat even one room in their house this winter. In raw numbers that means 8,500 individuals and families have a very long, cold three months ahead of them.

These issue aren’t unique to people living on welfare benefits. They apply to a new group of people seeking our help. They are who we have described as the “working poor” Their problem is they do not earn enough while working to make ends meet.

One of our financial counsellors recently told me of a single father with two children who’s rent has gone up by 50 per cent in the past four years. He works full time but is struggling to pay for education costs, food, transport and utilities on top of his family’s housing.

His gas heater broke down last winter and was not replaced for weeks. When it was replaced, the landlord chose to install a reverse cycle air conditioner rather than a more efficient gas heater.

The family’s gas bill came down marginally but their electricity bill went up substantially as a result and the family now leaves the heater off to save money.

Other clients have shared stories about landlords increasing rents to the point that the tenant leaves. The purpose , so that the landlord can get a higher rent in today’s housing and accommodation shortage.

I am aware that some in our community reject these claims I have stated and simply wish to pass the blame to the individuals concerned, and suggest “they get their life in order” as we say. Yes there are “armchair critics” but the reality is otherwise.

Anglicare Victoria is committed to helping the most vulnerable members of our community. But we cannot do it alone. Nor can government be expected to do it all. We all a have a responsibility to ensure that those in need receive the care and support they need, to build self esteem, care for a sick or injured love ones, restore meaning and purpose to life. Ultimately a society is judged by not the wealth and health of a few but all of its citizens.

We are here today to launch the Anglicare Victoria winter appeal.

We hope to raise $1 million dollars across Victoria to continue our work, to support those in crisis and to build the capacity of families and the communities they live in to support each other and thrive.

I invite you to share in this task and responsibility to support our work and help deliver a life changing experience to Victorians in need. In the scheme of Australia’s finance $1miilion seems a little but it can bring hope to many.

Canon Dr Ray Cleary