As the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to ramify across communities, the number of children and families living in poverty is set to escalate.

Before the pandemic, rates of child poverty in Australia were already stubbornly high, with more than one in six children living below the poverty line. In the 1980s Australia led the world in implementing measures to guard against child poverty, reducing it by over 30 per cent through reforms to the family payments system. These reforms, however, have been steadily unwound over the past two decades, with a succession of cuts to family payments and decisions to slash social security payments to low-income families.

This webinar brings together a panel of speakers to examine child poverty in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a particular focus on the role of social security and family payments in alleviating child poverty. The webinar will consider some of the key factors contributing to high levels of child poverty in Australia, the implications of the pandemic-induced recession, and the political enablers and policy reforms needed to drive a new national effort to tackle child poverty in Australia.

Speakers:
• The Reverend the Honourable Professor Brian Howe AO
• Professor Miranda Stewart, Melbourne University Law School
• Terese Edwards, National Council of Single Mothers and their Children
• The Honourable Bronwyn Pike, CEO of Uniting Vic. Tas, VIC APW 2020 Co-Chair

This webinar will be recorded and uploaded to our website as a captioned video and transcript.

Please note, times are in AEDT.