Our Purpose
Anti-Poverty Week supports the Australian community to have an increased understanding of poverty and to take action collectively to end it. We are a diverse network of individuals and organisations who share this purpose. Since 2002, we have been active each year in the week around the 17th of October, the United Nations Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
Our key message is: Poverty exists. Poverty hurts us all. We can all do something about it. It is one of hope, not despair. In 2021, Anti-Poverty Week will be held from the the 17th to 23rd of October.
Governance and Structure
The Week is coordinated through a National Facilitating Group, with two honorary National Co-Chairs and two part-time staff. Our finances have been kindly managed by Uniting Communities SA for many years. Key organisational roles are played by honorary Co-Chairs and Facilitating Groups in each State and Territory. Our National and State Facilitating Groups represent a large range of community organisations working to fight poverty all around Australia. Many of these have been our long term financial sponsors and we have also been joined by some philanthropic funds, a number of unions and the University of New South Wales.
National Facilitating Group 2020:
National Co-Chairs:
Eileen Baldry AO, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Professor of Criminology, UNSW Sydney
Eileen Baldry (BA, DipEd, MWP, PhD, FASSA) is Deputy Vice-Chancellor Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Professor of Criminology at UNSW Sydney. Professor Baldry has held senior positions in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and is the first female Deputy Vice-Chancellor at UNSW. Professor Baldry has taught social policy, social development and criminology over the past 30 years. Her research and publications focus on social justice particularly in relation to the criminal justice system. She is currently a Director on the Board of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre as well as the UNSW lead for their Poverty and Inequality Partnership with the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) and joined APW as National Co-Chair in May 2018. Professor Baldry was awarded the NSW Justice Medal in 2009 and in 2016 was named in the AFR/Westpac 100 most influential women in Australia.
Ian Carter AM, CEO, Melville Cares
Ian Carter is the CEO of Melville Cares, a community based not-for-profit that provides aged care and disability services to veterans in WA. This comes after 24 years of serving as the CEO of Anglicare WA from 1995 to March 2019. Ian’s career in community service, particularly in community capacity building and social justice, has been extensive and prolific. He has been involved in both creating and governing a wide range of community organisations at local, national and international levels. Previously he was a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Homelessness, as Deputy Chairman of the Board of Anglicare Australia, Deputy President of the ACOSS and President of Family Services Australia. Ian has also been appointed or served on numerous West Australian taskforces. He was appointed as the Co Chair of Anti-Poverty Week in May 2018 after serving on the National Facilitating Group for over 10 years. Ian was inducted into the General Division of the Order of Australia in 2009 and was a member of the Board of White Ribbon Australia from April 2014 to 2019.
Members:
Kasy Chambers, CEO, Anglicare Australia
Tony Keenan, General Manger, Community & Economic Development, City of Port Phillip
Paul O’Callaghan, former CEO, Caritas
Michael Perusco, CEO, Berry Street
Simon Schrapel, Chief Executive, Uniting Communities SA
National Staff:
Toni Wren, Executive Director
Toni Wren joined Anti-Poverty Week in the new role of Executive Director in early 2019. She was Project and Policy Lead at the Australian Network on Disability from 2015-2018. Prior to that, Toni spent a decade advising leading non-profit agencies across Australia on employment and social policy research, development and advocacy, as well as non-profit management and strategic thinking. Between 1995 and 2005, Toni worked in employment and social policy in Japan, the USA and the UK. During her earlier career in Australia, she was a consultant to a Ministers and Shadow Ministers across the political spectrum and worked for ACOSS and the NSW Welfare Rights Centre. Toni was a member of the National Facilitating Group for Anti-Poverty Week from 2009 to 2018. She has a Masters in Non-profit Management from the New School for Social Research in New York, and undergraduate degrees in economics and business communication from Australian universities.
2020 Major Sponsors:
Life Course Centre
2020 Sponsors:
Anti-Poverty Week 2020 State & Territory Co-Chairs
Australian Capital Territory
Jenny Kitchin |
Barnie van WykCEO, St Vincent de Paul Society, Canberra/Goulburn |
New South Wales
Nada NasserState Director, Mission Australia, NSW |
Joanna Quilty |
Northern Territory
Deborah de Natale |
Andrew KenyonDirector, Australian Red Cross, NT |
Queensland
Sandy PatonPresident, Capricorn Community Development Association |
South Australia
Louise Miller-FrostCEO, St Vincent de Paul Society, SA |
Fiona KellyCEO, UnitingCare Wesley Bowden, SA |
Tasmania
Kim HaworthDivisional Commander, Salvation Army, TAS |
Chris DemeyerFamily and Community Services Manager, Baptcare, TAS |
Victoria
Bronwyn PikeCEO, Uniting Vic.Tas, VIC |
Celia AdamsCEO, Beyond Housing, VIC |
Western Australia
David CainExecutive Director, Communicare |
Greg HebbleCEO, Foodbank, WA |