1 in 6 Australian children aged 10 to 14 years, that’s 774,00 children, lived in poverty in 2017-18. The percentage of children living in poverty is higher than the percentage of any other age group, including those aged 65 years and over. For these children, Australia is far from being a lucky country.

During this Anti-Poverty Week, we are calling on all our Parliamentarians to commit to halving child poverty by 2030. This year is the 20th anniversary of Australia’s Anti-Poverty Week. Join us in acknowledging this milestone by attending our panel discussion, ‘Is Australia the lucky country for all?”.

Our Panellists:

Commissioner Natalie Lewis
A Gamilaraay woman and Queensland Family and Child Commissioner. Natalie is fiercely committed to progressing a transformational reform agenda to ensure that children’s rights and entitlements are upheld in Queensland and nationally. Can freedom from poverty be regarded as one of these rights?

Dr Sharon Bessell
Sharon Bessell is a Professor at the Crawford School of Public Policy at The Australian National University and director of the Children’s Policy Centre, and of the Poverty and Inequality Research Centre. She is recognised internationally as a leader in rights-based, child-centred research methodologies, and is currently leading research on the development of a child-centred framework for assessing multidimensional child poverty.

Cath Bartolo AM
For around two decades, Cath Bartolo AM has been the Chief Executive Officer of Youth and Family Services, a not-for-profit community organisation based in Logan delivering a range of services including housing, domestic and family violence support, children, youth and family services, and legal and financial counselling. There are few who so closely understand the impact of poverty on children, young people and their families.

Facilitator
Paul Barclay
A Walkley Award winner, Paul Barclay is a regular host and presenter on ABC Radio National’s Big Ideas, a program he has hosted since at least 2003. We are delighted that Paul will be facilitating the panel and look forward to hearing the discussion broadcast on Radio National.

To register: Click here to register via Eventbrite

Thank you
Co-Chairs of the Queensland Anti-Poverty Week Committee (NAPCAN’s Helen Fogarty and PeakCare’s Lindsay Wegener) and all members of the Committee sincerely thank:
Our venue host: The Hon. Jonty Bush, Member for Cooper, Qld Parliament
Our event sponsor: HESTA