October 17, 2013
Could you live on a tin of food, a couple of pieces of fruit and a slice of bread a day?
With one in eight people in Queensland living in poverty, this challenge is not just the one-day exercise that several well-known South Burnett residents volunteered to experience for Anti-Poverty Week (October 13-19).
It is the reality of daily life.
According to the Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) 15 per cent of people living outside the greater Brisbane area experience poverty compared with 9 per cent living within the greater Brisbane area.
A growing area of concern highlighted by QCOSS is the capacity of Queenslanders to secure stable, appropriate and affordable housing.
“With home ownership becoming a distant dream for many households, low-income renters are increasingly finding themselves in housing stress (paying more than 30 per cent of their gross income on rent), with little left over to meet the rising cost of living,” the 2013 QCOSS Indicators Of Poverty and Disadvantage In Queensland report notes.
“As the data shows, it is becoming increasingly difficult to secure affordable housing in Queensland due to an ongoing lack of supply of private rental accommodation and the limited number of social housing options available.”
Centacare Community Connections tried to raise awareness about the issue of poverty this week by challenging five local residents to survive for one day on a “poverty” diet.
Amongst those to accept the challenge was Cr Damien Tessmann who went on the diet on Tuesday.
Unfortunately for Cr Tessmann, Tuesday was also the morning of the Mayor’s Charity Breakfast which meant that he couldn’t join in (unless he wanted to eat his one tin of spaghetti for brekkie).
- Download the 2013 QCOSS Report on Poverty Indicators (1.49MB PDF)
