Perth hit by 'severe' poverty
Almost 5 per cent of Perth's population is living in severe income poverty, according to a report on how many Australians are falling through the cracks.
The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre report, to be released today for Anti-Poverty Week, says more than one million Australians are in severe poverty, with access to less than 30 per cent of national median income.
More than 310,000 children are also living in households in severe property, according to the report.
Among Australia's capital cities only Sydney had a higher proportion in the severe category, with 6 per cent of the city's population seriously struggling to make ends meet.
Melbourne came in third at 4.8 per cent.
WA as a whole fared better, with 3.9 per cent of its population living in severe poverty, compared with 6.5 per cent in Queensland, 5.3 per cent in Victoria, 5.1 per cent in Tasmania and 4.1 per cent in NSW.
Using the "standard" poverty measure, meaning a person has access to less than 50 per cent of the national median income, Tasmania and Queensland were the worst off, with 14.1 per cent of their populations living in poverty.
They were followed by NSW with 13.2 per cent, Victoria with 12.7 per cent and WA and South Australia with 11.8 per cent.
The gap between the incomes of WA's highest and lowest earners continues to be among the worst in Australia, though the discrepancy has shrunk since the peak of the State's mining boom.
BCEC director Alan Duncan said the report, which uses the latest household income data from 2011-2012, revealed a significant number of people remained in "deep and persistent" poverty for extended periods, often for more than five years.
Professor Duncan said a single person in severe income poverty typically had no more than $133 to live on each week after paying housing costs.
He said a couple with children in severe poverty made do with $261 a week after paying for housing. Those unable to enter the housing market were particularly vulnerable.
