Defining Poverty and Identifying the Poor: Reflections on the Australian Experience

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the historical development of poverty research in Australia, focusing on the impact of Seebohm Rowntree’s first study of poverty in York, conducted one hundred years ago. It also reviews some of the recent Australian evidence on the extent of poverty and summarises the debates generated by that research. Finally, the paper discusses several developments currently in progress in the area of poverty and living standards research. These include the Adequacy Project being run within the Department of Social Security, the recent SPRC budget standards study, the Project on Poverty in Australia being organised by the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, and the proposed National Living Standards Survey being planned by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.