Poverty in Australia

This week I was able to make contact with Mia Cox is the Youth Participation Officer for Australia's UNICEF organization. She informed me that 1 in 8 Australians lives under the poverty line, despite the years they have had growth and wealth creation. That is even with their publicly funded health care and education, and booming resources sector. She talked about how the poverty cycle is hard to break, thus families pass down poverty to their children. Mia also mentioned that poverty areas in Australia often have extreme conflicts going on as well. To help the children that are hit by poverty, UNICEF and another organization ensure that the government upholds its commitment to children and looks out for their best interests. Mia also talks about her work she does with some children who live in poverty, and how she is trying to help them.

I found the information from Mia very interesting. I had the opportunity to visit Australia in 2008, and was able to stay with a host family for a few days, and learned somethings already from them. I remember the host dad and I had a conversation about the health care program. In Australia it is a universal health care program in which the government occurs a majority of the costs on hospital visits, and thus patients don't have to pay much out of the pocket. I found in surprising that even with the universal health care program and the economic growth, still 1 in 8 Australians live in poverty, and that is affecting those children. I am excited to hear back from Mia again as we continue our discussion on some of the trends and issues that happen in Australia.