Representatives of Australia’s community and welfare sectors are meeting today in Melbourne to call for an inclusive growth plan involving the Federal Government, business groups and civil society. The Australian Newspaper reports that the meeting comes in the lead-up to the G20 summit in Brisbane on the weekend. Australian Council of Social Services chief executive Cassandra Goldie told The Australian that the sector would be “applying the fairness test” to any growth targets agreed to by G20 leaders. We’ll be looking for an outcome that clearly demonstrates the leaders’ commitment to fairness by taking concrete and measurable action to reduce inequality, she said. “We’ve got a situation now where 2.5 million people are living below the poverty line in Australia — we cannot afford measures that take us backwards in the fight against poverty and growing inequality. “Already we find that Australia stands alone among OECD countries in its push to deny unemployed people any income support for up to six months of every year. Elsewhere, governments have responded to youth unemployment in a more productive and less divisive way.” The full report can be read at the link below:
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 00:40:32 +0000
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