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Can we end disadvantage?

By David Hale - posted Tuesday, 2 June 2020


The Paul Ramsay Foundation has pledged to tackle disadvantage. The biggest foundation in Australia has already allocated 84 million dollars so far in 2020.

Can they tackle disadvantage?

For one, with about 3 million Australians living in poverty, according to the foundation, 84 million dollars is less than $30 per person.

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It is not easy to create, "off-ramps", the term being used by the foundation, so people can escape poverty,

What is the foundation doing with the money? Some of the money will support the Smith Family's Learning for Life program. Providing help to students from low-income backgrounds.

If we look at the post-school employment, education and training results. We are told that, "79.6 percent of former students were engaged in employment, education or training, a year after leaving the program." It did get better later-on "the rate had increased to 84.2 percent for all former students and 74.2 percent for those from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds."

This is arguably the most important outcome of the program. How the students do post school, and for the rest of their lives.

Just comparing those fully engaged in work, 65.8% of those in the program vs 58.9% not in the program. The latter group are slightly older as well, meaning the program is helping people become fully engaged in work and sooner.

This off-ramp, however, is not going to help everyone escape poverty.

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The numbers showed that almost 30% in the program, were not fully engaged in work. It also showed that 15.8% were not engaged in work or study or training, just after school.

The other off-ramps may have limits as well.

Support for research at places like the Sydney Policy lab, can only go so far.

The same for the living learning social bond, supported by the Foundation.

The one in Melbourne aims to help people not working, or in education or training and who have mental health issues.

It is only going to take in 48 referrals per year, and will the program even be highly effective?

They are also supporting a fund, that is raising money to provide housing to people with disabilities.

The capital in the fund will be used to provide 100 people with disabilities, housing.

The National Disability Insurance Agency notes that 5 billion is needed. To provide 12,000 of the more than 250,000 people who are part of the National Disability Insurance Scheme with housing.

An amount of money the government, far richer than any foundation, is even not spending.

No matter what the Foundation does, there are always other things they could have done. Things that may have been more effective or less effective. When it comes tackling disadvantage in Australia.

Could the foundation invest tens of millions of dollars into buying businesses? Where there is capacity to expand the labour force, especially for unskilled workers.

This approach would provide self-funding if the businesses continued to be successful.

If more jobs, pay and hours were provided, it means reducing poverty, unemployment, underemployment and low wages.

Yet, work does not work for everyone, and it is not going to be a magic wand.

Nothing is going to be a magic wand.

The foundation could fund child-care places giving parents more opportunities to work. Yet, covering the cost of say 10,000 children for example, could cost about one million dollars, per day.

One could simply just transfer money over to the poor. Helping to lift them above the poverty line, but this has limitations. As noted, the 84 million shared equally amongst 3 million poor, is under $30 per person.

Should we accept that what is done by any foundation, will only ever help a certain amount of people in need?

Give up on the idea that we can help everyone?

So, while there is talk that no one should live in disadvantage in Australia, we know that most people in poverty, will remain in it.

Should we focus on one well-funded solution, or a multitude of solutions? Do enough solutions even exist?

Can we really end disadvantage in the country?

The Ramsay foundation noted Melbourne Foundation findings, that found only 14% of girls born to the poorest families, will escape poverty. For boys, it is higher, but still only 22% of them will escape the clutches of poverty.

So, this means the foundation, governments, the education system, the church and others, have failed. Not only to end poverty, but to even help the majority escape it.

If the Melbourne Foundation numbers are even remotely accurate, that is a very dismal future.

It means governments reducing welfare or increasing it has not work enough. It means schools, even with boosts to funding, have not been able to bring most people that are poor, out of poverty.

Neo-liberalism or anything for that matter, has not worked.

Not even the richest foundation in Australia may be able to end disadvantage.

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About the Author

David Hale is an Anglican University Lay Chaplain, staff worker for the Australian Student Christian Movement and a member of the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship.

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All articles by David Hale

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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