In today’s environment where it is popular to blame people for their poverty, we should instead salute these people for their courage and have the humility to listen to their stories and to learn from them. 

The truth told by people on the margins speaks louder than the lies told about them.

It has been over 10 years since the St Vincent De Paul Society published a report on The Two Australians. 

Sadly, all of the things that angered us then anger us now. 

SVDP members continue to witness the daily struggle of the people in our midst who have been left out or pushed out. 

We continue to see the denial of fundamental human rights such as the right to appropriate housing, employment and education: a place to live, a place to work a place to learn. 

They also see the unconscionable persistence of health inequalities due to disadvantage.

Poverty is so often spoken of as not enough to eat. It is more. 

It is the woman and her kids leaving a situation of violence and forced to experience homelessness; or the Aboriginal man or women who has spent many years living with racism and exploitation and who is now facing health problems and the strong possibility of premature death.

It is the young man or women who had access to few, if any, opportunities and attended a woefully under-resourced school and who is now struggling to find work; the asylum seeker who came to our shores with only a nugget of hope in his pocket; the family who has lost its source of income because of injury or health.

Sometimes, we despair at the government and common attitudes, but this is nothing compared to the cruelty and humiliation meted out to the people who continue to be excluded from the First Peoples to the new arrivals, and everyone in between who has been locked out of the prosperity for which Australia is known.

In the years since The Two Australians report was released, Australia’s population has grown by over four million, while our unemployment rate has fallen. 

We have weathered the Global Financial Crisis well and now have one of the strongest economies in the world. 

Our GDP is high, and our cities are consistently rated amongst the most liveable.

However, despite economic growth and increasing living standards for many Australians, poverty is still on the rise. 

At present, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 13 per cent of the population is living in relative poverty. 

This translates to almost three million Australians. 

Indeed, every day members of the St Vincent De Paul Society witness the fact that in today’s society there remains a large group of Australians who are consistently disadvantaged in a range of ways. 

Every day, people living in poverty have to overcome a number of structural and personal barriers that make surviving difficult and thriving impossible.  

These Australians may have very low paying jobs with insecure and inadequate hours or no paid work at all. 

They often have poor health or are living with a disability. 

They struggle to pay their bills or to be able to afford groceries and other essentials. 

Many live in insecure housing or are forced into a state of homelessness in one of the world’s most prosperous nations. 

For these individuals, the feelings of exclusion, isolation and “being forgotten “ are common. 

Whether measured in terms of real income, social exclusion or multiple deprivation factors, this gap between the two Australias is clearly visible and, arguably, increasing.

 If we are to reverse the trend towards greater division and discordance we, and the government that represents us, need to make an important choice. 

We can either blame the people who live in poverty or we can engage in positive action to eliminate poverty. 

We can either treat social and economic hardship as in individual deficit or we can address the failing social structures and systems that are responsible for the social and economic disparities found across the Australian population. 

Investing in a strong economy is not enough to prevent two Australias from emerging – the last three decades have demonstrated that wealth and resources do not trickle down. 

Outmoded, ineffective and under-resourced policies and supports need to be replaced with a social support system that encourages economic participation without causing greater poverty.

With just on 300 volunteers in the Bendigo area, the St Vincent De Society serves those in need regardless of creed, ethnic or social background, health, gender or political opinions. 

No work of charity is foreign to the society. 

It includes any form of help that alleviates suffering or deprivation and promotes human dignity and personal integrity in all dimensions. 

It will continue working to transform the causes of poverty and challenging the causes of human injustice.