Rev Costello spoke of the constantly evolving work during a number of appearances in Bendigo on Friday.

The prominent baptist minister and foreign aid advocate spoke of preserving environments, building functioning communities and making sure Australia did not "pull up the drawbridge" to the rest of the world.

He said each of these ideas could combine to fight the scourge of extreme poverty.

"It's what I like to call 'stupid poverty'," Rev Costello.

"When we have children dying because of calorie deficiency, or no access to medicine, or through conditions like diarrhea, it just doesn't make sense.

"We have solutions to all of these problems already. We know how to provide clean drinking water."

Rev Costello spoke at Quills restaurant in the afternoon at an event held by Community Leadership Loddon Mallee and Haven.

He said women could and should play a vital role in creating sustainable communities.

Rev Costello said micro-finance - small loans to local women entrepreneurs - had shown results.

"In a number of communities, you see women in tears because it's the first time they have ever handled money in their lives," Rev Costello said.

"In so many places men are the only ones who are given the responsibility of money, but they have proven to be wasteful.

"Another way is through giving education to girls. For every year a girl is in school, she will have 0.8 less babies.

"It's funny to think of education as contraception."

The push to educate women in third world countries has ended in deadly results for World Vision, however.

Six World Vision volunteers were killed by the Pakistani Taliban in 2010 for educating girls in the region.

Rev Costello said it would take a lot of work, but was confident the Australian community was overwhelmingly generous.

He said to ensure future generations worked towards alleviating poverty, they just needed to find a sense of "purpose".

"The most important thing is for them to know that they can make a difference," Rev Costello said.