Left out and missing out: deprivation and social exclusion in Australia
Peter Saunders, Yuvisthi Naidoo and Megan Griffiths
Social Policy Research Centre, UNSW
Contact Email:   ynaidoounsw.edu.au

The problematic nature of using income as a proxy for poverty is widely acknowledged amongst Australian poverty researchers. There is lack of agreement on setting an income poverty line and a failure to include the complexity of the factors in addition to income that contribute to the multi-dimensional nature of poverty. This paper presents findings from the first comprehensive Australian study that seeks to identify what constitutes material deprivation and social exclusion as a way of developing new indictors of poverty and disadvantage. The basic premise for the study is that poverty is not just defined by low income, but is multi-dimensional and its measurement must be grounded in the actual living standards and experiences of poor people. The findings are based on two surveys, one of the general population, the other of welfare service users, that explore community understandings of, and attitudes to different dimensions of deprivation, social exclusion and poverty. The study was conducted in collaboration with ACOSS, Mission Australia, The Brotherhood of St Laurence and Anglicare, Sydney.

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