Sydneysiders are more likely to live in poverty than the residents of any other capital city, largely because of high housing prices, a new report shows.
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The Poverty in Australia report, which will be released on Sunday by the Australian Council of Social Service, revealed one in seven Australians – or 2.55 million people – live below the poverty line.
One in six children are living in poverty.
The percentage of Australians living in poverty rose from 2010 to 2012.
The poverty line, which is defined as 50 per cent of the median income, was $400 a week for a single adult and $841 for a couple with two children in 2012.
The report shows 15 per cent of Sydneysiders live in poverty, compared to 13.8 per cent in the rest of NSW.
More Sydneysiders live in poverty than people in states regarded as economic laggards, such as Tasmania and South Australia.
In Hobart 13.8 per cent of residents live in poverty compared to 11.5 per cent in Adelaide, 13.9 per cent in Brisbane, 13.7 per cent in Melbourne, and 12.4 per cent in Perth.
NSW is the only state where residents in the capital city are more likely to live in poverty than in non-metropolitan areas.
Tasmania has the highest poverty rate of any state at 15.1 per cent.
"These findings paint a disturbing picture that we as a community need to confront if we are to reverse the spreading disparity we are seeing on the ground in the daily lives of people across the country," ACOSS chief executive Cassandra Goldie said.
"It will take leadership from our elected representatives and governments who must ensure that addressing poverty is central to public policy making."
The ACOSS report, based on analysis of Bureau of Statistics data on income and expenditure for 2011-12, comes days after the release of figures showing families in outer-suburban, low-income seats were hardest hit by the Abbott government's budget.
Research by the University of Canberra's National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling found 15 of the 16 electorates that were hit the hardest are Labor-held seats in Sydney and Melbourne.
In Bankstown, the average household will lose $900 by 2017-18, while families in Bellevue Hill will be $70 a week worse off.
The chief executive of St Vincent de Paul, John Falzon, said: "This report, rather than making us feel demoralised, should make us feel determined.
"Especially in the light of the lacerating measures proposed in the 2014 federal budget, this report is an important weapon in our fight for justice."
Thirty per cent of Australians who receive social security payments live below the poverty line, including 55 per cent of those on unemployment benefits. Fifteen per cent of aged pensioners live in poverty.
Women are slightly more likely to live in poverty than men, while single parents, people with disabilities and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are significantly more likely to live in poverty.
