Thread by @antipovertycent

We're kicking off with the #PovertyInquiry hearing 🧵👇 #BTPM

1st session will hear from @QCOSS_, @BasicRightsQld and Zig Zag Young Women's Research Centre.

The #ParentsNEXT inquiry doesn't start til 11:30 AEDT, there was an error on the @Aust_Parliament website for that one.

https://twitter.com/antipovertycent/status/1599879778362064897

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament From @QCOSS_: Low income households spend more on fuel, food, housing, electricity and water than households with higher incomes.

Median rent in Brisbane has increased by 13% and fuel by 17%.

Income support payments have increased 4% due to indexation. #PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament A @QCOSS_ survey found that poor mental health, stigma and shame are stopping people from seeking support.

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament Of course, @QCOSS_ members found there was a reduction in service demand when income support payments were at the Henderson Poverty Line in 2020. #PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament Now @QCOSS_ calling for:

1️⃣ Income support must be "adequate" and reviewed by a "panel of experts" ... presumably their idea for the pointless Pocock committee announced last week.

2️⃣ An increase in rent assistance. We disagree.

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

https://twitter.com/antipovertycent/status/1575724010779729920?s=20&t=qn1CmuVhkzVgHag3P3zReQ

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament ✅ 64% of @BasicRightsQld clients are women
✅ 55% are disabled and
✅ 14% had NO INCOME AT ALL

They also support the #RaiseTheRate campaign call for the JobSeeker rate to be raised to the below-poverty line $73 a day level.

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament Also a recommendation from @BasicRightsQld to increase @ServicesGovAU staff to improve access to payments, particularly for people experiencing "disadvantage" on the basis of race, because they are in a regional/remote area, etc. @CPSUnion

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament @ServicesGovAU @CPSUnion 50–60% of people Zig Zag Young Women's Resource Centre support are First Nations women.

Their work has been escalated in the past 2 years because of inadequate incomes.

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament @ServicesGovAU @CPSUnion People are missing opportunities due to poverty early in their life, particularly young parents and young people generally.

The change to Parenting Payment so that people move on to JobSeeker when their kid is 8 has been a big problem. #PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament @ServicesGovAU @CPSUnion Young women, especially those experiencing violence, are facing constant relocation.

Those of us on low incomes know full well how expensive it is to have to move. #PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament @ServicesGovAU @CPSUnion Q from @MsMarielleSmith: What is unique to Queensland in terms of experiences of poverty?

@QCOSS_: There is a big difference between service provision between the south east corner and rest of the state. There's also a big problem with digital inclusion.

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament @ServicesGovAU @CPSUnion @MsMarielleSmith Sam from @BasicRightsQld covers remote Queensland: The work is primarily helping people access @Centrelink payments.

It's incredibly hard to get the required evidence of their disability to qualify for the correct payment & can't meet "mutual" obligations.

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament @ServicesGovAU @CPSUnion @MsMarielleSmith @Centrelink From @janet_rice: What does it mean for people with no income at all?

@BasicRightsQld: Being on no payment means being a burden on your family. Young people in particular are missing gov services, unemployed, but understandably don't want to leave Country.

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament @ServicesGovAU @CPSUnion @MsMarielleSmith @Centrelink @janet_rice One positive thing we heard is that #CashlessDebitCard provided local employment. @MsMarielleSmith

Cool ... how about government providing jobs *without* the abusive and controlling programs?

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament @ServicesGovAU @CPSUnion @MsMarielleSmith @Centrelink @janet_rice Sounds like @MsMarielleSmith is indicating Indue might be continuing to provide cashless welfare programs ... 👎👎👎 #PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament @ServicesGovAU @CPSUnion @MsMarielleSmith @Centrelink @janet_rice We're talking about resourcing Services Australia Indigenous liaison officers. @BasicRightsQld noting that they've been on hold since COVID hit. 

That makes sense, we cannot increase COVID risk for First Nations folks in remote communities. So, what to do? #PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament @ServicesGovAU @CPSUnion @MsMarielleSmith @Centrelink @janet_rice What's the role of intergenerational poverty in trauma & what have you seen succeed in breaking "cycles" of poverty? – @MsMarielleSmith

We can answer that one: Don't leave families in poverty and their kids will be much less likely to end up in poverty. #PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament @ServicesGovAU @CPSUnion @MsMarielleSmith @Centrelink @janet_rice "We don't get to assist with trauma because we're patching up ... trying to help women stabilise their life."

They are also talking about the harm done by #ParentsNEXT, with mums escaping violence being kicked off payments because of mental ill health.

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament @ServicesGovAU @CPSUnion @MsMarielleSmith @Centrelink @janet_rice "All services across the sector are completely overwhelmed." #PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament @ServicesGovAU @CPSUnion @MsMarielleSmith @Centrelink @janet_rice "People who a few years ago would've found themselves able to maintain a rental are now sleeping in cars with their children." – Zig Zag #PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@QCOSS_ @BasicRightsQld @Aust_Parliament @ServicesGovAU @CPSUnion @MsMarielleSmith @Centrelink @janet_rice Do you know how many people you're turning away? – @janet_rice

Zig Zag provide emergency relief housing, they have 9 properties. They are constantly doing crisis calls, which was not their original purpose as an organisation. #PovertyInquiry #BTPM

Young women are staying in violent relationships trying to manage the DV because Zig Zag can't offer them any place to go. #PovertyInquiry #BTPM

"After 22 years in homelessness I feel like we're more in crisis than we ever have been."

One person said, "Maybe I'll put my hand up for the warrant that's outstanding so I can be housed."

A person who was disabled as a result of a car accident & can't get DSP wanted to commit a crime so they'd ended up housed... through incarceration.

SHAME.

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

And the reason he can't get a Centrelink payment is of course because he received compensation for the accident ... meaning he does not satisfy the assets test.

It's a poverty. fucking. machine.

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

Hearing from @BasicRightsQld that they understand the issues with Services Australia getting out to remote areas.

That's very generous. We note that @BasicRightsQld themselves are managing to do it with far fewer resources.

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld So we're hearing from Liberal senator Wendy Askew that surely we need to "empower people" rather than just doing it for them. 🙄🙄🙄

How the fuck can you hear this and say that?? #PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld "Financial literacy is not going to take them very far. We know people on low incomes are very good budgeters. It's just that they don't have enough money." – @QCOSS_

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ "Emergency relief has become a default income support due to the regularity with which they access it." – @QCOSS_

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ "Systemic failures are the biggest barrier. We're not 'doing it for'. Racism, trauma, mental ill health are such a big part of it." – Zig Zag

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ You cannot expect people to overcome digital literacy barriers when you can't afford to access a phone, internet etc. – paraphrasing @BasicRightsQld #PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ Next up: Centre Against Domestic Abuse @CadaInc and @friendswdignity.

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity "It's interesting you've asked someone from Moreton. There are 470,000 people between Sunshine Coast & Brisbane. We're rural, beach and urban. We have 5 towns and cities. It might seem like a weird thing to explain but it's why we're stretched." – @CadaInc #PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity And @friendswdignity believe that 1 in 3 to 1 in 5 families in Moreton are affected by violence. "We felt the impact when borders opened because it's a more affordable area [so people moved in]."

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity 50% of people who contact @friendswdignity are homeless or at risk of homelessness (9 people a day). 75% each week need material goods like food, petrol, phone.

"We have also experienced flooding events. You need to look at natural disasters and poverty."

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity Q from @janet_rice: Can you outline links between violence & poverty?

People who are only able to afford a cheap motel or caravan park are near others with less money...

Witness trying hard but ultimately failing to avoid stigmatising poverty tropes here.

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity @janet_rice We've lost the audio :/

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity @janet_rice From: @CadaInc "People are staying in violent homes, including with extreme violence, to try and PREVENT intergenerational poverty, to keep their kids in school, to keep their kids accessing health."

"Not everybody who is poor will choose violence."

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity @janet_rice "It makes me nervous telling you what we do ... We help people be safer when they're rough sleeping. We help them be safer going back to a place where a woman was hospitalised the day before."

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity @janet_rice "We can absolutely do something about this. We just have to choose that it's important enough. Is it important enough that it's not just women who are murdered, but women who die by suicide, or comorbidities."

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity @janet_rice What needs to change? – @janet_rice

"I can't enable a woman to not live in poverty if she doesn't have a choice."

We are hearing this is a wicked problem. Yes, family violence is. But drastically slashing poverty really, REALLY isn't.

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity @janet_rice "We see women each week who are fired or lose their job because of domestic & family violence."

"This week we had a client with 2 kids. She has significant injuries, strangulation. She's stalked. He breaches DVOs. Because of the stalking she lost her job."

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity @janet_rice He drove his car into her home. She had to borrow money to repair the rental property, but now is an undesirable tenant. When she ends up in her car, then it becomes a "child protection" issue.

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity @janet_rice One of the family and domestic violence service providers is saying there HASN'T been an overall increase in people seeking support from them.

But there HAS been an increase in people experiencing violence who specifically need *financial* support.

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity @janet_rice We're hearing about everything what's provided to women through donations... furniture, toiletries etc.

Yes that's better than nothing. But charity brings shame & guilt, which brings additional emotional & mental toll.

People need agency. They need money.

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity @janet_rice This service provider is saying that one strangulation used to be enough for women to access particular support.

One strangulation is no longer enough, because they are under so much strain.

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity @janet_rice "I just want to say something about another review. Another review terrifies me. We're very good at what we do." – @friendswdignity #PovertyInquiry #BTPM

Yes, we need ACTION not investigation. Advocates have told governments over and over is what's needed. They just don't do it.

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity @janet_rice "Women are avoiding police, avoiding courts, avoiding prisons. The intention is good but more laws are not where the resourcing needs to go."

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity @janet_rice "Sometimes we look at the DV sector, magistrates, police. But we don't look at where women get support from: churches, neighbourhood centres, GPs. Specialists services are key but we're only working at the pointy end. We can change the poverty trajectory."

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity @janet_rice "We work with services responding to climate poverty. We had to shut our services 7 times this year due to flooding disasters. There's been a huge impact to the limited housing we had. Women are ending up in evacuation centres with people using violence."

#PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity @janet_rice It's disturbing to hear Liberal and Labor senators talking about how important it is that we do something to help people in poverty and people experiencing violence.

You have had the power to "do something" for decades, and refused. #PovertyInquiry #BTPM

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity @janet_rice Now on break. We'll be back in 10 minutes and will start a new thread.

@BasicRightsQld @QCOSS_ @CadaInc @friendswdignity @janet_rice New thread here for session 2:

https://twitter.com/antipovertycent/status/1599921260733288448?s=20&t=5qWH2Wu3EeryZ-EIKFqGwA