More than 8600 children in the Riverina region are living below the poverty line, according to a new report.
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The NSW Council of Social Services’ latest report, released on Tuesday, shows one children in seven in the state is living in poverty.
In the Murrumbidgee and Riverina area, the NCOSS report shows 16 per cent of children - or 8679 in total - fall into this category.
NCOSS chief executive officer Tracy McLeod Howe said the report was compiled after extensive consultations, which included a forum in Wagga.
“We’ve toured the state, hearing from over 570 community services and leaders and we’ve also spoken directly to 440 people living below the poverty line through our Cost of Living survey,” Ms McLeod Howe said.
“We heard loud and clear that the top priority area for action was ensuring children and young people the best start in life.
“It’s a sobering reality that here in NSW one in seven children are living below the poverty line, and that all too often this shapes their entire life course. We’ve heard about solutions that are working in communities and where our government needs to invest now to break the poverty cycle for the 181,400 children living in poverty across the State.”
The NCOSS findings came as little surprise to Centacare Southwest chief executive Paul Jensen.
“We have to acknowledge things are getting tougher,” he said.
He warned there was a growing unequality in society, with increasing numbers of people struggling to make ends meet.
In the short term, Mr Jensen said the government could introduce additional assistance programs to help people pay their bills.
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“But in the longer term, we need to have a conversation about political ideologies, and whether there needs to be a shift in economic policies,” he said.
Ms McLeod Howe said the report also identified the “sobering lengths” vulnerable NSW people were going to in order to pay energy bills.
The report found that 36 per cent of respondents were sometimes forced to go without dental treatment and 25 per cent without medical treatment in order to pay bills.
Ms McLeod Howe said the impact of energy prices was not only financial.
“We spoke to some of the most vulnerable people and families in our community, who are living below the poverty line, to hear from them directly and what we heard was shocking,” she said.
"Energy is an essential service that many of us take for granted. But many in our community, like those we heard from, are clearly struggling to afford its high and growing cost. More needs to be done to support them.”
