St Vincent de Paul Society highlights reforms to reduce poverty

Insights into how modest, budget-neutral reforms to Australia’s tax and welfare system could lift as many as one million Australians out of poverty are being shared at Parliament House in Canberra today.

St Vincent de Paul Society National President Mark Gaetani and ANU Associate Professor Ben Phillips are leading an information session on A Fairer Tax and Welfare System 2025, the third report in a series produced by ANU’s Centre for Social Policy Research for the Society since 2022.

Hosted by Member for Boothby Louise Miller-Frost, a former CEO of the Society in SA and Chair of the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, the session has attracted parliamentarians and representatives of faith-based and community organisations, reflecting growing national concern over inequality and cost-of-living pressures.

‘The Society is honoured to share this report at Parliament House today, as our mission is both to provide practical support to Australians facing disadvantage and to advocate for meaningful reforms that tackle the underlying causes of poverty,’ Mr Gaetani said.

‘A Fairer Tax and Welfare System 2025 shows how adjusting tax concessions on only the very wealthiest superannuation accounts could fund a fairer safety net while increasing super balances for 90% of Australians.’

This research aligns with the Federal Treasurer’s recent move to revise superannuation tax rates on balances above $3 million and $10 million, a change affecting only the highest-wealth accounts but raising significant revenue.

‘We welcome the Treasurer’s decision and call for the additional revenue to be directed toward families doing it tough through increases to working age income support payments,’ Mr Gaetani said.

The Albanese Government’s own Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee 2025 Report recommends that JobSeeker and related working-age payments be lifted to 90% of the Age Pension.

The EIAC’s modelling shows that for every dollar invested, such increases would return $1.24 to the economy through improved health, productivity and workforce participation.

‘With 3.93 million Australians living in poverty after housing costs, our ANU study identifies single-parent families, people under 50, renters, and working age welfare recipients as most at risk,’ Mr Gaetani said.

‘In 2025, no household should face impossible choices between food and housing, but that’s the reality for too many everyday Australians.’

The report outlines four budget-neutral options – from increasing income support payments to introducing a Guaranteed Minimum Income – costing less than 1.5% of total Federal expenditure and capable of lifting as many as 1.03 million Australians above the poverty line.

The study also finds the GST to be highly regressive, with the poorest households spending 5.4% of their income on GST compared with 2.6% for the wealthiest.

‘The Society opposes any broadening or increase of the GST, as it would only widen the gap further between Australia’s richest and poorest households,’ Mr Gaetani said.

‘Our research shows it is both economically and socially feasible to lift more Australian families out of poverty while also improving living standards for lower- and middle-income‑‑ households,’ he said.

‘We urge the Government to consider the budget-neutral options outlined in A Fairer Tax and Welfare System 2025, to keep the GST unchanged, and to act now to stop poverty becoming the new normal for more Australians.’