What poverty looks like in Victoria

It's a call to our Welfare Assistance Call Centre for a food hamper. Sometimes it's a NILS loan to replace a fridge that's given up. On a cold night, a warm meal from one of our soup vans. For some parents, it's skipping dinner so their kids can eat.

This is poverty in Victoria. It's closer than many people think. More than 800,000 Victorians live below the poverty line – that's more than one in eight. Children are hit hardest, with around 216,000, or more than 1 in six, living in poverty.* Rising costs mean it now affects people with jobs as well as people relying on income support.

Poverty touches so many Victorians and we can all help. This Anti Poverty Week (11 to 17 October 2026), here's how Vinnies responds and how you can be part of it.

Anti-Poverty Week is a national campaign held every year in the week around 17 October, the United Nations International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

Since 2002, it has encouraged Australians to understand poverty and act together to end it.

In Australia, a household lives below the poverty line when its income is less than half of what a typical Australian household earns.

For a single adult, that's $584 a week. For a couple with two children, it's $1,226 a week.** Take out rent, power and fuel, then see what's left for food.

More people aren't only falling below the poverty line. Those already below it are falling further behind.

On average, people living in poverty have incomes $390 a week below the line, up from $372 two years earlier.**

At that depth, one unexpected bill can undo months of just getting by.

How Vinnies helps

Right across Victoria, more than 10,500+ Vinnies members and volunteers help people living below the poverty line. Their help is practical, personal and starts with listening.

• Home visits: Vinnies members visit people in their homes, sit down at the kitchen table and work out together what's needed. That might be help with groceries, bills, fuel or school costs.

• Welfare Assistance Call Centre: Our volunteers answer calls from people seeking help and connect them with support from their local Vinnies conference.

• Soup Van Service: Our soup vans deliver meals every night to people from all backgrounds who need it – including people with jobs.

• No Interest Loans Scheme (NILS): People on low incomes can access no-interest credit to pay for essential household goods and expenses.

• Vinnies Shops: Our op shops provide affordable clothing and household goods to the community, while raising vital funds for our programs and services..

Every bit counts, whenever you can give it. Here's how you can be part of it:

• Donate to help fund emergency relief, food and crisis accommodation across Victoria.

• Volunteer with a local conference, soup van or op shop.

• Start your own community fundraiser

• Share our Anti Poverty Week posts from @vinniesvictoria using #AntiPovertyWeek and #APW26.

If you or someone you know is facing hardship, these services can help:

• Vinnies Welfare Assistance: Call 1800 305 330 to speak with our friend volunteers about help from your local Vinnies members

• No Interest Loans Scheme (NILS): No-interest loans for essential goods and services.

• Ask Izzy: Free, anonymous directory to help find nearby housing, food, health and other support services.

Sources: ACOSS and UNSW Sydney, Poverty in Australia 2025; VCOSS, Mapping Poverty in Victoria (2023), based on 2021 data.

*Source: VCOSS, Mapping Poverty in Victoria (2023), based on 2021 data.

**Source: ACOSS and UNSW Sydney, Poverty in Australia 2025: Overview.