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Australia's education gap: Poverty holding back our most disadvantaged kids

15 May 2017

The Smith Family launches Winter Appeal to raise $4.1m for children in need

A staggering number of Australian children are growing up in poverty, with research showing these children are more likely to start school behind and stay behind without extra learning support, says national children’s education charity The Smith Family.

Launching its 2017 Winter Appeal today, The Smith Family needs to raise $4.1 million by 30 June to deliver crucial education support programs for nearly 10,000 disadvantaged children this year.

The Smith Family’s CEO, Dr Lisa O’Brien, said the number of Australian children living in poverty has increased over the past decade, with the trend most striking for children in single-parent families.1

“There are now 1.1 million young Australians living below the poverty line, which is simply unacceptable. We know that unless we intervene early to help these kids stay engaged in their education, they are more likely to experience hardship as adults.

“That’s why we are calling on the Australian public to help us reach more children. With your support, we can stop poor children becoming poor adults,” Dr O’ Brien said.

Key international measures show Australian children from disadvantaged backgrounds are struggling to keep up at school. The latest reports by the Australian Council for Educational Research2 confirm the gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students is equivalent to around three years of schooling.

“Educational disadvantage begins early in a child’s life and continues through school and beyond. Students from low-income backgrounds are often up to three years behind their more advantaged peers in the crucial areas of reading, maths and science,” said Dr O’Brien.

“The further behind they fall, the more likely they are to disengage altogether. Our goal is to close that education gap to encourage these children to stay in school and finish school.”

Funds raised through The Smith Family’s Winter Appeal will help nearly 10,000 children access a range of learning support programs, including the student2student reading program – which helps young students improve their reading skills by pairing them with older ‘reading buddies’ – as well as after-school Learning Clubs and the iTrack online mentoring program.

“We rely on donations from generous Australians to help thousands of disadvantaged children with the extra support they need to catch up at school and really thrive in their education,” Dr O’Brien said.

“I urge the community to get behind our Winter Appeal and give a child the best chance possible to create a better future for themselves.”

Anyone wishing to donate to The Smith Family’s Winter Appeal can phone 1800 024 069 or visit thesmithfamily.com.au/winter.

Five surprising facts about poverty in Australia

  1. 1.1 million Australian children and young people live in poverty. That’s one in seven.
  2. One in three children (32.6 per cent) from Australia’s most disadvantaged communities start school already behind in key learning areas, such as literacy and numeracy.
  3. Only 60 per cent of young people from the lowest socioeconomic backgrounds complete Year 12, compared to around 90 per cent of those from the highest socioeconomic backgrounds.
  4. More than 650,000 young Australians (aged 15-24) are unemployed or underemployed.
  5. Families with disability are more likely to live in poverty. Among the 33,000 disadvantaged students supported through The Smith Family’s Learning for Life program, 40 per cent of children and 50 per cent of their parents/carers have a health or disability issue.

Statistics sourced from: Australian Council of Social Service (2016), Poverty in Australia 2016; Brotherhood of St Laurence (2017), Generation Stalled: Young, underemployed and living precariously in Australia; The Smith Family (2016), Improving the educational outcomes of disadvantaged young Australians: The Learning for Life program.

1 Australian Council of Social Service (2016). Poverty in Australia 2016
2 Australian Council of Education Research (2017). TIMSS and PISA: Reporting Australia’s results