About Anti-Poverty Week

Australian Capital Territory
Di Jay Executive Director and National Manager of Parliamentary Relations, Red Cross	Hilary Martin Chief Executive Officer, Marymead Child & Family Centre
New South Wales
Bernard Boerma Chief Executive Officer, CatholicCare	Maree O'Halloran Director, Welfare Rights Centre
Northern Territory
Sharon Mullholland Executive Director, Red Cross NT
Queensland
Tracy Adams Director, Chief Executive Officer, Boystown	Michael Tizard State Manager, Benevolent Society
South Australia
Hamilton Calder State Director, Committee for the Economic Development of Australia	Graham Jaeschke General Manager for SA, The Smith Family
Victoria
Julie Edwards Chief Executive Officer, Jesuit Social Services	Maj David Eldridge Territorial Social Program Director, Salvation Army
Tasmania
John Hooper Executive Officer, Tasmanian Association of Community Housing	Therese Taylor Chief Executive Officer, Colony 47
Western Australia
Sue Ash Executive Director, WACOSS	Gordon Trewern Chief Executive Officer, Nulsen Haven Association

A Summary of Anti-Poverty Week 2009

Activities During the Week

More than 400 activities were registered on our website for Anti-Poverty Week 2009 which was about 15% higher than in the previous year. This continued an unbroken sequence of major growth in each year since the Week began in 2002 with just four activities. Undoubtedly there were many other activities during the Week in 2009 of which we are unaware.

At least 500 organisations convened or sponsored an activity during Anti-Poverty Week 2009. They included welfare agencies, community centres, overseas aid organisations, religious groups, schools, TAFEs, universities, businesses, unions, hospitals, youth groups, housing organisations, media outlets, sporting groups, local councils and government departments. People from hundreds of other organisations attended at least one event.

Activities during the Week in 2009 included one or more of the following:

• speech, lecture, oration, sermon, presentation, interview
• meeting, forum, debate, resolution, seminar, conference, demonstration
• training session, cooking class, information stall, display, expo
• workshop, readings, school class, school project, teaching materials
• report, survey, information pack, petition, postcard, poster
• religious service, festival, film night, exhibition, art show, activity day
• walk, bicycle ride, bus tour, parachute jump, stand up, football match
• award, competition, concert, children's entertainment
• barbecue, breakfast, tea, lunch, dinner, trivia night, sleep-out
• meal service, night patrol, food collection, donation.

The Prime Minister spoke at one event during the Week and his wife, Therese Rein, spoke at another. A number of Commonwealth and State Ministers also participated. Launches and openings during the Week included a directory, booklet, report, financial counselling service, meal service, jobs program, cookbook, food barn and information pack.

Further details of activities are available at www.antipovertyweek.org.au

Participants and Venues

The number of activities during the Week has become too large to make reliable estimates of the total number of participants. However, it seems that hundreds of people spoke at activities and many more than ten thousand people participated in them. Participants included people from a very wide range of fields, including social welfare, religion, politics, health, education, housing, business, sport, the arts, economics, law and the media.

Activities were held in each State and Territory. About 35% took place in or near the centre of a capital city, 35% in an outer suburb and 30% in a regional city or country town. Venues for activities included:

• Parliament House, town hall, government office, council office
• welfare agency, community centre, youth centre, hospital
• cathedral, church, church hall, university, TAFE, school, library
• cinema, auditorium, gallery, football stadium, oval
• café, hotel, restaurant, shopping centre, business office
• street, mall, market, park, bus stop.

Media References

We know of about 450 media references to activities undertaken as part of the Week. About two-thirds of them were in radio or television outlets (of which about 45% were in commercial outlets, about 30% were on television and about 20% were greater than two minutes in duration). The other one-third of recorded references were in newspaper articles, of which about 25% were more than 500 words in length. About 50% of electronic references and about 50% of print references were in media outlets based outside capital cities.

Coordination

he Week was loosely coordinated through a National Facilitating Group with an honorary National Chair and a part-time National Coordinator, both based at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. The State and Territory Co-Chairs were the heads or senior managers of the following organisations:

• Anglicare (SA)
• Holyoake (WA)
• Jesuit Social Services (Vic)
• Liquor, Hospitality, Miscellaneous Union (Tas)
• Marymead Child and Family Centre (ACT)
• Melbourne Citymission
• Mission Australia (Qld)
• NSW Council of Social Service
• Red Cross (NT)
• SA Council of Social Service
• Tasmanian Association of Community Housing
• UnitingCare Burnside (NSW)
• UnitingCare Centre for Social Justice (Qld)
• UnitingCare Kippax (ACT)
• WA Council of Social Service

Resources

This year the effectiveness of the Week was greatly strengthened by the generous support of our three Principal National Sponsors:

• COMMUNITY SECTOR BANKING
• JOBS AUSTRALIA
• RED CROSS

Valuable assistance was also provided by our Key National Sponsors:

• Australian Education Union
• Australian Nursing Federation
• Care Australia
• Liquor, Hospitality, Miscellaneous Workers Union
• Mission Australia
• Salvation Army
• St Vincent de Paul

Total expenditure at the national level was approximately $75,000, of which about 50% was on posters, booklets and other promotional material and one-third was on remuneration for the part-time National Coordinator. The remainder was expended mainly on the website, media monitoring, travel, postage and office expenses. Crucial in-kind support was provided by UnitingCare Wesley Adelaide, which handled the Week's finances at the national level.

A number of the State Co-Chairs obtained assistance from donors for activities within their States as well as providing in-kind support from their own organisations. Most individual activities during the Week were funded by the respective organisers or by donations obtained directly by them.

Some cities, towns and suburbs in which activities were held during the Week:

Adelaide Hobart

Brisbane Melbourne

Canberra Perth

Darwin Sydney

Aberfoyle Park Anula Ballarat Belair Booleroo Centre Burnie Carlton Croydon Daylesford Elizabeth Flemington Fortitude Valley Gillies Plains Greenwood Hawthorn Ipswich Katherine Kilburn Launceston Mannum Melton Moonee Ponds Mount Macedon Narrogin Northbridge Oxenford Parafield Port Augusta Riverview Roxburgh Park Shorncliffe South Melbourne Stanthorpe Sunbury Thornbury Tuggeranong Warrnambool West Perth Wodonga Yeronga

Albany Ascot Vale Banora Point Belconnen Bowden Caboolture Caroline Springs Cygnet Earlwood Enoggera Floreat Frankston Glandore Gumeracha Hazelbrook Kadina Kelmscott Kilkenny Lawnton Maryborough Midland Morphett Vale Mowbray Nhulunbuy Northcote Paddington Paralowie Randwick Rocherlea St Albans Smithfield Southport Stepney Surry Hills Thornlie Tullamarine Warwick Whyalla Wollongong

Albury Auburn Beaudesert Bertram Box Hill Campbelltown Collingwood Dallas East Melbourne Essendon Florey Fulham Glenorchy Hackham Hindmarsh Kallaroo Kelvin Grove Kingsley Ludmila Mayfield Milang Mount Gambier Nambour Nightcliff Nowra Pakenham Petersham Renmark Rockhampton St Kilda South Brisbane Spring Hill Stones Corner Tara Tiwi Islands Waikerie Warwick Farm Wilston Woodridge

Aldinga Bagot Beenleigh Blair Athol Bridgewater Camperdown Craigie Heights Davoren Park East Perth Ettalong Footscray Geelong Gosnells Hampstead Gardens Inala Kapunda Kensington Kogarah Mackay Meadow Heights Milton Mount Gravatt Nannup North Melbourne Osborne Park Palmerston Phillip Richmond Rockingham Shark Island South Burnett Springwood Sturt Tea Tree Gully Toogoolawah Warradale Waverley Woden Woodville

About Our Sponsors

Principal National Sponsors

ANZ

ANZ has made a long term commitment to reducing poverty through programs which aim to build financial capability in disadvantaged communities. We work in partnership with community organisations and government to address the issue of financial exclusion amongst the most vulnerable members of our society. ANZ invests in financial education, matched savings and microcredit programs including Saver Plus, MoneyMinded, MoneyBusiness and Progress Loans.

Origin Energy

Origin Energy is a major Australasian integrated energy company involved in gas and oil exploration and production, energy retailing and power generation. We have almost 4000 employees servicing 3 million customers across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. We are committed to respecting the rights and interest of the communities in which we operate by working safely and being mindful of and attentive to the environmental and social impact of the resources, products and services we use or provide to others.

Jobs Australia: Working for a fair and equitable Australia

Jobs Australia is a national network of non-profit organisations assisting unemployed people to get and keep jobs. The network helps members to make the most effective use of their resources and promotes the needs of unemployed people for the services and support that will help them to participate fully in society.

Jobs Australia is the largest network of employment and related service providers in Australia and is funded and owned by its members.

Australian Red Cross

We help tens of millions of people around the world each year and care for local communities in Australia and Asia Pacific. With more than 100 million volunteers worldwide and 60,000 members and volunteers in Australia we can reach people and places like nobody else. Relief in times of crisis, care when it's needed most and commitment when others turn away. Red Cross is there for people in need, no matter who you are, no matter where you live. Here are some examples of our work.

Key National Sponsors

• Mission Australia
• Australian Nursing Federation
• World Vision
• St Vincent de Paul Society
• Care Australia
• The Salvation Army

Other National Sponsors

• Anglicare Australia
• Catholic Social Services
• Liquor, Hospitality & Miscellaneous Union
• Australian Education Union