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 About Anti-Poverty WeekAnti-Poverty Week was established in Australia as an expansion of the UN's annual International Anti-Poverty Day on October 17. The main aims of Anti-Poverty Week are to:
Everyone who is interested in helping to reduce poverty and hardship here or overseas is encouraged to organise their own activities during the Week or join in some being organised by other people. The activities can be large or small, and events at the local level are especially welcome. Facilitating GroupThe National Facilitating Group for Anti-Poverty Week includes representatives from more than twenty major national organisations and social welfare services which are actively involved in efforts to reduce poverty and hardship in Australia and overseas. There is also a Facilitating Group in each State and Territory. The National Chair is Julian Disney (Social Justice Project). The State and Territory Co-Chairs for 2008 are listed below (See also: Contact Details)
Anti-Poverty Week 2007Activities and OrganisersAnti-Poverty Week began in 2002 with four activities. In 2003 there were about 30 and in 2004 about 80. The number has more than trebled since that time, so that in 2007 there was a record total of more than 250 registered activities during the Week. There were undoubtedly many other activities which were not registered. At least 300 organisations convened or sponsored an activity during Anti-Poverty Week 2007. 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. Representatives of hundreds of other organisations attended at least one event. Activities during the Week included one or more of the following:
Launches and openings during the Week included reports, booklets, a program, an exhibition and a guide. Further details of the activities are available at www.antipovertyweek.org.au. Participants and VenuesMore than 600 people spoke at activities during the Week and about another 10,000 other 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 50% took place in or near the centre of a capital city, 25% in an outer suburb and 25% in a regional city or country town. Venues for activities included:
MediaWe know of more than 400 media references to activities undertaken as part of the Week. About 260 were in radio or television outlets, a little over half of which were in commercial outlets. About 150 were newspaper articles, of which about 40% were more than 500 words in length. About 35% of electronic references and 75% of print references were in media outlets based in regional centres or outer suburbs of capital cities. CoordinationThe Week was loosely coordinated through a National Facilitating Group with an honorary National Chair and a part-time National Coordinator, both based in Sydney. The National Patron was Rev Tim Costello and several States also had Patrons. The State and Territory Co-Chairs were the heads or senior managers of:
ResourcesThe generous financial sponsors of the Week at the national level were:
Valuable in-kind support was provided by UnitingCare Wesley Adelaide, which handled finances at the national level. Total expenditure at the national level was approximately $32,000. About 50% of this amount was for the National Coordinator's wages, with the remainder being mainly for printing, the website, media monitoring, travel, postage and office expenses. Most individual activities were funded by the respective organisers or by donations obtained directly by them. |
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