Why Measuring Poverty Matters

In August, we had the privilege of hosting Professor Sabina Alkire from Oxford University to deliver the Sambell Oration, our annual signature event.

Professor Alkire presented her groundbreaking work as the co-creator of a Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which the United Nations and 165 other countries use to identify and track progress on poverty worldwide, either as an official income measure, a multidimensional measure, or both. This complements income-based poverty measures by considering a broader range of factors at the household level in education, health and standard of living.

The evening featured a thoughtful panel discussion with BSL’s Executive Director Travers McLeod, the Chief Executive Officer of SNAICC National Voice for our Children Catherine Liddle and Chair of the Productivity Commission Danielle Wood.

All agreed that Australia needs an MPI and falls well behind countries like Canada and New Zealand in setting clear, unified goals for poverty reduction. Despite a landmark poverty review that concluded nearly 50 years ago - the Henderson Inquiry - Australia has neither. It’s time that changed and BSL wants to help drive that change.

During her visit Professor Alkire met with government officials and spoke at Melbourne University for a BSL Talks on Why measuring poverty matters. Over 500 attendees joined the webinar discussion which included the University of Melbourne’s Professor Roger Wilkins, Council for Single Mothers and their Children Chief Executive Officer Jenny Davidson and BSL’s Social Policy and Research Director Dr Nicole Bieske.

Professor Alkire’s advice will also inform an ongoing joint initiative between BSL and the University of Melbourne, ‘Defining and Measuring Poverty’, which draws together experts and partners across a range of sectors to assess current poverty frameworks and measures. Establishing these benchmarks is an essential step in breaking the cycle of persistent poverty that Australia has been stuck in for decades. 

BSL will continue to advocate for a national definition and official measures of poverty to make the issue visible, build momentum for reducing poverty and celebrate progress when it occurs. Whatever solutions we look to, however, must be determined in consultation with the experts in poverty – the people who experience it.