Many here are poor: report

By Jade Lawton
POVERTY is rife in the outer south-east, according to a new report.
The recently published Macro Melbourne report, which investigates social and economic disadvantage, found Casey-Cardinia is only second to the western suburbs with the highest levels of poverty in Melbourne.
The report shows the number of Victorians living in poverty rose from 7.7 per cent in 1993-94 to 10.7 per cent in 2003-04.
Cardinia Combined Churches Caring (4Cs) director Jeni Mathieson said she was not surprised by the findings.
“The cheap mortgages and no deposit homes brought a lot of people to the area. And going back a while, rentals were really cheap and that attracted lower income people. But now re ntals are sky high and you’ve got 40-50 people waiting on the same house,” she said.
“A lot of people have got a mortgage thinking, we can do this … but they haven’t factored in there is going to be a crisis in life, whether it’s a car blowing up or whatever. They are living on this tight border, going from pay cheque to pay cheque.”
The Macro Melbourne researchers said rapid population growth was creating new concentrations of disadvantage and putting pressure on limited infrastructure.
They suggest improved transport links, community information centres and the establishment of sporting, cultural and recreational groups would help address disadvantage in the outer suburbs.
“I’ve been in Pakenham about 25 years and been here (4Cs) for about 13 years. It’s in the last two years we have seen a massive growth in people struggling, and our whole clientele is changing. Years ago it was people relying on Centrelink, now it’s a lot of families struggling,” Ms Mathieson said.
“The latest interest rise, for the cheapest mortgages, was about $50 a month. This might not seem a lot for people who have money, but for some people it is a huge amount. And once you hit a financial crisis, everything else is affected – families suffer, kids suffer.”
The report also states young people, particularly those aged between 12 and 17, were especially vulnerable to social disadvantage because of the lack of recreational activities in the outer suburbs.
“Youth are screaming out for things to keep them interested…come the weekend, there’s not really much for them to do,” Ms Mathieson said.
“That’s one of our long-term plans, to develop youth programs.”