The parts of Sydney where one child in five lives in poverty

Gwen Rumbel grew up in a world in which brand-named groceries were an unobtainable luxury. She never got to choose her clothes because they were always second-hand, her school excursions required weeks of saving and money was a constant stress.

When the 18-year-old was awarded a scholarship to the University of Sydney, she met people whose childhoods had been steeped in luxury and largesse. They could spend without thinking; she worries about every dollar. “It’s a real culture shock,” she said.

Her new friends come from suburbs where one in 20 children grew up in poverty. In the region surrounding Rumbel’s home town of Dungog, it’s more like one in five.

In 1987, then-prime minister Bob Hawke told Labor’s election launch that “by 1990, no Australian child will be living in poverty”. Its sheer ambition made the line one of Hawke’s most famous. It was actually a mistake; the script said “no child needs to live in poverty”.

Hawke’s reforms – a child support agency, a family assistance payment, rent assistance – improved the lives of poor families and cut the number of impoverished children. But in NSW, those gains have been eroded, a new NSW Council of Social Service report has found.

In areas such as south-west Sydney, child poverty is twice as prevalent as it was when Hawke made those comments more than 35 years ago.

Gwen Rumbel grew up with money as an ever-present stress.Credit: Dylan Coker

Now, more than 15.5 per cent of children in NSW are growing up in homes where families struggle to pay rent or afford basic health care, where light and heating are sometimes cut because of unpaid bills, where meals are missed and parents rely on payday loans.

The impact of financial stress in childhood can lead to health and employment struggles in later life.

The NCOSS report says poverty costs the state $60 billion a year, including the cost of diminished health and life expectancy. That’s more than the construction, manufacturing and mining industries make in a year, the report says.

In the south-west, inner south-west and Parramatta, poverty affects more than 20 per cent of children. The rate is far lower in the north, east and inner west of the city. On the northern beaches, it’s less than 5 per cent.

NCOSS chief executive Cara Varian said Hawke’s pledge was not as ambitious as it sounded to many. “In a country like Australia, where we have incredible wealth and great infrastructure, child poverty is preventable,” she said.

Bob Hawke in the 1987 election campaign, when he pledged no child would live in poverty by 1990.Credit: Fairfax Media

“That means kids having food, making sure they have a stable, safe place to live, and making sure they have access to health and wellbeing services.”

Rumbel’s scholarship is already having flow-on effects on other members of her family. She is studying law and psychology at the University of Sydney, and her experience has prompted her brother to broaden his horizons, too.

“He was thinking of doing a trade, and now he’s thinking about bigger things,” she says. Rumbel’s mother has begun studying social work. “Doing something like this is really helping the people close to me,” she said.

“Of course, money is a limitation, but there are ways to get around it.”

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