Inner West Council supports Anti-Poverty Week
Thursday 21 October 2021
Inner West Council is supporting Anti-Poverty Week and its aims to unlock poverty for individuals, families, and children.
The Week is coordinated through a National Facilitating Group which this year is calling for raising income support above the poverty line and investment in social housing.
“Inner West Council is a strong supporter of affordable housing,” said Inner West Mayor Rochelle Porteous.
“Council’s current stock of affordable housing units is 19, with more in the pipeline: six are planned for the Petersham RSL site, two for the 120C Old Canterbury Road site in Summer Hill and Council’s partnership with Link Wentworth Housing to re-develop the Hay Street car park in Leichhardt will provide 48 affordable housing units,” she said.
Earlier this year Council made a submission to the NSW parliamentary inquiry on social housing which proposed ways to address the social housing shortage.
“We’ve also publicly supported the Raise the Rate campaign, which calls for increasing unemployment payments to reducing poverty, several times over this term of Council,” Mayor Porteous said.
Council has passed resolutions to support Raise the Rate in 2019, 2020 and most recently again last month.
“That September resolution was part of my call to form our Council and Community Sector Covid Crisis Intervention Taskforce with the with the aim of Council and the local NGO sector working in partnership to address the local impacts of Covid on those most at risk and how together we can get everyone vaccinated and keep everyone fed, safe and well during this pandemic,” said Mayor Porteous.
“The impacts of Covid have been horrendous on many, many people. The pandemic has increased unemployment and therefore the effects of poverty have also increased.
“We need a whole-of-community approach to address these economic inequalities in our society.
“It’s Council’s role to ensure that the less fortunate are looked after and that we as a society do not just sweep this problem under the rug.
“It’s times like these that we are reminded that local councils are far more than roads, rates and rubbish.
“That fact is Councils are also successfully delivering broader objectives to promote social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of communities,” Mayor Porteous said.
For media enquiries, contact Elizabeth Heath, Media and Communications Coordinator, 9392 5334 or Elizabeth.Heath@innerwest.nsw.gov.au