• Rebecca Cassells, Quoc Ngu Vu, Justine McNamara
• National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM)

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20 October 2007Commissioned by the ACT Council of Social Service, this report provides up-to-date data on the characteristics of low-income households in the ACT, this report provides up-to-date date on the characteristics of low-income households in the ACT. It was commissioned by the ACT Council of Social Service, who were seeking detailed information about the characteristics of the ACT’s least affluent households, including data that highlighted differences between regions within the Territory, and how the characteristics of these disadvantaged households compare with their higher income counterparts. It was agreed that, rather than focus narrowly on income poverty rates within the ACT, this project would instead examine characteristics of people in the bottom 20 per cent of the equivalised disposable income distribution in the ACT. This approach helps avoid ongoing debates within the research and policy arenas about poverty definitions, and additionally focuses attention on differences within the ACT (in terms of geographical area and population characteristics), rather than on comparing the ACT poverty rate with overall Australian levels of poverty.