This report uses data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to identify the groups facing the highest risk of poverty; and the groups of people most likely to be living in poverty. It rounds out the story of poverty provided in our previous Poverty in Australia report, Poverty in Australia 2022: a snapshot, which provided an overview of the numbers of people in poverty in Australia; and our most recent report Australian experiences of poverty, which took a qualitative, experienced-focused approach to relate the experiences of people in poverty during 2020-21.

The data used for this report comes from the 2019-20 ABS Survey of Income and Housing, which was conducted just as the COVID recession struck and major improvements were made to income support to shield those affected from hardship. The impacts of these momentous events on poverty in Australia were profound. By comparing poverty levels before and after the introduction of the new COVID income supports in the June quarter of 2020 (including the $275 per week Coronavirus Supplement), the authors gauge their impact on financial hardship among different groups.