Housing Costs Push 456,000 Western Australians Into Poverty: Report

SYDNEY, Oct 12 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- An estimated 456,000 people in the state of Western Australia, including almost 99,000 children, are living in poverty in 2026 as rising housing costs and inadequate household incomes deepen financial hardship, according to a report cited by Xinhua.

The 2026 Poverty Snapshot, released by the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, found that 15.1 per cent of the state's population lived in poverty, up from 11.8 per cent in 2021. The number has increased by about 145,000, or 47 per cent, over five years, according to a statement released on Monday by Australia's Curtin University.

The report estimated that around 180,000 Western Australians were living in deep poverty, while more than 650,000 had incomes below 60 per cent of the national median after housing costs.

The state capital Perth's median weekly rent reached A$720 (about US$502) in June 2026, having more than doubled since June 2020. More than one in four private renters in the state were living in poverty, the report found.

Children faced particularly severe hardship, with almost half of those living in poverty experiencing deep poverty, compared with about one in four in 2021. Children living in poverty faced an average household income shortfall of A$224 a week.

The report called for expanded social and affordable housing, stronger support for households experiencing rental stress and measures to ensure incomes keep pace with living costs.  

-- BERNAMA-XINHUA