Writing against local poverty

Concerned resident Glynis Cummins with the Illawarra Legal Centre's Sharon Callaghan.

RESIDENTS wrote letters to government officials asking for changes to dental care and housing affordability last week, as part of an Anti-Poverty Week initiative hosted by the Illawarra Legal Centre. Staff from the Centre gave local people the opportunity to write a letter about their difficulties to those in power, and were rewarded with a strong response from dissatisfied and struggling community members.

Sharon Callaghan from the Legal Centre said the response indicated that the government is out of touch with the community.

She said people don't believe politicians are interested in local issues, and said some groups in society are particularly vulnerable to hardship.

“It's across the board, anyone who hasn't got employment is struggling, (as well as) anyone with any kind of physical and mental disability,” she said.

“Young people are a very vulnerable group as well as families and anyone who has any sort of health issues, they are a big group.”

Ms Callaghan said people on more substantial incomes often don't realise how stressful seemingly small expenses can be for people who simply don't have enough money to pay for them.

She said the biggest issue that people were concerned about, and what came up in their letters, was dental care.

Illawarra woman Glynis Cummins was one of those who wrote letters on the day, but unlike most of the authors she was writing out of concern for others rather than for herself.

She too listed dental care at the top of her concerns, and she had decided to write to the State Minister for Health Reba Meagher outlining her concerns about that particular issue.

“I thought I'd come and write a letter about that and see if it had any effect,” she said.

“Coming up to election time it's very important to tell politicians our concerns.”

She said she would prefer the government’s recently announced tax cuts were spent on providing Australians with better services.

Anti-Poverty Week was held across the Illawarra from Sunday, October 14 through until Saturday, October 20.