Pulling the threads together - consultations, conversations and contemplations on child poverty in Australia

Current debate on policy surrounding child poverty in Australia fails to include the perspective of children themselves. If our policies and services are to be successful in supporting children we need to understand what poverty is for them. Invariably in research and policy is this area, children’s experience is obscured; subsumed within the overarching perspective of other social groups experiencing similar circumstances. Because of limited research in this area we cannot be sure whether our current understandings of what it means to be poor are meaningful for children. Without this we cannot be sure that our policies and services meet their needs. Children need a voice in the debate and we need to obtain a clear picture from them so that their views can be included when developing policy, services, and monitoring frameworks in this area