Monetary and Multidimensional Poverty in Australia: Persistence and Assymetry - Joint event with BSL

Join us for a panel discussion highlighting the Brotherhood of St Laurence’s work on monetary and multidimensional poverty in Australia, drawing on BSL’s collaboration with the Melbourne Institute and the University of Oxford to develop a demonstration multidimensional poverty index using HILDA (Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia) data.

Monetary and Multidimensional Poverty in Australia: Persistence and Asymmetry - Joint event with BSL

In this policy discussion we draw on nearly two decades of Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia data to construct income-based and multidimensional poverty measures for Australia and examine how both forms of poverty evolve over time. Income poverty is measured using the OECD benchmark of household disposable income below 50 per cent of the median, while an Alkire–Foster-style Multidimensional Poverty Index captures deprivation across housing, employment, health, education and social connectedness. Around 7 per cent of Australians were multidimensionally poor in 2024, compared with around 13 per cent who were income poor. Both forms of poverty are persistent: around half of those affected in one year remain so the next, and a third or more are still affected five years later. While the two measures capture related but distinct aspects of disadvantage, the central finding is asymmetry: multidimensional deprivation is associated with a higher subsequent risk of income poverty than the reverse. This suggests that multidimensional measures may help identify people at risk of future income poverty, and supports using monetary and multidimensional measures together to provide a more complete account of disadvantage in Australia. These findings strengthen the broader case for incorporating both measures within an official poverty-measurement framework, and are intended to inform ongoing policy discussion about how disadvantage is measured in Australia, as repeatedly called for by the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee.

About the Panellists

Chris Barrett was appointed Secretary to the Department of Premier and Cabinet (DPC) and head of the
Victorian Public Service (VPS) in August 2026. Prior to this, Chris served as Secretary, Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF) from December 2023. He joined DTF as Deputy Secretary of the Economic Division in January 2021. Before this, Chris was the CEO of Invest Victoria, and led both the Victorian Government’s approach to investment attraction and the Economic Recovery Mission in response to coronavirus (COVID-19). In 2011, Chris was appointed Australian Ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, where he led Australia’s engagement with the OECD and contributed to global best-practice public policy. Following on from his role with the OECD, Chris
spent four years with the European Climate Foundation in Berlin, as Executive Director, Finance and
Economics. Chris has more than two decades of experience in public service and public policy, within Australian governments at state and federal level as well as internationally.

Dr Travers McLeod, DPhil, MPhil (Dist), LLB (Hons), BA (Hons) joined the Brotherhood of St. Laurence (BSL) as Executive Director in April 2022 and is responsible for the day-to-day management of the organisation. Travers has led BSL through the development of Strategy 2030 and its commitment to advance an ambitious national agenda on poverty reduction. Prior to joining BSL, Travers was the CEO of the Centre for Policy Development, an independent Australian policy institute he led for eight years and remains connected with as a Senior Fellow. Travers began his career in public law, working for the State Solicitor’s Office in Western Australia and for Justice Michael Kirby in the High Court of Australia. He worked as a Policy Adviser for the Oxford Martin Commission for Future Generations, playing a lead role in its 2013 report, Now for the Long Term. Travers is the author of Rule of Law in War, published by Oxford University Press in 2015, which is based on his postgraduate research on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Travers holds a DPhil and MPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes scholar and was a Lecturer in Politics and International Relations. He has completed Executive training in non-profit management at Harvard Business School. Travers is a member of the Federal Government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee. He is an Honorary Enterprise Professor at the University of Melbourne and an occasional moderator for the Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership.

Melinda Cilentro is a company director, economist and experienced senior executive.  She is also the Deputy Chair of Australian Unity, and a member of the Ministerial Advisory Council on Skilled Migration. She is a Member of Amplify Australia Research Committee, a member of the ACCC Performance Consultative Committee and a Melbourne Institute Advisory Board Member. Melinda was previously a Non-Executive Director with Woodside Petroleum, Co-Chair of Reconciliation Australia, Chair of the Expert Council on University Governance, a Commissioner with the Productivity Commission, Deputy CEO and Chief Economist with the Business Council of Australia and held senior roles with Invesco, the Federal Department of Treasury, and the International Monetary Fund.

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Dr Melek Cigdem-Bayram is the Ronald Henderson Senior Research Fellow at the Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research, University of Melbourne, in a joint appointment with the Brotherhood of St Laurence. Her research focuses on poverty, wealth inequality and social mobility. She recently guest-edited a special issue of the Australian Economic Review on poverty measurement, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Ronald Henderson’s first Poverty Inquiry. Her current research examines monetary and multidimensional poverty in Australia, including the extent to which the two approaches identify different experiences of disadvantage.

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Event Details

If you are not yet an ESA VIC member, this event is an opportunity for you to become a member to enjoy discounted rates on this and  other events and access to other free events throughout the year. You can become a member here.

We look forward to welcoming you to this event, 

ESA VIC Branch

ESA Victoria Branch adheres to the Chatham House Rule. Attendees who come to a meeting are free to use information from the discussion, but are not allowed to attribute comments made.

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