ECONOMICS AND CITIZENSHIP
Australia’s aid program to reduce
poverty
Martin Gibbs
Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School
Poverty is a huge challenge facing the whole world, as approximately 1.4
billion people—nearly one quarter of the world’s population—lives in extreme
poverty. The following student resource, which is based on Level 6 of the
Civics and Citizenship domain of VELS, provides students with the
opportunity to examine the role of the Australian Government in helping
developing countries through its overseas aid program. This resource could
be used as part of a unit of work on human rights.
The world is in the grip of a major food crisis—a combination of increased food prices and a shortage
of food—that is affecting people in 33 countries. This is due to the growth of countries such as China
and India and the increased wealth of people in these countries, which has led to pressure on the
supply of food and increases in the price of food. Other causes include the effects of drought and
floods caused by climate change on agriculture, the production of crops such as maize and wheat for
biofuels rather than food, and the trend towards urbanisation, where people move from rural areas to
towns and cities in search of work. The problem is that people in cities must buy food in shops and
markets, as they do not grow their own food. In addition, the world’s population keeps growing.
A large number of Australians devote time, effort and money to the fight against world poverty, for
example through campaigns such as the World Vision 40 Hour Famine and through donations to nongovernment organisations such as Oxfam and Amnesty International. The Australian Government’s
main response to the challenge of world poverty is through its overseas aid program.
Why does Australia give aid?
Countries that receive Australian Government aid have low average incomes compared to the world
average. Australia gives aid to these countries because we are a wealthy country that values helping
people who are less fortunate than us. It also improves our regional security by helping partner
governments improve law and order, prevent and recover from conflict, and manage transnational
threats such as people trafficking, drug smuggling, and infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS.
Australia’s overseas aid program is organised around four interrelated themes:
•
accelerating economic growth
•
fostering functioning and effective states
•
investing in people
•
promoting regional stability and cooperation.
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ECONOMICS AND CITIZENSHIP
Natural disasters such as the Indian
Ocean Tsunami that struck Thailand,
Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka and
other parts of Asia in 2004 have led
to world food shortages.
How much does Australia give?
In 2009–10 Australia will provide $3.8 billion worth of official development assistance, which amounts
to around 1 per cent of total federal government expenditure. The ratio of Australia’s aid to gross
national income (GNI) for 2009–10 is estimated at 0.34 per cent, an increase from 0.32 per cent in
2008–09. The 2009–10 Budget included a commitment to increase Australia’s overseas aid to 0.5 per
cent of gross national income (GNI) by 2015–16.
Which countries receive Australian Government aid?
Over 100 countries receive Australian Government aid, including Papua New Guinea and countries in
South East Asia, the Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. The bulk of the aid program is concentrated
in the Asia-Pacific region. The reason for this is our proximity to the region and because two-thirds of
the world’s poor (around 800 million people) reside in the Asia-Pacific, yet receive less than one third
of total aid flows.
What is AusAID?
Australia’s overseas aid program is a federally funded program that is managed by the Australian
Agency for International Development (AusAID), a government agency within the Department of
Foreign Affairs and Trade portfolio. According to the AusAID website, the ‘aim of the program is to
assist developing countries reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development, in line with
Australia’s national interest’.
It actively works with the United Nations as well as a variety of non-government organisations, such as
Amnesty International and World Vision, in order to coordinate the delivery of aid services.
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ECONOMICS AND CITIZENSHIP
Types of aid
Through AusAID, the Australian Government provides the following types of aid:
•
funding for not-for-profit organisations such as World Vision and Australian Red Cross to
deliver aid programs at the community level in developing countries
•
sending AusAID staff to affected areas to provide immediate support to communities affected
by conflict or natural disasters, such as cyclones and earthquakes
•
working with the governments of neighbouring countries to improve the way they deliver
economic and community services; for example, assisting the Solomon Islands to improve the
delivery of essential services
•
funding international organisations that help people in emergencies, such as the International
Committee of the Red Cross and UNICEF.
AusAID works with a range of partner organisations including other government departments, the
United Nations, Australian and overseas companies and non-government organisations to design and
implement aid projects. Examples of Australian aid include:
•
$2.75 million to assist relief, recovery and reconstruction efforts after a major earthquake and
12 000 aftershocks in Sichuan province in south-west China, which killed 88 000 people
•
the training of 68 000 primary school teachers, 4500 education trainers in Bangladesh
•
the deployment of senior Australian officials to Papua New Guinea agencies to help improve
economic and public sector governance in that country
•
loans and grants to help re-establish 56 businesses in Tonga following civil unrest
•
assistance with the removal of 7600 landmines from 781 hectares of land, allocating 134
hectares of cleared land to poor beneficiaries and providing assistance to landmine survivors
and their communities in Cambodia
•
funding for neonatal and child health services, training of 135 primary-level health workers in
primary eye care, and equipping district hospitals with eye care training equipment in Pakistan
•
giving 40 000 rural women in Bangladesh enterprise training and assets including cows,
goats, poultry and vegetable seeds.
Australian aid has included $2.75
million to assist relief, recovery
and reconstruction efforts after a
major earthquake in the Sichuan
province of south-west China in
2008.
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ECONOMICS AND CITIZENSHIP
Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
‘Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and
wellbeing of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and
medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of
unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood
in circumstances beyond his control.’
Source: United Nations website, http://www.un.org
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Questions and activities
1) Go to the Global Education website <www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au> and under ‘Global
Issues’ click on
➝ Poverty reduction.
a) Provide a definition of poverty.
b) Explain the statement: ‘below the poverty line’.
c) Describe common ways of measuring poverty. Explain two limitations of these measures.
d) The Amnesty International Australia website <www.amnesty.org.au/poverty> states that
‘poverty is a violation of human rights’. Explain this statement.
2) a)
How much aid does Australia give? What percentage of its gross national income (GNI) does
this represent?
b) Explain why Australia provides aid to developing countries.
c) What types of aid are provided?
d) Explain the benefits to the countries that receive aid?
e) What types of problems might be experienced in delivering aid?
3) Download a copy of a blank world map, for example from http://www.eduplace.com/ss/maps.
Click on World
➝ World: Countries. Now go to the AusAID website http://www.ausaid.gov.au
click on ➝ About AusAID
➝ Where We Work. On the map highlight the countries that Australia provides aid to.
4) Go to the Global Education website <www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au> and under ‘Global
Issues’ click on
➝ Australia’s aid program. Scroll down and locate the section on countries receiving Australian
aid. In a pie
graph, display the top eight countries that received Australian Government aid in 2008–09. (Hint:
show the absolute amounts and the percentages for each country and display the segments from
largest to smallest.)
5) On the home page of the AusAID website <www.ausaid.gov.au>, click on ➝ Countries. Select a
country that Australia provides aid to. Describe the aid program and the reasons for providing aid
to this country.
6) List the costs and benefits to Australia of providing aid to other countries. Do the benefits outweigh
the costs or vice-versa? Justify your answer.
7) ‘The present level of overseas aid by Australia is well below the target set in 2000 by the United
Nations as part of the MDG (Millennium Development Goals)—0.5 per cent of gross national
income (GNI) by 2010 and 0.7 per cent of GNI by 2015. Australia should increase its overseas aid
to meet these targets.’
Do you agree or disagree with this proposition? Divide into groups of three or four, ensuring that
there is an equal number of groups representing each viewpoint. Prepare arguments to support
your group’s viewpoint and present these to the class as part of an oral presentation.
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ECONOMICS AND CITIZENSHIP
8) a)
Describe four situations in which your family might need assistance from other people or
organisations.
b) List five ways that you could offer your services as a volunteer in your local community.
c)
Research a not-for-profit organisation that you would like to support and describe the kind of
support you would give and why.
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