 Found a word you're not familiar with? Double-click that word to bring up a dictionary reference to it. The dictionary page includes an audio sound file with which to actually hear the word said. |
Further implications
(The 2015 report, from the Australian Council of Social Services, titled 'Inequality in Australia: A Nation Divided', referred to below, can be accessed at http://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Inequality_in_Australia_FINAL.pdf)
Street beggars appear an indictment of the system within which they are found. They can be seen as an indication of the economic system's failure to generate sufficient jobs and build sufficient affordable housing. They can also be seen as an indictment of the Western welfare state which carries with it the ideal that the vulnerable within society will be looked after. Thus beggars can be seen as an indication of the inability of health services to support adequately the mentally ill, of unemployment benefits to reach and sustain the most vulnerable of the unemployed and of private charities to assist those most in need of food, clothing and shelter. Governments of different political persuasions tend to react differently to beggars; however, none are comfortable with their existence.
The prevalence of beggars can also be seen as a law and order issue, which is ultimately the position of a majority of Australian states and territories within whose jurisdictions begging is illegal and punishable by fines and/or terms of imprisonment.
For the individual citizen confronted by someone seeking an immediate financial contribution to his or her support, begging is personally confronting. It is either an appeal to compassion or a call to indignation, depending largely on the extent to which the person from whom money is being sought blames the beggar for his or her predicament.
Individual attitudes to begging reveal a great deal about a person's value system. Are we all essentially autonomous individuals who make or mar our own life success? Or are we all potential victims of forces larger than ourselves and therefore entitled to call on the support of our society when things go awry? The modern welfare state appears to have decided essentially on the latter; however, in different jurisdictions this position is taken up with different degrees of enthusiasm. Further, individuals in all societies, including Australia, present with an even more diverse range of opinions on this question than their political leaders.
It should be noted that the gap between the wealthiest and the least wealthy in Australia is widening. An ACOSS (Australian Council of Social Services) report released in 2015 stated, 'Australia's level of income inequality is above the OECD average, but below countries such as the United States or the United Kingdom, which have very high levels of inequality. While inequality in Australia is not extreme by international comparison, it is growing.'
The report continues, 'In the past, a strong set of institutions in Australia have kept income and wealth inequality in check while still making room for steady economic growth. This
"Australian economic model" included full employment policies, universal access to public education, a unique system of wage regulation, progressive income taxes, and a well-targeted social security safety net. As a result we were able to place limits on inequality within an open economy with relatively low taxes and public expenditures, and a flexible labour market.'
This pattern is apparently in the process of changing. The report states, 'Over the past two decades, this social compact appears to be unravelling. The benefits of our world-leading economic growth have been shared much more unequally than in the past.'
The ACOSS report was written in the shadow of the resources boom, which has now apparently reached its end. Growing social and economic tensions are likely to be made worse as Australia struggles to find a new model on which to build national prosperity. It is interesting to note, for example, the dramatic increase in begging offences in South Australia which have occurred at the same time as the state's industrial base has been in decline.
Adequate provision for the least well-off within a society is not only a matter of social decency; it is also a crime prevention issue. Without adequate support, those whose needs have not been met may well turn to crime of one sort or another. Criminalising begging, however, appears premature and inadequate.