The problem: Income support is nowhere near adequate. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people who are studying, disabled, caring for a child or loved one, unemployed, or underemployed are living in dire poverty.

The goal: Raise all income support to the Henderson Poverty Line.

How do we make that happen? This is a decision that lies entirely in the hands of the government, specifically federal Labor MPs. They know the facts already - both from a mound of statistics, and from their own constituents. 

Facts alone aren’t enough. They’ve already delayed raising income support on multiple occasions, and may keep doing so unless they feel enough pressure to act.

That’s where you come in.

Get in contact with your Member of Parliament.

Search for [federal MP + your suburb]. If they’re a Labor member, full speed ahead. If not, feel free to change to a different MP - good choices include:

• Treasurer Jim Chalmers

• Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

Now you’ve chosen your politician, choose your medium. Options include:

• handwritten letter

• attending a town hall meeting

• phone call

• email

More effort gets more attention but the best option is the one you’ll actually do. 

The message is strongest when it’s personal so we don’t like to give templates, but here’s a basic structure you can build from.

“I’m concerned about how inadequate income support is. Have you committed to raising it to the poverty line in the next Budget? If not, why not?”

Add anything you want to - stories are powerful - but nothing else is necessary.

Now what?

You may receive a form reply; quite likely it’ll seem like nothing has been accomplished. But it has! One more grain of sand has been added to the scales of justice. That matters.

But if you want to, you can take more action…

What kind of action? Here’s some ideas.

Anything Beats Nothing

Like we said, changing public opinion and policy is like dropping grains of sand on a scale - slow, small, but eventually successful. Even if the only action that sounds manageable right now is signing a petition, then great! No action is too small.

Consistent Beats Singular

Consistency has a magic all its own. One email? It’s a blip. Ten emails? An MP pays attention. A hundred emails? It’s a vital constituent issue. Taking one action over and over or a different action each week adds up fast.

Choose Easy

If you hate phone calls, don’t make them. Especially if you want to be consistent, choose actions that are the most simple for you. And ignore the voice that says they don’t count if they aren’t a struggle, that voice is no-one’s friend.

Want some ideas to get started?

Here are some of the actions people are already taking, but again: choose whatever works for you.

Get political

Attend branch meetings for the local political party. Join the party. Run for positions and suggest policy. Find out how the levels of power get pulled.

And keep an eye out for opportunities to give written or verbal submissions to Senate enquiries and Royal Commissions. 

Use media (both traditional and social)

This can be as old-school as a letter to the editor or as new as an online petition, but the goals are the same: spread the message about how low the current rates of income support are, what effect that has on people, and what we must do to fix it.

If you like debate, correcting misinformation and calling out nonsense, cool.

If you want zero drama and just want to write a sweet supportive message for those on income support, cool.

Be yourself, in short. And let other people speak however they want to, even if it is very much not how you’d say it.

Bonus points: use the #NobodyDeservesPoverty hashtag. 

Invite others

This includes friends, family and your physio (half an hour of hammy stretches = plenty of time to make a convincing argument) and also other organisations you are part of. Inadequate support affects all of us, eventually - we can all break a leg or have a baby and need to rely on it for a while. 

And put up our fact sheets on a notice board, maybe? If you need assistance with this, such as printed posters and materials, please contact us and we will get you sorted.

Get creative

Join protests (find an org you like and join theirs. We’re planning some, sign up for the mailing list if you’re interested). Start protests. Run a stall. Put up a sign on your balcony and pamphlets in letterboxes. Give a lecture to a group. Make art, t-shirts, ironic cartoons.

Play to your strengths. We need more of what you have to offer.

Alone we are just one small voice. Together we are a force of nature.