(Transcript from SBS World News Australia Radio)
It comes as ACOSS releases a new poverty report which shows 600,000, or 17.3 per cent, of Australian children live in poverty.
It says that's a 15 per cent increase since 2001.
UNICEF Australia spokesman Tim O'Connor says children's welfare groups are calling on Prime Minister Tony Abbott to do more for the most vulnerable Australians.
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"Those children are extremely vulnerable. We want to see a national poverty plan which brings together all the fantastic things that are happening in the community sector, at state government, local government and federal government level, put those things on the table and work out a long-term plan with very clear goals and very clear targets which give those 600,000 children a chance to participate in our economy. It's going to be good for them and good for Australia in the long term."
Welfare groups say government cuts to the school bonus, the unemployment allowance and super contributions indicate the Coalition is not focused on the needs of the poor.
They say the issue has fallen off the radar of both major parties and that bipartisan support is needed to seriously address child poverty.
The 2013 Poverty Report shows 45 per cent of people on Parenting Payments live below the poverty line, as do 24 per cent of people on a Carer Payment.
Tim O'Connor says there are also indications Australia is bucking the global trend when it comes to child poverty reduction.
"In Australia we come in at number 30 in the 34 richest countries in the world in the number of children that participate in early childhood development. So there's one example. But of those 600,000 children who are currently living in poverty in Australia almost half of them come from single-parent families, so we see an opportunity there in working with those single parents to get them back to work and get them stable and growing incomes so they can help lift themselves out of poverty."
The Poverty Report shows over 2.2 million, or 12.8 per cent, of all Australians are living below the poverty line, and this proportion increases in Indigenous communities.
It says 19.3 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are living in poverty.
The report also shows the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who experienced deep social exclusion increased from 9.5 per cent in 2010 to 14 per cent in 2011.
Anne Hollands is the chief executive of the Benevolent Society, which is joining ACOSS and UNICEF in calling for more government action to battle child poverty.
She says Australia's growing prosperity has been limited to the top-earning ten per cent and this could limit future growth and productivity.
And she says more should be done for Indigenous communities.
"Where families have multiple and complex needs, such as families with Aboriginal backgrounds where there may already be previous trauma experienced by the family, these circumstances add to the emotional burden on children which actually we now know affect their well-being to such a degree that it can have life-long negative consequences."
The poverty report also shows that adults born in countries where English is not the main language face a much higher risk of poverty than those born in Australia or in another English-speaking country.
It says migrants from non-English speaking countries continue to face difficulties in securing well paid employment in Australia.
It blames language difficulties, the fact their skills often aren't often recognised in Australia, and discrimination.
Rey Reodica is the deputy director of the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition.
He says the barriers to employment for parents from non-English speaking backgrounds can place more pressure on their children to help support the family.
"We know that often young people who are from newly arrived or asylum backgrounds have increased responsibilities because their English language skills are better or they have a better understanding of Australian culture than their parents do.
"So there's an increased responsibility on them to actually be the ones that get their family out of poverty and that really needs to be looked at in terms of how they can be supported to ensure that there aren't long-term negative impacts of having that responsibility placed on them at a relatively young age."
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