Welfare, environment, indigenous groups and unions have joined forces to make a last-ditch appeal to the federal government for a fair budget.
More than 70 organisations gathered in Canberra on Monday ahead of Tuesday's federal budget, calling for people and the environment to take centre stage.
Australian Council of Social Service chief Cassandra Goldie said despite being a wealthy nation, three million Australians were living below the poverty line, including 730,000 children.
"What we want to see from the federal budget is one that really puts people's dignity and respect at the centre of it," she told reporters.
"Fifty per cent of us are getting by on just $55,000 or less and we want a budget that actually puts those people at the heart of it."
ACTU president Ged Kearney called for the government to create jobs and put workers, not multinational corporations and big business, at the centre of the budget.
"For decades now, working people of Australia have been told that giving tax cuts and money to big business will benefit them," she said.
"That just hasn't happened - people are living anxious lives."
National Union of Students president Sophie Johnston said the budget was already going to hit young people with increased university fees.
"This is the first generation that's going to be locked out of the housing market, facing decades of low wage growth - and under-employment is rife," she said.
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