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Tackling childhood poverty should be a ‘top national priority’, say four out of five survey respondents

09 May 2025

The Smith Family’s Winter Appeal shines spotlight on educational inequality

High-res photos, b-roll and spokesperson soundbites are available for download

The Smith Family’s latest Community Attitudes Survey (CAS) of the Australian public, has found four out of five respondents believe that poverty can significantly impact a child’s educational experience and outcomes.

The 2025 survey shows:

83% of respondents agree that helping children and young people overcome poverty should be a top national priority
82% agree that students experiencing poverty should be given extra help
79% agree that poverty means students are more likely to fall behind

The Smith Family CEO Doug Taylor says, “poverty shouldn’t limit a child’s potential,” which is why the charity is launching its Winter Appeal today. The Appeal aims to raise almost $8 million by the end of June 2025 to support students experiencing disadvantage by providing access to its proven out-of-school educational programs.

“The results of our Community Attitudes Survey show Australians recognise poverty has an impact on a child’s education,” Mr Taylor says.

“However, what many people don’t see are the hidden impacts of disadvantage and the deep emotional, social and academic toll that this can have on students during their school years, and then on into their adult lives.

“But the right educational support at the right time through The Smith Family’s evidence-based programs can make all the difference to those students giving them the tools and resources to fulfill their potential.”

The 2024 NAPLAN results showed students from low socioeconomic backgrounds in Year 9 can be, on average, about 4.5 years behind their peers from higher socioeconomic backgrounds.

The Smith Family's student2student reading program is a one-on-one activity that brings together an older and younger student to read with each other once a week.

Learning Clubs are a free, after-school-hours program that offers tutoring and extra help to support students with homework and assignments.

“The evidence-based programs The Smith Family is delivering to students it supports are as crucial as the financial and personal support we provide to them and their families,” Mr Taylor says.

“Of the children participating in student2student, 94% say it improved their reading, while 81% of those taking part in Learning Clubs say it helped them do better in the classroom.

“For people in a position to do so, please consider donating to The Smith Family’s Winter Appeal.

“Donations mean we can support more students with access to our programs and provide more help for children and young people experiencing disadvantage.

“Your donation today can have an enormous, life-changing impact for a student.

“Let’s make tackling childhood poverty and educational inequality a priority, beginning this winter.”

To donate visit, thesmithfamily.com.au/appeal

More findings from the Community Attitudes Survey can be found here.

Media contacts:

Andrew Dickson | National Media Manager (National) - 0421 285 529 | andrew.dickson@thesmithfamily.com.au
Carla Horton | Senior Media Advisor (QLD & WA) - 0423 618 776 | carla.horton@thesmithfamily.com.au
Reid Jermyn | Media Advisor (VIC, SA & NT) - 0412 803 566 | reid.jermyn@thesmithfamily.com.au
Ben Chenoweth | Senior Media Advisor (NSW, ACT & TAS) - 0413 346 934 | ben.chenoweth@thesmithfamily.com.au

The Smith Family is a national children’s education charity that helps young Australians experiencing disadvantage to create better futures for themselves through harnessing the power of education. We partner with around 800 Australian schools and work with over 162,000 children and young people experiencing disadvantage access our education support programs to help them overcome . For more information, visit thesmithfamily.com.au