Australia's rich-poor gap grows: survey

The gap between rich and poor is widening in Australia and almost 70 percent of Australians know someone who is struggling to pay for basic necessities, a survey released on Friday by the nation's charity organization Salvation Army shows.

The Roy Morgan Research telephone survey of 660 people randomly selected across Australia reveals 11.1 million people, or about 60 percent of Australians, believe the gap between rich and poor increased over the past year.

In addition, 12.5 million people, or 68 percent of Australians, say they know people who are finding it difficult to pay for basic necessities such as electricity, gas, water and food bills.

An internal research shows almost one in four of the charity's clients think they are a lot worse off than they were a year ago.

Sixty-five percent of them say they have had to cut down on luxuries such as hair cuts, cosmetics and shampoos.

The Salvation Army's Major Neil Venables said the findings were "alarming".

"To see so many people indicating they know someone who is finding it difficult to pay the basic necessities of everyday life is shocking," he said.

He said the increased cost of living was impacting "in a big way" on low-income families, with the charity now estimating more than 2.2 million people live in poverty, including about 12 percent of Australian children.

"We need donations urgently because the simple fact is that the demands on our social and community services are growing," he said.

The Salvation Army's annual Red Shield Appeal Doorknock starts on Saturday and ends on Sunday with a goal to raise 79 million AU dollars (83.88 million U.S. dollars).

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