The rise in energy prices in Australia has plunged 42,000 households into "energy poverty". (photo by the Herald Sun)
Higher natural gas and electricity prices in Australia have plunged 42,000 households into "energy poverty" as they spend more of their weekly income on energy costs than ever before, according to Radio 9.
(KPMG), a professional services firm, collected (Housing Expenditure Survey) data from the 2016 Census and Housing Expenditure Survey for research, and tracked the impact of energy costs on household spending over the past six years. It found that Australian households spent an average of A $32.52 a week on energy in 2010. In 2016, the figure rose 26 percent to A $40.92.
Large households earning less than A $650 a week need to spend 12 percent of their weekly income on energy costs, the study said. Salter (Bernard Salt), KPMG`s special adviser to Australia, said that put large families in low socio-economic sectors at risk. He points out that the biggest victims of energy poverty are Australian children. This could cause children to catch colds at night, or force some families to cut back on others. Some families have even experienced being cut off by electricity and electricity because they cannot afford to pay.
The report also found that it was household size, not weekly income, that was directly related to energy spending. The difference between the highest-income group and the lowest-income group is only A $3.34 a week in per capita energy spending.
The report also makes a number of recommendations, including subsidies for vulnerable customers, income-based energy prices, and stricter regulations for energy retailers to cut water and electricity to ease pressure on energy-poor households.
