Australia is prosperous and their cities are regularly described as among the most 'liveable', but the harsh reality is there are too many pockets of disadvantage across the nation.
At the Brotherhood of St Laurence, they want to drive change to ensure that they have a compassionate and fair society where everyone has a sense of belonging.
Poverty is not just having too little money to live on. It can also mean being shut out from many other aspects of social and economic life that people commonly take for granted: a job, a home, being connected to community.
They want to influence public debates and convince governments, businesses and others to take action on issues affecting the most disadvantaged people among us.
A key aim is for the successful programs they develop to be adopted more widely by governments and other community organisations - indeed they work with partner organisations across the nation to implement their programs.
The Brotherhood of St Laurence was founded in 1930, amid the Great Depression, by the Anglican priest Father Gerard Tucker. He was a passionate campaigner for social reform in his day.
Today, they continue to work for the goal of an Australia free of poverty with their innovative programs, research and campaigns.
Founded in 1930, the Brotherhood of St Laurence was born in the Anglican parish of St Stephen in Adamstown, a working-class suburb of Newcastle in New South Wales.
The founder, Father Gerard Kennedy Tucker, was an activist and social reformer. The Brotherhood he conceived back then, amid the social upheaval of the Great Depression, was a religious order of the Anglican Church – named after St Laurence, the patron saint of the poor.
In 1933 the Brotherhood of St Laurence moved to Fitzroy in Melbourne, where its headquarters remain.
Poverty and disadvantage in Australia today has a strong geographic dimension. The focus of their work is increasingly on particular places as well as particular groups of vulnerable people, such as early school leavers or those who are unemployed or homeless.
Their approach is informed by the best available evidence. They also concentrate on the four life transitions considered the key to human wellbeing. These points of vulnerability are in childhood - 'the early years', the transition from school to work in adolescence, the shifts in and out of work in midlife, and retirement and ageing.
Their work in the community is varied: ranging from early learning, employment preparation and digital literacy programs to aged care.
They have also established initiatives to tackle the challenge climate change and environmental sustainability present for disadvantaged people.
Their Saver Plus program has supported thousands of low income earners to develop a lasting savings habit and is Australia's longest running matched savings and financial education program.
For more than half a century, they have also continued to help settle newly arrived migrants and refugees. Their flagship programs include Given the Chance for Asylum Seekers which supports asylum seekers living in the community, who have the legal right to work, to find jobs.
Their Given the Chance program is an initiative designed to assist marginalised job seekers into work. To learn more, view the list of current vacancies available through Given the Chance.
Their long experience in tackling poverty tells them that the best results are achieved when they join hands with others. Through partnerships with government and local community organisations they have a presence in cities and regions in every state and territory.
Through their early learning Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY), for example, their footprint spans areas along the Murray-Darling River, the eastern seaboard to far north Queensland, in the Northern Territory and across the Kimberly in Western Australia.
The services they deliver directly are in Victoria where their national office is based, including the Melbourne suburbs of Frankston, Craigieburn, Laverton, Melton, Carlton and Fitzroy and the city of Whittlesea in the city's north east. They are also working in the Victorian regional cities of Geelong, Shepparton, Ballarat and Moe.
Wherever they are, they believe it is essential that the voices of the people dealing with disadvantage in their communities are heard and considered.
