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Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher put the finishing touches on the budget.

Rampant fraud to be targeted in budget amid fears of ‘next NDIS’

Fraud poses a persistent problem for the government as Australians look to exploit generous programs after more than a decade of slow growth in living standards and declining trust.

  • Paul Sakkal

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Micah Projects founder and chief executive Karyn Walsh recently announced her retirement, after more than 40 years working in the community sector.

Brisbane’s down-and-out lose a champion, but Karyn Walsh is not done fighting yet

For more than 40 years, Micah Projects’ Karyn Walsh has been at the coalface of human hardship, helping the city’s most vulnerable stay on their feet.

  • Courtney Kruk
Raising Queensland lead author Professor Karen Healy AM said there was a link between neurodevelopmental delays and housing insecurity.

Queensland kids worse off than kids in other states: report

Close to a quarter of Queensland children are not hitting their developmental milestones, the study from UQ found.

  • Courtney Kruk
Single parent Logan Bell is one of thousands of low-income earners struggling to afford basic living expenses, according to a new report by QCOSS.

‘Spread so thin’: Single parents among those hardest hit by cost of living pressure

Logan Bell worked two jobs, studied full-time and looked for housing during the three months she spent living in a hotel with her daughter.

  • Courtney Kruk
JobSeeker was increased during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, briefly lifting recipients out of poverty.

Raising JobSeeker will help to ease heartbreaking realities for those battling poverty

Since 2020, the number of people seeking support from Vinnies has increased by 39 per cent.

  • Yolanda Saiz
Ivana Bronlund, 18, at the home she shares with her mother in Hedehusene, Denmark.

‘Wish I’d been given the chance’: She held her baby for an hour, then the state took her away

Since Donald Trump vowed to get Greenland, Denmark has been scrambling to keep Greenlanders on side. But that hasn’t helped one new mother.

  • Jeffrey Gettleman, Maya Tekeli and Amelia Nierenberg
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Jacqueline Wilson pictured aged 16, in 1982, when she was a ward of the state. Wilson now has a PhD and does research in criminology and the state care system.

I was a ward of the state, now I have a PhD. My brother wasn’t so fortunate

One of my earliest memories is of my mother begging for a food voucher. The uniformed charity worker held such power over us, I thought the Salvation Army was in charge of Australia.

  • Jacqueline Wilson
Alex Hughes (left) at work.

‘A heaviness in my heart’: This WA mum lives on $441 a week

After divorce and disability struck her household, Laura lives way below the WA poverty line. Here’s what she says is the hardest part for her and her kids.

  • Alex Hughes
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A more gratifying senior moment

After all, discounts are wasted on the young.

By the time Tyson spent his 18th birthday in a detention cell, he had been incarcerated up to nine times. “Have you got yourself a dream? You don’t get asked that in there. They ask you when your next court date is.”

Tyson was 11 when he was first locked up. It took seven years to turn things around

Nobody in youth detention asked Tyson about his dreams - they asked about his court dates. Now he wants the prime minister to fix the system.

  • Natassia Chrysanthos