Adelaide divided between rich and poor

Issue 

Adelaide divided between rich and poor

By Sabina Nowak

ADELAIDE — The City Messenger local newspaper revealed some not so surprising news about the polarities between rich and poor in Adelaide on its front page of August 25.

A stark gap exists between the wealthier eastern sector suburbs and the rest of the metropolitan area.

Twenty-five per cent of people who live in the eastern suburbs, such as Springfield, have a degree of bachelor or higher, and 15% earn $50,000 per year or more.

Fewer than 1% of people living in suburbs such as Rosewater and Woodville Gardens earn $50,000 or more, and with this goes an associated drop in education levels. Figures are not specified for stigmatised "problem areas" such as Elizabeth in the north and Christies Beach in the south, presumably because the people earning $50,000 are too few to mention.

The national Social Health Atlas (1992) paints a similar contrast in the well-being of eastern and western suburbs residents.

The atlas shows that western suburbs residents visit the doctor more, exercise less and consider themselves in "poorer health" than those who live in the eastern suburbs.

Trish Corcoran, Democratic Socialist Party candidate for Adelaide in the next state election, told Green Left Weekly, "These statistics reveal that any idea that we live in an egalitarian society is clearly false. People's futures are determined by their socioeconomic background.

"What's more, nothing is being done to tip the balance in favour of the economically disadvantaged. Public transport is continually being cut, schools are being closed down and the waiting list for public hospital beds is absurd."

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