Relentless cost-of-living pressure, rising interest rates, uncertainty about the direction of the economy and growing concern about inequality has undermined Australia’s sense of social cohesion, according to authoritative new research.
After a polarising voice referendum campaign and amid rising community tensions over the war in the Middle East, the latest Mapping Social Cohesion Report puts the Scanlon-Monash Index of Social Cohesion at its lowest ebb since the survey began 16 years ago.
The social cohesion index provides a barometer of social wellbeing, measuring belonging, worth, participation, acceptance and rejection, social inclusion and justice. The measure declined by four points over the past 12 months, hitting the lowest result on record. Since November 2020 – the peak of social cohesion recorded during the Covid-19 pandemic – the index has plummeted 13 points.
22% reporting insufficient income to pay for prescription medicines or healthcare.
I’m curious about which medications and healthcare are so expensive. More than 1 in 5 is a lot of people and medicine and healthcare are usually cheap or free in Australia. Are there people with chronic conditions being ripped off?
i suffer from chronic pain and can’t afford medications going forward. i’m not sure what I’ll do tbh, as it’s not really possible to live like this. There are a lot of medications not covered by the PBS, due to intense lobbying designed to maximize profit on older medications; for me it means using illegal opioids(risking arrest or overdose) or suicide. If I were able bodied I’d try to take a few of those LNP scumbags who did this with me.
