The Australian Catholics Bishop Conference (ACBC) has released a stirring critique of Australia’s cost-of-living crisis.
Launched by Bishop Tim Harris, the chair of the Bishops Commission for Social Justice, Mission and Service, and Catholic Social Services Australia executive director Jerry Nockles, the statement, The Cost of Living: Economic and Social Justice for the Common Good, highlights the “lived reality” of many Australians.
A second social justice statement will be released for Social Justice Sunday on 30 August.
Bishop Harris said that 700,000 Australians currently need the help of Catholic social services, which includes meals, financial assistance, and housing.
“The statement offers practical ways to respond through donating money and goods, volunteering time, engaging in advocacy, and supporting policies that protect people from housing stress and rising costs,” he said.
“It also calls on those in positions of power, importantly, to ensure that people are paid fair wages and that there are economic policies in place that give people the human dignity that they deserve.”
Among the causes of the crisis, says the statement, are the COVID pandemic, high interest rates and rising housing costs, wage stagnation, and “excessive corporate profits”.
ACBC president Archbishop Timothy Costelloe SBD describes the statement as an “invitation to listen and to act”.
“Across Australia, many of our sisters and brothers are burdened by the rising cost of life’s necessities,” he said.
“As disciples of Jesus, we cannot turn away from these realities. The Gospel calls us to see Christ in those who suffer and to walk alongside them with compassion.”
The cost-of-living statement paints a stark picture of life in Australia for one in three households. Some are even suffering from food insecurity. One young mum quoted in the statement said: “There have been times when I’ve had to skip meals just to ensure that my daughter and pets could eat. I’ve been unable to pay my electricity bills for almost two years, and relying on borrowing money has only added to my stress and anxiety.”
Single-parent families, disabled people, people on fixed incomes, indigenous Australians, and members of the gig economy are amongst those most affected by the cost-of-living crisis. “Many workers on low wages simply do not earn enough to make ends meet,” the statement claims.
This situation is the church’s responsibility, the statement suggests. It quotes Pope Leo XIV: “The poor are not a distraction for the church, but our beloved brothers and sisters, for by their lives, their words and their wisdom, they put us in contact with the truth of the Gospel.”
Reports like this are part of the traditional teaching of the church, the statement argues.
“The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church identifies four principles of Catholic social teaching which are always valid and everywhere: human dignity, the common good, solidarity and subsidiarity,” it said.
“Along with two other principles of church teaching, the universal destination of goods and the preferential option for the poor, they offer help in understanding the cost-of-living crisis in the light of the Gospel and in deciding what should be done to address it.”
Nockles said the statement draws on Catholic social teaching with its “vision for a just society.”
We aspire to create “a society where the dignity of every person is recognised and where the vulnerable are cared for,” he said.
“These principles aren’t abstract; they’re practical, they’re relevant, and they speak to how we are connected to the Gospel today.”
To conclude the launch, Bishop Harris recalled the words of Archbishop Costelloe: “May it inspire us to see with the eyes of Christ, to act with courage and tenderness, and to work together for a future marked with tenderness, compassion, and peace.”
Previous social justice statements have dealt with homelessness and mental ill‑health in 2025 and with living the Gospel in a violent world in 2024.
