The fault I see in so many Australian's is that when we see someone overseas living a poor life, we want to send them a large sum of our money. Yet when we see one of our own people in a tight situation, we are quick to kick them in the gut then label them every Victorian thought possible.

One must fix their own homes before helping others. It is the only right way. With more and more people becoming homeless because society has decided to reject the mentally ill, abused youth and now the disabled and young families, Australia is in for one hell of a rough ride in the near future.

As usual, people will only wake up when it is them that is directly affected and nobody else.

I've given a lot of thought to this conundrum over the past few years. Australians used to be the proponents of the "fair go". "She'll be right" and "No worries" were the laconic way of brushing off thanks for help and kindnesses. We still, as Stephen's figures show, give to certain charities. Yet our vilest epithets, our unreasoning hatred and our blindest rages are now directed at what used to be termed pridefully " Aussie battlers". In fact we deny there are any. Instead we castigate sole parents, the homeless, the mentally unstable, aboriginal persons, the poor - anyone at all who deserves help as bludgers, parasites, wicked, evil, irresponsible, and yes, we put the boot in with venom. As anyone who posts in these forums can attest to.

I think perhaps it's fear. To give to little black kids in Africa is to locate the problem far away. To give to a little black kid here is to admit that all is not well in our world here at home. With so much job insecurity, downsizing, economic and social instability here, to admit that all was not well would be to acknowledge that there is a possibility our own stability is threatened. Which is frightening. However, if we can prove that anyone who is in need of assistance brought it upon themselves and is culpable, we can reassure ourselves that, as long as we are responsible citizens and go on helping little anonymous black kids in Africa we'll be safe. Bad things don't happen to good people.

We donate to Médecins Sans Frontières and other overseas relief organisations that have demonstrated independence and results. It should be remembered that people are people and those serviced by these organisations and international relief agencies are in war-torn countries or are affected by natural disasters. It goes without saying that such people do not have access to Australian Medicare, hospitals and Centrelink.

At home we give money or time to a whole range of helping organisations who do a lot of good in many areas. I know that we are not alone in doing this because we encounter other families making similar or greater, contributions.

This is a timely article because it was really positive that Australian seniors volunteered to help indigenous people.

Mind you they got severely sledged for offering their services. Has anyone considered that a lot of charity and welfare dollars is wasted through competition between and lack of coordination of helping organisations? This comment is directed at both NFP and government agencies.

There is a lot of money and other resources available but turning it into valued services that achieves results on the ground seems impossible. Maybe the assistance of some ex-CEOs from private industry should be obtained because counsellors and welfare people just cannot handle money.

Cornflower,

You should listen to what Australian doctor's are saying about the condition of hospitals in rural Australia. Once such doctor who has worked in African regions said that the people of Third World Africa have greater access to services than those of rural Australia.

That says a lot!

Cornflower,

So many times I have to ask myself which world you live. I really do.

Welfare people are some of the best money handlers this nation has seen. They are given a small amount of money yet expected to outlay more money then those who don't receive welfare.

We like to say they all take drugs and stuff which is far from the truth. The drug habits gets worse in the rich communities yet they control the media. People, maybe like yourself, are quick to put the boot in yet really have no real knowledge at all.

I see you are against counsellors as well. Maybe there's a reason you ask.

Parliament and government agencies are reasonable sources of information.

As welfare states, Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand compare favourably with OECD countries and are much closer to (say) Denmark, Finland and Scandinavia. The US would be way down the other end of the scale. Also, Australia provides very good access to benefits and people on low incomes and single parents do well relatively speaking, again compared with OECD countries. Also, it is claimed that our tax system redistributes far more to the lowest 20% of the population.

So Australia could always improve its welfare but compared with the average expenditure on welfare of OECD countries it is doing OK.

As for deficiencies in the management and accountability of welfare funds you don't have to go further that the Auditor General's reports which are tabled in Parliament. The reports are available on the Net. By way of example, successive Australian Auditor Generals' reports over the years have shown lack of accountability, discrepancies and fraud in the management of indigenous funds. These are facts that are not open to dispute.

However even if the Auditor General's reports did not exist, indigenous people themselves complain that welfare money does not reach areas of need and coordination is poor. Billions of dollars have been allocated by federal parliament over the years and expended where? Obviously not on children who still live in Third World conditions and cannot read or write.

So the evidence at least in respect of indigenous matters is that the community has been generous but there are leaks in the ‘pipeline’ – i.e., responsibility and accountability must be improved first and foremost.