Every night, there are about 116,000 Australians who are considered homeless. There are even more that "sleep rough," and can't afford food and other staples. According to the 2020 Australian census, there are 3.24 million people living below the poverty line in Australia. When Australian states go into lockdown, and have a mask requirement, the prices of masks shoot up. Most of those who live in poverty are not able to purchase masks in advance, as they cannot afford to buy non-essentials. Many of them cannot simply use a cloth mask as they do not have a reliable method of washing it. On average, a pack of 50 disposable masks costs around 20 dollars when there is low demand. However, when demand is high, a pack of 50 masks can cost around 40 dollars. The majority of those living in poverty simply cannot afford that.

We are therefore asking the Australian government to make steps towards creating a program that provides masks for those living in poverty. This can be through providing discounted mask packs at certain locations, or it can be free masks at homeless shelters and/or soup kitchens. However it is executed, it is the government's responsibility to protect it's citizens, and this program would be doing just that.