Anti-poverty week: Behind the mask, I am the hidden face of poverty in WA

National

WA

Cost of living

Opinion

Behind the mask, I am the hidden face of poverty in WA

When people think of poverty, they often picture someone sleeping rough on the streets.

But increasingly in Western Australia, poverty looks like me: a 67-year-old grandmother who once ran a thriving business, owned a home, and raised two sons surrounded by love and opportunity.

WA woman Alison Bellahart once ran a thriving business, but is now struggling to make ends meet.

On the surface, I still present that way. I wear what I call “the mask”. It’s the smile, the gratitude, the effort to appear as though everything is fine. But behind closed doors, poverty is a daily reality.

I never imagined I would be here. In my younger years I was a professional dancer, travelling across Australia and o