To launch anti-poverty week, Anglicare Western NSW staff will set up in the Holy Trinity church grounds in Brisbane Street to spread the message about how its programs are tackling poverty and financial hardship by building build financial resilience and wellbeing.

Data released by the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) at the weekend showed poverty in Australia was growing, with an estimated 2.5 million people (13.9 per cent) living below the internationally-accepted poverty line.

The poverty line for a single adult was $400 a week, and $841 a week for a couple with two children.

The report, which drew on Australian Bureau of Statistics data, found 603,000 or 17.7 per cent of all children were living in poverty in Australia. It also showed over a third of children in sole parent families lived in poverty.

"This is due to the lower levels of employment among sole parent households, especially those with very young children, and the low level of social security payments for these families," ACOSS CEO Dr Cassandra Goldie said.

She said most poverty was concentrated among disadvantaged groups including those locked out of the jobs market, single parents, women, children, the disabled, the old, the young, migrants and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The risk of poverty was also highest among those who relied mainly on social security for their income.

Nationally, the risk of poverty was greater outside capital cities, in part due to higher unemployment in regional Australia. Australiawide, 13.8 per cent were classified as living in poverty in capital cities compared with 14 per cent outside capital cities. NSW bucked that trend, however, with a statewide average of 14.6 per cent where Sydney's poverty rate stood at 15 per cent and the rest of the state was 13.8 per cent.

Meanwhile Anglicare Western board member Sue West said one tool the organisation was using to tackle poverty was its No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS), which helped residents access credit without the burden of high interest.

"It doesn't take much to go from striving to living in poverty," she said.

"The consequences of long-term disadvantage are significant, and if one cash loan can help struggling families keep their heads above water then they need to know they can come to Anglicare for help," she said.

"We want to ensure individuals and families are not stuck in a problematic cycle of borrowing and debt as we know that has negative impacts on household budgets."

Ms West said along with increases to Newstart and rent assistance and reversing cuts to single parenting payments, Anglicare also wanted pensions and allowances to be regularly reviewed.

"These measures would take some steps towards reducing the complex, intergenerational issues of unemployment and poverty in our community," she said.