The Australian Greens said today that they remain the only party with effective policies on the table to reduce the incidence of poverty in Western Australia.

The new WA Council of Social Service Cost Of Living Report released today shows that a lack of affordable housing, increased living costs and inadequate levels of income support are driving Western Australians below the poverty line, with job seekers, single parents and families on low or fixed incomes most at risk.

Today on Perth community radio station RTR FM, the Australian Greens launched a $27million package to support our independent and diverse community media sector.

"Media diversity is vital to the health of our democracy and in this country media diversity is in retreat and community broadcasting provides a vital voice for local people and issues," said Senator Scott Ludlam.

The Greens have already secured dental care reforms to help more than 139,000 Western Australian families and today announced a fully-costed plan to improve dental care for all Australians.

Australian Greens Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam said that the first stage of the Greens' Denticare plan has been achieved and will come into effect on January 1st.

"The Greens secured an investment of more than $4 billion in the nation's dental care and next year 3.4 million kids will be able to access dental treatment through Medicare.

The Greens welcome the start of the National Tertiary Education Union’s ‘Vote Smart’ television campaign today. 

“The higher education union is urging Australians to vote for the Australian Greens – the only party that won’t slash funding for Australia’s universities,” said Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam. 

“The NTEU is not only doing the right thing by university staff and students, but also the nation’s cultural life and economic prospects.  Cutting funding to higher education makes no sense on any level.  

Western Australian schools will miss out on much-needed funding unless the Barnett Government puts partisan politics aside, Greens Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam warned today.

"The Catholic schools associations have announced their support for the Gonski schools funding reforms - Premier Barnett continues to hold out for what appears to be purely partisan purposes," said Senator Ludlam.

A new report shows the housing crisis is making it harder for jobseekers to find work, the Greens said today.

Greens housing spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said the report released today by Australians for Affordable Housing made clear that the lack of affordable housing in Australia is entrenching disadvantage.

Greens Senator for WA Scott Ludlam has urged voters who are not yet enrolled to spend a few minutes to enrol online, after new figures show WA lags behind most of the nation in voter enrolment.

"The latest statistics from the Electoral Commission show WA has the highest percentage of unenrolled voters after the Northern Territory and Queensland, and this is especially true of those aged 18 to 25, nearly a quarter of whom are not enrolled," Senator Ludlam said.

"This compares to Tasmania, where the young lead the nation at 86% enrolled to vote.

The Australian Greens today called on Curtin University management to reverse any moves to make their academic workforce redundant and force them to reapply for a smaller pool of jobs. Curtin University has begun this process by spilling all academic positions across four schools, with at least 45 positions being abolished.

Greens Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam, a Curtin graduate, said the move was “beyond belief”.

Greens Senator for Western Australia Scott Ludlam will join academics and students Thursday morning in a united stand against the Federal Government's proposed funding cuts.

"This is a perverse kind of blackmail in which the Government claims we can't provide more funding to the nation's schools without targetting the nation's universities - we won't tolerate it," said Senator Ludlam.

With almost 18,000 children under the age of 12 homeless in Australia, new ideas and new funding to tackle homelessness must be on the table for the Federal election, Greens Senator Scott Ludlam said today.

On Youth Homelessness Matters Day Senator Ludlam - the Greens spokesperson for housing - said youth homelessness was "a growing national tragedy that demands extraordinary measures".