SYDNEY, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Over three million Australians are living below the poverty line as progress on improving social, economic and environmental wellbeing has stalled, a report has found.

Researchers from Monash University on Thursday published the third report on Australia's progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The 17 goals were adopted by all UN members in 2015 to improve social, economic and economic wellbeing.

The team from the Monash Sustainable Development Institute (MSDI) assessed 80 indicators and found that progress has stalled or gone backwards on more than half, with inequality across wealth, housing, health and education worsening.

It found that 3.3 million Australians, or 12.7 percent of the population, are living below the poverty line, worse than the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average of 12.1 percent.

The MSDI report said that close to 13 percent of Australians experience food insecurity compared to 8.5 percent in Europe and North America.

The share of Australia's wealth held by the poorest 40 percent of people has declined from 7.8 percent in 2004 to 5.5 percent in 2020.

Cameron Allen, the lead author of the report, called on governments to take ambitious action and a long-term approach to addressing inequality.

He said that with "increased ambition" Australia can halve poverty, reduce income inequality by a third, deliver net zero emissions and boost health, education, productivity and biodiversity by 2050.

"If governments adopt an integrated and long-term approach to policy, they can deliver tangible benefits for future generations of Australians," Allen said.

He warned that without increased investment over the medium-term in areas such as education, health, sustainable food and energy, future prosperity would stagnate and Australia's GDP would fall by 300 billion Australian dollars (188.4 billion U.S. dollars) by 2050. Enditem

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