Almost 18 per cent of Australian children live in poverty, amid fears "the next generation is set up for failure," due to rising housing costs and stagnant income support.

More than 13 per cent of Australia's overall population - or about 3.24 million people - live below the poverty line, according to an Australian Council of Social Service and University of New South Wales report released on Friday. About 774,000 children under 15, or 17.7 per cent of Australian children are in poverty.

About one in eight Australians live in poverty, according to ACOSS's 2020 Poverty in Australia Overview.

"We want to support each other. It's who we are as a nation. But our economy is leaving people behind, with persistently high poverty rates despite decades of uninterrupted economic growth," ACOSS chief executive Cassandra Goldie said.

Dr Goldie said Australians living in poverty include young people trying to start their working lives, single parents and older people who came up against age discrimination.