A report by St Vincent de Paul calling on the Federal Government to do more to tackle poverty has highlighted the day-to-day struggles faced by many Australians.

Based on feedback from more than 70 St Vincent de Paul clients, the report titled Sick With Worry outlined what it described as "stories from the frontline of inequality".

It includes numerous first-hand accounts from people living in poverty - several of whom are from Canberra.

One such person was Canberra man Anthony, a St Vincent de Paul client who was involved in the compiling of the report.

Anthony, who chose not to disclose his surname, told the ABC that after struggling with mental health issues his entire life, he was eventually forced to leave the workforce.

"It took a severe breakdown in my mid 30s to realise, in terms of health, I'm simply not able to work anymore," he said.

"That was a huge hit to my pride. To be in a position where I have to accept the assistance of others in order to get by on a day-to-day basis is very hard. That's the true face of a lot of people in poverty."

He said he believed there needed to be a shift in the language surrounding the issue.

"We need to change the language of people getting something for nothing and they need to earn it," Anthony said.

"We need to realise a large section of society is given an allowance which is half or less than half of minimum wage.

"Don't ask 'why are these people getting money for nothing?', ask 'how the hell are they surviving on half of minimum wage?'"

Calls for national jobs plan, increase to welfare payments

In its report, the St Vincent de Paul Society made three key recommendations, including calling for a national jobs plan, boosting funding for government services, and an increase to rental assistance and the Newstart allowance.

The report found there was a severe shortage of affordable housing, incomes were often too low, secure work was hard to find, and that women and people living with a disability faced additional barriers.

St Vincent de Paul chief executive Dr John Falzon said 2.5 million people, including 600,000 children, were living in poverty in Australia.

He said the report aimed to put a human face to this inequality and was based on real stories.

Dr Falzon said the Government needed to change the public's perception of people living in poverty.

St Vincent de Paul's report includes stories from service users in an attempt to add a human face to the issue. ( Supplied )

"At the moment the narrative is all focused on blaming people for not having a job," he said.

"It might be therapeutic for the welfare bashers to put the boot into someone because they're unemployed, but it doesn't create a single job.

"We want people to stop being humiliated systematically."

Dr Falzon said there was currently only one job for every 12 jobseekers in Australia.

He said none of the participants said they had chosen to receive government benefits instead of working and the history of blaming people for the circumstances they found themselves in had to stop.

"We don't want to see these ridiculous notions trotted out that by denying a young person income support for a month you're going to help them get a job," he said.

"You don't force someone to live on fresh air and sunshine as a means of getting a job. You don't reduce youth unemployment by increasing youth incarceration.

"We want to get away from humiliating measures such as the so-called cashless welfare card. People want income adequacy, not income management."