Data released on Monday found the child poverty rate had spiked 33 per cent in four years, with a campaign for urgent legislation that would better define and measure its impact taking shape.
End Child Poverty has called for a "child-centred" definition of poverty that does not solely focus on income, but also takes into account access to housing, education, health and social inclusion.
The data, from Curtin Economics Centre and the Valuing Children Initiative, was based on information provided by the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey.
It projected the level of poverty experienced, given spikes in rent and the cost of living since 2023.
The report found 950,000 children will live in poverty in 2025 - 15.6 per cent of all kids.
"This rise in child poverty is not a statistical anomaly; it's the predictable result of housing stress, inadequate income support, and policy drift," Curtin economics professor Alan Duncan said.
"Without meaningful intervention, Australia risks crossing the one-million-child threshold within months."
Skyrocketing rents are a major factor in the surge in poverty.
From 2021 to 2023, the median advertised rent for units rose 40 per cent in Sydney, 34 per cent in Melbourne and 41 per cent in Brisbane.
Professor Duncan said rents had continued to spike since, thrusting even more children into poverty.
Australian National University research has previously identified an "urgent need" for Australian governments to agree on a definition of child poverty and a method of measuring it, as income alone does not capture the scale of the crisis.
End Child Poverty campaign lead Sarah Quinton said poverty left children increasingly isolated at a time when they should be developing important connections.
"Australia doesn't have a child-centred definition of poverty or any way of measuring the well-being of children living in income poverty," she said.
"If we don't define or measure child poverty, how can we reduce it?"
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