Australian book that starts with only having a dollar left in their pocket

I read this while traveling about 20 years ago, so it's at least that old (setting was contemporary). I can't remember a whole lot about the plot except that it was quite bleak. The protagonist generally did the "right thing" and cared about others, which eventually gets them into the state that the book starts us out at - broke with only a dollar (or some other small quantity of money) in their pocket.

It was set in Australia (possibly Melbourne). Author was almost certainly Australian.

Would love to read it again.