Key Points
- According to Foodbank's Hunger Report 2023, more than 3.7 million households are experiencing food insecurity.
- The report found 77 per cent of those households experienced food insecurity for the first time last year.
- Advocates are calling for an urgent increase to income support payments and community service funding.
As the cost of living crisis continues, more than 3.7 million households across Australia are estimated to be experiencing food insecurity.
According to food relief charity Foodbank's this marks a 10 per cent increase from 2022 and a sign that the rising price of goods is pushing families into further instability.
The report found 48 per cent of the population now feels anxious or struggles to consistently access adequate food, with 23 per cent "severely food insecure", meaning they skip meals or whole days of eating.
Many Australians are now seeking help from community support services for the first time, including those with full-time jobs and mortgages.
Charities such as OzHarvest and Foodbank are trying to help by distributing donated food that would normally go to waste.
Suzanna Droppa, market manager for OzHarvest, said service providers have seen a huge surge in the number of people in need.
"We have seen a sharp increase in the numbers. So if we think about this time last year, we're now seeing 20 per cent increase in customers that are coming and seeking our service," she said.
"That would be around 2,100 customers that we see every single week. I've been with OzHarvest for five years now and this is the worst I've seen it in all those years."
Recent data from the Consumer Price Index from the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that food prices had risen 4.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2023 when compared to the same time last year.
Jake Mah, who is experiencing food insecurity, said charity groups have been incredibly important for his family.
"If it wasn't for OzHarvest or the churches giving food we'd starve," he said.
"When we go to the supermarket we pay the same prices as people ... we don't get free fruits and vegetables at the supermarket."
Mah said his family has resorted to cutting meals due to rising costs.
"We've got to budget or buy less and you eat less," he said.
"I've lost weight because it's too expensive to shop around."
OzHarvest takes unsold fresh fruit and vegetables from supermarkets before their use-by-date and distributes the food to charities across the country.
In Australia it's estimated that one in five shopping bags goes to waste, adding up to about 7 million tonnes of food each year.
Customers at the OzHarvest food pantry are appreciative of the leftover food, and believe the charity needs more support.
"OzHarvest has helped me incredibly. I come here every week and it makes it much easier," service user Roy Russell said.
"I wish they had more support or more encouragement from the government and the community."
Edwina MacDonald, acting CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service, is one of the advocates urging the federal government to better support people on low incomes who are bearing the brunt of this cost of living crisis.
"We're asking for urgent an increase to income support payments to bring those up in line with the pension of $78 a day," she said.
"We're calling on the government to increase funding to community services to be able to support people in times of need, and also to look at ways to reduce energy costs for people on the lowest incomes."
