There are more people in a situation where they need to seek help to get enough food for their households as the cost-of-living crisis takes hold, with Foodbank WA experiencing unprecedented demand in its food relief services.
Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Consumer Price Index data shows food and non-alcoholic beverages increased 3.8 per cent at the end of the March 2024 quarter compared to the previous year.
The Bankwest Spends Trends report also highlighted a 28 per cent decline in the volume of transactions at food stores and warehouses in March 2024 compared to the previous year.
The average value of transactions for the same period remained stable, indicating the cost of food was taking up the same amount of Western Australians’ household budgets, despite buying less.
“With the CPI increase, people are getting less food for their money. Unfortunately, food is seen as a discretionary spend against fixed costs of housing, utilities, and other bills. This is driving more Western Australians to seek help from Foodbank WA,” Kate O’Hara, Foodbank WA's CEO, said.
In March 2024, Foodbank experienced a 2 per cent increase of households needing their help, with an average of 778 households a day in the one month relying on Foodbank’s support. The charity distributed a 3 per cent higher daily average by volume across its network in March, totaling a daily average of 21 tonnes of food, a 45 per cent increase from 2021.
The day before Good Friday, on Thursday 28 March 2024, Foodbank experienced its busiest day on record, helping 1,167 households in WA.
Cost-of-living and the housing crisis is impacting everyday Western Australians who never thought they would need Foodbank. According to the Foodbank Hunger Report 2023, 77 per cent of those seeking food relief in the last 12 months did so for the first time.
The data shows that one in two Australians have felt anxious about accessing adequate food. “In a country where we produce enough food to feed our population three times over, this should not be happening,” Ms O’Hara said.
Foodbank customer Rebecca moved from Queensland with her four children two years ago and is currently living with in her sister’s house as she has not been able to find affordable housing. To manage her tight budget, she shops weekly at Foodbank before topping up her groceries from specials from retailers.
“388,000 households in our state went hungry this year, with over half of them holding down jobs,” Ms O’Hara said. “This isn’t about a lack of hard work or responsibility; it’s about a system that’s simply failing too many people.”
Of the hundreds of thousands of Western Australians who experienced moderate to severe food insecurity last year, 85 per cent cited cost of living as the main cause of the food insecurity, according to the Foodbank Hunger Report 2023.
“The average single parent family has just $1.40 left over per week after meeting their estimated basic living costs. Choosing between rent and groceries is an ultimatum that shouldn’t be happening in a country with enough food to feed its entire populations three times over,” Ms O’Hara said.
Foodbank WA CEO Kate O'Hara at a Hearts and Minds CEO lunch.
To help support vulnerable families in WA struggling to put food on the table, the Cook Government recently announced a $1.5 million funding package to Foodbank, OzHarvest and Second Bite in the 2024–25 State Budget. Each charity will receive $500,000, with Foodbank using its donation to enhance baseline protein supplies, adding more meat products to stock while improving the nutritional quality of services offered.
Foodbank WA is driven to ensure everyone has access to healthy food and works with farmers, wholesalers, manufactures and retailers who donate and redirect surplus product. This plays a vital role in tackling food waste and positively contributes to climate change by reducing CO2 emissions arising from landfill.“There are Western Australians going without every day, and we are working hard to change that. We provide food and groceries to those who struggle to afford them. We also deliver nutrition education to promote healthy eating and advocate on behalf of people that experience hunger and food insecurity,” Ms O’Hara said.
Foodbank WA provided 9.2 million meals last financial year to those doing it tough, including distributing food and groceries through 350 frontline charities and providing breakfast and fruit to 500 schools feeding 22,000 children weekly. More than 7,000 children, adults, parents and people with disabilities attended Foodbank WA’s nutrition education sessions over the 12 months.
“We are here to support Western Australians in times of need,” she said.
Unprecedented demand
Uniting WA runs an Emergency Relief service, funded by Lotterywest and the Department of Social Services, which helps people pay for basic necessities.
Over the past 12 months, Uniting WA's ER program has faced burgeoning demand at levels never seen before. The main reason people call the ER line for food, clothing and blankets.
Uniting WA Co-CEO Jen Park said the Emergency Relief funds that the charity is able to provide to communities, thanks to funding from both the State and Federal Governments, is “absolutely crucial”.
“Every day, people call our phone lines asking for help with necessities just to get through that day or week. Our frontline staff are coping with the heartbreak of West Australians doing it really tough at the moment,” Ms Park said.
“A confluence of high inflation, rising interest rates and a lack of housing supply has made securing and maintaining a home increasingly difficult and placing enormous strain on people juggling living expenses on a basic wage. For so many people and families, it’s become a struggle just to put food on the table."
Anglicare WA has also seen an increase in demand for a number of services recently, with financial counselling the highest growth area over the past 12 months. In the first half of this year, from January to May, Anglicare experienced a 14 per cent increase in case-managed clients and a 21 per cent increase in waitlist demand.
“The data from our phone triage service reinforces what our staff are seeing across the state: more and more people are struggling with the cost of living,” Anglicare WA CEO Mark Glasson said.
Demand for Anglicare’s Hardship Utility Grant Scheme is up 62 per cent and the number of calls to its Emergency Relief & Food Access Service (ERFAS) has risen by 23 per cent, compared with the same period in 2023.
“Demand for both of those services is rising, and is a direct result of cost of living and utility stress,” Mr Glasson said.
Accordwest CEO Evan Nunn said the organisation, which is broadly a regional emergency relief provider, is seeing an increase in people seeking support that have never needed it in the past and is also experiencing the same challenges as seen the metro area. “The number of people we are unable to support increases every month,” he said.
