As the US contends with its government threatening to deny food stamps to its most vulnerable, the latest Foodbank Hunger Report shows little is being done in Australia on a political level to actively address and reduce food insecurity faced by one in three – 3.5 million – households.
This year’s report revealed that seven out of 10 single parent households are now food insecure. The number is about the same for households in which someone has a disability or health issue – but 75 per cent of those households are in the severe category.
Even more alarming, half of all renting households have experienced food insecurity in the past year. About one third of Australian households are renters.
The full report is here.
Foodbank Australia CEO, Kylea Tink, told Food & Drink Business the report highlights to reality that food insecurity is not limited to the vulnerable, unemployed, and homeless.
“This is not a fringe issue. Appallingly, hunger is mainstream in Australia right now. Our federal government must act.
“Of all the problems that we face as a society, this is one of those ones that really should be fixable. It’s not the fact that we don’t have enough food or manufacturing produce. It’s the fact that our system is broken in terms of moving it around to the people who need it,” Tink said.
Cost-of-living pressures remain the top concern for 91 per cent of food-insecure households, followed by housing and the broader economy.
“Food insecurity doesn’t discriminate. Australians are doing everything right: working, budgeting, seeking help – yet still going hungry. This is a failure of policy, not people. We need coordinated, national action now,” Tink said.
Snapshot: Hunger Report findings
- one in two (48%) of all renting households have experienced food insecurity in the past year;
- seven in 10 (67%) of households that include someone with a disability or health issue have experienced food insecurity in the past 12 months, with three quarters of them in the severe category;
- nearly 7 in 10 (68%) single-parent households are now food insecure; and
- one in five households earning $91,000 or more experienced food insecurity in the past 12 months.
Tink said it was time for the federal government to do some of the heavy lifting.
“Food insecurity doesn’t happen in isolation – it’s a combination of a debilitating and incessant cost of living crisis, slow-growing wages struggling, inflationary pressure, unaffordable housing, and an inadequate safety net.
“Food insecurity can be eradicated, but the federal government must step up, lead and play an active role to free up the system. And that requires tax reform, and it requires them to increase their funding that they’re providing to us,” she said.
What needs to be done
The tax reform Tink is referring to is the National Food Donation Tax Incentive. In July last year, West Australian senator Dean Smith tabled the Tax Laws Amendment (Incentivising Food Donations to Charitable Organisations) Bill 2024.
Smith’s bill proposed that if a company received a payment for food donation activities, it could claim the shortfall between the payment and costs incurred.
The legislation would have changed Australia’s tax system to encourage the donation, rather than dumping, of food, incentivising small to medium food producers, such as farmers and growers, to donate excess fresh fruit and vegetable to charitable organisations like Foodbank.
The Senate Economics Committee rejected the bill saying it had “serious concerns” including the bill’s “generous” tax concessions.
“Right now, it’s cheaper for many food producers to throw away perfectly good food, rather than donate it. This is madness when millions of Australians are going without meals,” Tink said.
She conceded it would cost the government money, but it was not a radical idea. In fact, KPMG did the modelling for an earlier model and told the committee that, “many businesses get the same tax outcomes from disposing excess food as they do from donating it”.
Tink said the reform would cost the government $50-$100 million but the benefits would exceed that.
“The government provides close to $12 billion a year to subsidise mining companies so they get a tax rebate on their diesel fuel. So that says mining companies and industries are important enough for $12 billion, but $100 million – at most – to provide some benefit to growers, farmers, suppliers and manufacturers to get their food to people who need it. It's a no brainer,” she said.
“We all understand it has a budget to balance and must make smart decisions on where money goes. We also know the federal government is worried about where its income is going to come from in the long term when now, they are overly reliant on personal income tax.
“But even that begs the question, if you are relying on people to give you money to enable you to do the things you need to do, surely that money needs to go back to the people when they need.”
Tinkering isn't meaningful action
In this year’s federal budget, the government announced $3.5 million to develop a National Food Security Strategy. Its committee called for submissions in September.
It also announced it was forming a National Food Council of (unpaid) members from across our food system, to advise on the development of the strategy and called for applications.
Immediate needs
Tink also called for an immediate cash injection of $5 million in the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook (MYEFO) to assist with natural disaster preparedness including:
- sourcing key staples needed by both first responders and communities affected by natural disasters as quickly as possible, including bottled water, long life products, cleaning and household products;
- locking in pre-deployment warehouse/distribution locations in areas renown for natural disasters such as Far North Queensland, Darwin, and northern WA, to ensure urgent food relief can be accessed when arterial roadways and train lines are cut off; and
- locking in transportation for far and wide distribution.
“The recently released National Climate Risk Assessment painted a grim picture about the escalating impacts of severe weather events on Australian communities. The government must not only recognise food relief as a critical, ongoing pillar of disaster preparedness but ensure the funds are supplied to ensure talk turns into action.
“When disaster strikes, Foodbank provides emergency supplies, food, water and cleaning products to impacted communities and first responders. But the need doesn’t end when the flames or floods subside. Economic hardship lingers long after the clean-up, and Foodbank continues working with communities to help people get back on their feet.
"We need urgent funding to support these communities in the years it takes to rebuild,” said Tink.
