Millions battling to keep the wolf from the door

MILLIONS of Australians are suffering “food insecurity”, research reveals, with unexpected bills, rising costs of living and mortgage stress putting us at risk of missing out at the dinner table.

The study, undertaken by McCrindle Research, found 3.6 million Australians, a staggering 15 per cent of the population, has experienced food insecurity at least once in the past 12 months, with three in five of those individuals experiencing it at least once a month.

Food insecurity is defined by the United Nations as not having physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet dietary needs for a productive and healthy life.

The concept of food insecurity is something that Australians often associate with developing nations, according to social researcher Mark McCrindle.

“We think of it as Third World, but it’s alive and well in Australia,” Mr McCrindle said. “Two in five of those affected are in families, mostly with kids under 12 and it impacts on their education, concentration and maybe even their behaviour.”

The situation affects a wide range of groups in the community, with 48 per cent of food insecure Australians employed full time, part time or casually.

“Looking at employment data, if you work an hour a week, you are not in the unemployment category,” Mr McCrindle said. “Underemployment is a challenge … below the surface we have a significant proportion of Australians in difficulty. It’s not just among the poorest; the key drivers are paying for bills and rising costs of living.”

Census data has revealed rental stress has risen from 10.4 per cent to 11.5 per cent of renters between 2011 and 2016 and 7.2 per cent of mortgage holders are now in mortgage stress. “This data shows a significant proportion of Australians are one pay cheque from poverty,” Mr McCrindle said. “Food poverty is not something that disappeared in the 19th or 20th century, it is still with us and is a problem that will need to be solved for future generations.”

Despite the large number of food insecure Australians, many choose not to turn to charity for help.

“They might be embarrassed or thought that others needed it more,” Mr McCrindle said.

Even so, the demand on the Australian charity sector is overwhelming. While Foodbank – a charity that procures food wastage from restaurants and supermarkets and provides it to the needy – helps 652,000 Australians every month; some 65,000 are not able to be helped.

“The Australian charity sector employs 1.2 million people and is the second biggest employment sector after retail,” Mr McCrindle said. “There are also an additional 3.6 million volunteers and 55,000 registered charities in the country. Despite this, only 37 per cent of Australian charities are able to fully meet the need they are presented with.

“It just really shows the size and the scope of the problem.”