Foodbank Australia – response to the Federal Budget

Tuesday 12 May 2026, SYDNEY – News overnight (12th May 2026) that the Federal Budget does not contain any additional support urgently needed by the nation’s food relief sector is extremely disappointing given the unprecedented and escalating rates of food stress.

Data* released by Foodbank this past week showed that, as of the end of April, more than half of all Australians (53%) were reporting they found it harder to put food on the table, up from 44% in March—a staggering nine‑percentage‑point increase in just one month.

This sharp rise occurred even before the Reserve Bank’s latest interest rate increase, which will place further pressure on already stretched household budgets.

The concerning trend further emphasises the reality that food stress is now a mainstream crisis affecting families, workers, students, older Australians, and people in every community across the country.

Foodbank Australia CEO Kylea Tink said the data should serve as a wakeup call. “Australian families are at breaking point. This is the highest level of hardship we have seen in recent years, and it demands an urgent response. People are being squeezed from every direction, and for too many, food is becoming the thing they sacrifice first.”

“We had hoped to see a meaningful lift in the federal government’s investment in the systems that keep people fed, supported, and connected especially with every major player in the social services sector citing reports of Australians in need already skipping meals.

“In this context, it’s just disappointing the Federal Government has chosen to invest in other areas.”

“We do welcome the Government’s continued focus on housing relief. But the absence of dedicated investment in food relief represents a missed opportunity to protect people at risk.

“We urge the Government to recognise that food relief is not a peripheral service—it is essential national infrastructure. Without it, families fall further into hardship, communities lose stability, and the broader economy bears the cost.

“With that said, the reality is the federal government is just one supporter, and Foodbank will continue to work with all other levels of government, the corporate sector, and the wider community to ensure every Australian can access the food they need.

“We also encourage Australians who are able to contribute—through food, funds, or time—to support their local food relief organisations.”

This is a moment for decisive action. Food insecurity is solvable, but only if we treat it with the urgency and seriousness it deserves.

-Ends-

*The Foodbank Ipsos Issues Monitor Omnibus Study is a nationally representative survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Foodbank Australia. The April 2026 wave measured the percentage of Australians who reported difficulty affording food, compared against March 2026 results.

New Foodbank Ipsos data reveals more than half of all Australians are struggling to put food on the table, a nine-percentage point jump in just one month as the Reserve Bank raises interest rates again

Wednesday 6 May 2026, SYDNEY – Alarming new data released today by Foodbank Australia reveals that food stress across the nation has reached its highest level in recent years, with more than half of all Australians (53%) reporting that they found it harder to put food on the table in April 2026, up from 44% in March, a staggering nine percentage point increase in a single month.

The findings, drawn from the Foodbank Ipsos Issues Monitor Omnibus Study (April 2026), paint a stark picture of a country where rising cost-of-living pressures are pushing families beyond their limits and deeper into food insecurity.

The data – captured prior to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s interest rates rise yesterday – shows the pressure on already stretched household budgets. For families who are already struggling to cover essentials like groceries, rent, and utilities, today’s rate rise will make an impossible situation even harder.

Foodbank Australia CEO Kylea Tink said the data should serve as a wake-up call for all Australians.

“These numbers are deeply confronting. A nine-point jump in a single month tells us that Australian families are at breaking point. This is the highest level of food stress we have seen in recent years, and it demands an urgent response,” Ms Tink said.

“Today’s rate rise will be devastating for millions of Australians who are already being forced to choose between paying their mortgage and feeding their families. People are being squeezed from every direction, and for too many, food is becoming the thing they sacrifice first.”

“On the ground, we are hearing that some food relief organisations are being forced to turn people away because they simply cannot keep up with demand. Foodbank will not do that. We are here to help, and we will continue to do everything in our power to ensure that no Australian goes hungry.”

As Australia’s largest food relief not-for-profit organisation, Foodbank distributes the equivalent of more than 90 million meals each year to people experiencing food insecurity. The organisation works with farmers, manufacturers, retailers, and governments to source and distribute food to more 2966 frontline charities and community groups across the country and a further 3,649 schools (via school breakfast programs).

Ms Tink said the sharp escalation in food stress, ‘which would be compounded by yesterday’s rate rise, underscores the need for a coordinated national response.

“When more than half the population is struggling to put food on the table, this is no longer a problem affecting only the most vulnerable: it is a mainstream crisis. We need governments, the corporate sector, and the broader community to come together and act decisively before more families fall through the cracks.”

Foodbank is calling on all Australians to support food relief efforts through donations of food, funds, or time. Every contribution helps ensure that families doing it tough can access the food they need.

BREAKING NEWS: Latest data shows 44% of Australian households are struggling to put food on the table.  

Wednesday 1 April 2026, SYDNEY – Foodbank Australia is warning the escalating fuel crisis is placing the national food relief network under severe strain, just as new data reveals a sharp rise in Australians struggling to afford food.

Released overnight, the latest IPSOS research (March 2026) shows 44% of Australians are finding it harder to put food on the table than last month – the highest level recorded since August 2024.

Alarmingly, of that 44%, 23% say they have been unable to afford the cost of living for a long time, a historic high, with rising rents reportedly continuing to drive hardship.

At the same time, soaring fuel costs are impacting every stage of Foodbank’s operations, from transporting food across the country, to families and individuals struggling to access it.

Foodbank Australia CEO, Kylea Tink said the situation is deteriorating rapidly.

“We couldn’t do what we do without the incredibly generous support from the transport and logistics sector. Yet we are now seeing an immediate impact on the space available to move emergency food relief to Australians in need. These partners desperately want to continue supporting us, but they are being squeezed themselves.”

As a not-for-profit, Foodbank relies heavily on pro bono and low bono transport. However, rising fuel costs are forcing some partners to scale back support, while others are understandably introducing fuel levies, adding pressure to an already stretched system where even small cost increases have a significant national impact.

The effects are also being felt on the ground. Many Australians can no longer afford the fuel needed to reach food relief centres. More people are relying on public transport or carpooling, limiting how much food they can take home and forcing difficult decisions about what to leave behind.

Foodbank Australia is calling on the Federal Government to urgently release at least a portion of the $20 million in emergency surge funding earmarked for crises like this.

“We don’t have time to wait. Releasing even a portion of this funding would make an enormous difference.”

Foodbank says this funding would allow it to purchase and transport critical food supplies at scale, ensuring families, pensioners and individuals across Australia can continue to access safe, nutritious food during a period of escalating need. 

Rate rise to push more Australians to the brink as food relief sector calls for urgent government support

Tuesday 17 March 2026, Sydney & Melbourne: Australia’s leading food relief organisations are calling on the Federal Government to urgently release targeted emergency funding for food relief, following today’s Reserve Bank interest rate increase.

The sector warns that a new wave of cost-of-living pressure will drive more Australians to seek help putting food on the table – at a time when demand is already beyond what the sector can provide.

Recent Ipsos Monitor data shows financial stress is rife across the country, with 42% of households reporting it is becoming harder to afford enough food, and two-thirds of mortgage holders now struggling to keep up with grocery costs.

“This is no longer about temporary belt-tightening – it is becoming dangerously entrenched,” Kylea Tink, CEO of Foodbank Australia, said.

“There is a direct and immediate correlation between interest rate rises and demand for food relief. Every time rates go up, we see more Australians forced to turn to us for help – often for the first time.”

“Layer on top of that the impact of escalating global conflict, which is driving up fuel and transport costs across supply chains, and you have a compounding effect – households are being squeezed at the same time as it becomes more expensive for us to deliver food relief.”

Food relief providers are already experiencing sustained high demand, driven by rising grocery prices, energy costs and housing pressures.

The Ipsos data cements food as the single biggest pressure point in household budgets, ahead of energy and housing costs.

At the same time, the cost of delivering food relief is also increasing – particularly fuel, transport, and logistics – placing additional strain on already stretched services.

“Foodbank is seeing an immediate impact on transport assistance with trucking companies withdrawing pro-bono services or increasing their normal low-bono rates,” added Tink.

“Demand for food relief is the canary in the coal mine when it comes to economic stress. We see the warning signs earlier than most – long before they show up in broader economic data – and right now those signals are flashing red.”

The sector is calling on the Government to:

• Release emergency surge funding urgently to support food relief organisations through the next six months of expected demand growth

• Ensure funding is specifically directed to food relief providers, where demand is most acute

• Remove restrictions limiting funding to Emergency Relief Organisations (EROs) to enable a faster, more effective response across the full food relief network

“No one should be forced to choose between paying the bills and putting food on the table. Food relief is a vital safety net for families under financial stress, and it must be properly funded to meet rising demand,” James Goth, CEO of OzHarvest, said.

Based on current demand trends, rising costs, and expected increases in need following today’s rate rise, the sector estimates that $5 million in targeted food relief funding over the next six months would be required to:

• Meet increased demand from households under financial stress

• Offset rising operational costs, particularly fuel and transport

• Maintain continuity of supply across national food relief networks

According to SecondBite CEO Daniel Moorfield, with global instability and rising fuel costs continuing to flow through supply chains, the outlook for household food affordability is dire.

“Previous emergency funding released over Christmas was welcome, but it no longer reflects the scale of demand facing the food relief sector.

“This is a moment where timely government action can prevent hardship from becoming crisis.”

Hunger in Australia hits breaking point:
Foodbank calls on Federal Government to act now
to stop Australians going hungry 

Wednesday 5 November 2025 – One in three Australian households, or 3.5 million households, experienced food insecurity in the past 12 months, according to the Foodbank Hunger Report 2025, released today. The report paints a stark picture of widening food insecurity across the nation, debunking the myth that hunger only affects the unemployed or homeless.

“While we dismiss hunger as something that only impacts the most vulnerable in our community, this year’s Foodbank Hunger Report shows households of all stripes, from those that are employed, are renting or have mortgages to those, raising children, or living with disability, neighbours, friends and family we all know – are reporting food insecurity as a fact of life for them.

This is not a fringe issue. Appallingly, hunger is mainstream in Australia right now. Our federal government must act,” said Foodbank Australia CEO, Kylea Tink.

The Foodbank Hunger Report 2025 reveals that cost-of-living pressures remain the number one concern for 91% of food-insecure households, followed by housing and the broader economy. Behind the data are the real stories of families forced to skip meals so children can eat, workers going hungry to pay rising rents, and people living with disability or illness struggling to put food on the table.

Among the report’s most alarming findings:

One in two (48%) of all renting households have experienced food insecurity in the past year.
• Seven in ten (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
• One in five households earning $91,000 or more experienced food insecurity in the past 12 months.

“Food insecurity doesn’t discriminate,” said Ms Tink. “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.”

Foodbank Australia is urgently calling on the Federal Government to:

1. Adopt the National Food Donation Tax Incentive: A smart and proven way to make it cost effective and easier for farmers, growers and manufacturers to donate edible, surplus produce to food relief organisations instead of sending it to landfill. A simple, fix that would see good food end up in bellies, not bins.
   
   
2. An immediate cash injection of $5 million in 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. This includes 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, northern WA – to ensure urgent food relief can be accessed when arterial roadways and train lines are cut off.
• Locking in transportation for far and wide distribution.

“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 take smart action to ensure Australians are not going hungry,” said Ms Tink.

“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.

A National Food Donation Tax Incentive is a not a radical suggestion, rather, independent modelling shows it would deliver enough food for the equivalent of 100 million meals, save producers and businesses money, and help to halve food waste by 2030.”

With the recently released National Climate Risk Assessment painting a grim picture about the escalating impacts of severe weather events on Australian communities, Foodbank Australia is also urging the government to not only recognise food relief as a critical, ongoing pillar of disaster preparedness but to 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 Ms Tink.

In its 13th year, The Foodbank Hunger Report 2025 is the nation’s most comprehensive snapshot of food insecurity, based on a nationally representative survey of Australians.

To read or download the full report go to Foodbank Hunger Report 2025.