Foodbank Hunger Report 2023

In the past year, 3.7 million Australian households (36%) experienced moderate to severe food insecurity, meaning – at the very least – they are reducing the quality, variety or desirability of their food and at worst, their eating patterns are disrupted.

This is more than a 10% increase on the number of households that were food insecure in 2022 or 383,000 more households which were forced to make unenviable choices about what and when they eat.

More than 2.3 million of all households (23%) fall into the category of severely `food insecure’, which means they are actively going hungry – reducing their food intake, skipping meals or going entire days without eating.

Australia is in the midst of a food security crisis where 48% of the general population now feels anxious or struggles to consistently access adequate food. This is up from 45% in 2022 and, if this trend continues, by the end of 2023 we face the reality of more than half of the general Australian population having experienced some level of difficulty in meeting the most basic of need – food.

Food insecurity is now affecting households that have never been touched by it before. In the last 12 months, 77% of those households experiencing food insecurity did so for the first time last year. For the majority of those, the experience was intermittent and brief as they struggled to manage their budget in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. While for a few, it was due to an unexpected event such as the loss of their job or unanticipated medical bills – the more common reasons cited prior to the pandemic.

Food insecurity is not experienced by everyone in the same way. To better understand this, Foodbank has developed a framework based on two key factors – the frequency and length of food insecurity episodes. Food insecure households are grouped to reflect the continuum from crisis (infrequent and short-lived food insecurity) to chronic (ever-present food insecurity).

Being at the crisis end of food insecurity is generally triggered by a community-wide or individual shock, such as a natural disaster or family breakdown. Households in these circumstances often do not see themselves as food insecure, rather they are just having a bad patch they need a bit of help to get through. Those at the chronic end of food insecurity are generally in vulnerable circumstances, such as intergenerational poverty, long-term unemployment or marginalisation. For these people, food insecurity is a constant in their lives.

We are now seeing increasing numbers of people moving into the crisis end of the food insecurity continuum. During the year, 3 million households went from being food secure to crisis food insecurity. 2.7 million of which subsequently managed to get back to being food secure. The difference is the net increase of 383,000 of 3% in the overall number of food insecure for the year. The number of households experiencing chronic food insecurity remained stable at around 750,000.

Households that have someone employed, or have mid to higher annual gross incomes or are younger (81% aged <45) are more likely to have experienced food insecurity for the first time.

Food insecurity impacts households across a wide variety of demographic and socioeconomic cohorts including previously less vulnerable groups. Looking at all food insecure households, 60% have someone in paid work, which makes it clear that a job does not necessarily insulate a household against going hungry. Also a half of all renters and a third of all mortgage holders were food insecure in the last 12 months.

Level of Household food insecurity by demographics

As one of the biggest contributors to the strain on household budgets, food and groceries are also the first items people cut back on when trying to make ends meet. 94% of food insecure households reported changing their shopping and eating out habits in the last 12 months. This included looking for sales/discounts on food and grocery items (71%), cutting back on meals out of the home (69%) and swapping foods for cheaper alternatives (59%). Nearly half (48%) of people reported reducing their purchasing of fresh produce and protein.

62% of food insecure households attempted to cope through changing their expenditure on their housing and finances including dipping into personal or household savings (42%) or deferring payments by spending more on credit cards or Buy-Now-Pay-Later services. 58% made savings by cutting back on their energy usage or changing plans, and 41% reduced their transport costs by driving less.

The spectrum of trade-offs when the money runs out

Despite the significant increase in the number of households experiencing food insecurity in the last 12 months, the proportion of those seeking help from formal food relief services (24%) and/or family and friends (31%) actually reduced (overall down to 44% from 58% in 2022). This is not altogether surprising given how many are experiencing food insecurity for the first time and, therefore, are not aware of the range of services available to them (65%) or feel embarrassed or ashamed of asking for help (45% vs 40% in 2022).

Barriers to people seeking formal food relief