Foodbank Hunger Report 2022

In the past 12 months, over 2 million Australian households (21%) experienced severe food insecurity, which means they ran out of food because of financial limitations and at worst went entire days without eating.

If this is expanded to also include households experiencing moderate symptoms of food insecurity this increases to a third of surveyed households in Australia (33%), or 3.3 million households, experiencing food insecurity at some point in the last 12 months.

On any given day, over half a million households in Australia are struggling to meet their food needs. For these 520,000 households this means, for example, they and/or their children are having to skip meals, go hungry and/or reduce the size of meals because they couldn’t afford to buy more.

Level of household (HH) food insecurity by demographics 

What does being severely food insecure mean in 2022? 

Households that have experienced severe food insecurity (or ‘very low food security’ as defined in the HFSSM) have suffered reduced or compromised quality, quantity and adequacy of food they have access to due to financial constraints and have experienced mental stress associated with such situations. Reduced food intake, as well as disruption to normal eating patterns due to the lack of money and other resources for food in the household, is a defining characteristic (e.g. cutting the size of meals or skipping meals, eating less than one feels they should, or going hungry without eating because there wasn’t enough money for food).

Households without children categorised as experiencing severe food insecurity were those that had met six or more such indicators for any (at least one) adult member of the household, whereas households with children classified as experiencing severe food insecurity were those that had met eight or more household or child-specific food insecurity indicators across both adult and child-members of the household over the last 12 months.

Of the respondents in households suffering severe food insecurity:  

• 94% “worried whether food would run out before I/we got money to buy more”
• 90% agreed that “the food that I/we bought just didn’t last, and I/we didn’t have money to get more”
• 84% “couldn’t afford to eat balanced meals”
• 97% had cut the size of meals/skipped meals, and 60% hadn’t eaten for a whole day, because there wasn’t enough money for food, for themselves or any other adults in their household. Of those who did experience reduced meal size/meal skipping, 88% had done so for 3 months or longer over the last 12 months.

Of individuals in households experiencing severe food insecurity: 

• 96% had eaten less than they felt they should because there wasn’t enough money for food
• 88% reported having gone hungry without eating
• 74% had lost weight because there wasn’t enough money for food.

Among households with children experiencing severe food insecurity: 

• 93% stated they “relied on only a few kinds of low-cost food to feed their child/ren because they ran out of money to buy food”
• 79% said they “couldn’t feed their child/ren a balanced meal because they couldn’t afford that”
• 60% said “their child/ren was/were not eating enough because they just couldn’t afford enough food”.

Households with dependent children are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity. More than half (52%) were either moderately or severely food insecure in 2022, 1.6 times higher than the national average of household food insecurity at 33%.

1.3 million children in Australia lived in severely food insecure households in the past 12 months.

Levels of food insecurity in households with children  

For food insecure households with children, the majority haven’t been able to afford the quantity of food they need for the household.

While half (47%) of families experiencing food insecurity said their children were not eating enough, the more common issue for the children was one of food quality and nutrition.

Key food insecurity indicators: household and child-specific experience

Similar to total food insecure households in Australia, the majority of households with dependent children also report reduced food intake. This is despite the adults’ efforts to protect their children, as indicated in their higher susceptibility to hunger (65%) than the children (45%) when food insecurity strikes. Furthermore, while 50% of adults report not eating for a whole day because there wasn’t enough food, 37% of their children had also gone without eating for a whole day.

Detailed food insecurity indicators for adult- and child-specific experiences  

Food insecurity is more frequent and long-lasting for households with children  

For food insecure households with dependent children, food insecurity is more frequent (at least several times a week for 28% of households) than for the average food insecure household (23%). It was also likely for the households with children to take a longer time than average to recover, with a third (32%) not being able to afford food for longer than a month vs 28% for the average food insecure household.

Characteristics of food insecurity in affected households with children 

In addition to high cost of living and low income, changes to family dynamics are also a reason for food insecurity for families with children 

Similar to food insecure households overall, high cost of living and low income are the top two contributing factors to household food insecurity for families with children.

In addition, family dynamics also play a role as affected families with children are more likely to cite ‘changes in household living arrangements’ as a contributing factor (28%) – driven by a higher-than-average proportion of households stating, ‘family breakdown or separation’ (12%) or ‘having new household members’ (9%) as reasons.

Food insecure households with children are also more likely to be in that situation due to natural disasters (25%) than food insecure households overall (19%).

Key reasons for food insecurity in households with dependent children 

There is stronger engagement with the food relief sector by families with children 

Encouragingly, food insecure families with children are more likely to have received food relief support from the food relief sector over the last 12 months (44% vs 36% of the total food insecure). However, this still leaves 54% of food insecure families without food relief.

Of the families in need who have received support from the food relief sector last year, 68% received help on a weekly basis.

• They were also the families that regularly encountered the most frequent food insecurity situations (at least several times a month or more often), indicating that the level of sector support delivered to this group was being delivered to those most in need.

The barriers to receiving food relief support was similar to those for other food insecure Australians, with two exceptions: 

• Embarrassment or shame was a weaker barrier for the families with children (35% vs 40%)
• “Already exceed the food relief allowed’ was a stronger barrier for families with children (14% vs 10%), indicating that this might be a unique, family-specific barrier for the sector to address.

Food insecurity impacts a variety of households across different demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.

While certain groups (e.g. households with children) are significantly more prone to food insecurity, the problem is also penetrating increasing proportions of households from the typically less vulnerable demographic groups.

For example, over half of food insecure households (54%) had someone in paid work and nearly a third of households with mortgages (30%) experienced food insecurity in the last year.

This diversity is likely to increase due to the range of external factors now at play, such as the rising cost of living, the ongoing challenge of COVID-19 and the frequency and severity of natural disasters.

‘Increased/high cost of living’ as a reason for food insecurity – households (HH) by demographics 

‘Reduced/ low income or government benefits’ as a reason for food insecurity – by demographics 

’Natural disasters (e.g. flood, bushfire, drought)’ as a reason for food insecurity – by demographics (AU, NSW, QLD)  

In the survey, respondents were asked “Compared to last year, are you in a situation this year where you cannot afford enough food for yourself and/or your household more or less often”. They could also select ‘about the same’ as last year, or that they haven’t been in that situation in the past few years.

Of all respondents surveyed (representing all Australian households), 23% reported that they are unable to afford food more often this year than last, while only 10% said they were unable to afford food less often, indicating that food affordability is worsening. For some households this may be their first food insecurity experience, whereas other households are moving down the food insecurity continuum (from worrying about food, to reducing size of meals, to cutting out meals altogether).

This is especially true for those households experiencing the most severe form of food insecurity. For those experiencing moderate food insecurity, 36% believed that their circumstances are worse this year than last, increasing to 67% for those experiencing severe food insecurity.

There are substantial differences in segment sizes by level of food security. It is not surprising that the more severe the household food insecurity is, the more likely the individuals or families experience longer-term and more persistent cycles of battle and recovery.

Distribution of food insecure households by level of severity on the continuum of crisis to chronic  

Delving into this further, of particular interest are the timings of the food insecurity events, e.g. the duration of the most recent experience and how transient or persistent the experience was. For most, food insecurity is a very recent experience.

The majority (59%) of food insecure households in 2022 had experienced food insecurity within the last month, rising to 71% for those living with more severe food insecurity.

Recency of household food insecurity 

For many of those experiencing food insecurity, it is a frequent event… 

Over half (55%) of those living in food insecure households had experienced the situation more than monthly. As the level of food insecurity intensifies, it becomes an even more constant experience – with 70% of severely food insecure households experiencing it at least monthly.

Frequency of household food insecurity 

…but the duration of food insecure episodes is varied 

Across those experiencing food insecurity, the most recent experience lasted for less than a week for the majority (61%). For those who didn’t or couldn’t overcome the situation within the one-week milestone, however, the situation could deepen into a much longer-term experience.

Duration of household food insecurity 

Currently, the food relief sector is delivering support for approximately one million food insecure households in a typical month.

To understand the level of engagement with food relief services amongst food insecure Australians, respondents were shown a range of formal food relief services available, with example organisations for illustration. They were then asked to rate their awareness of each of these services, as well as any experience of receiving food relief support from them in the last 12 months.

Almost all (92%) food insecure respondents were aware of different types of formal food relief support and services such as charities, community service organisations, churches and dedicated food relief agencies.

Despite strong awareness of food relief organisations and services, however, only 38% of food insecure Australians reported receiving help from these services over the last 12 months.

Moreover, the low level of participation in formal food relief services does not mean these food insecure Australians received help through private connections. Only 37% of food insecure respondents stated that they received help from their families and/or friends over the last 12 months.

In summary, while the vast majority of food insecure Australians are aware of sources of food relief support – privately through families and/or friends or via formal food relief support services – only 58% are getting help.

Food insecure % who have received food relief from any formal food relief service (e.g. charities, community service organisations, churches, and dedicated food relief agencies) in the last 12 months – households (HH) by demographics 

In summary, the more vulnerable demographic or socioeconomic groups are not just under-accessing formal food relief support but are also more likely to have received no help at all, even from families and friends.

Barriers to engaging with formal food relief support services  

The top two barriers to accessing formal food relief for severely food insecure Australians are perceptual rather than physical – shame or embarrassment as well as the belief that others are in greater need of assistance.

Relationship with formal food relief support services  

For food insecure Australians who receive help from formal food relief services, engagement is frequent, as 61% stated they receive support at least weekly, with little difference between the different sources of help. On average, approximately 306,000 food insecure households received food relief support from the sector on any typical day.

Frequency of receiving food relief support 

Last 12 months (L12M)