'Lucky country has become the hungry country': Foodbank Australia

A 2026 report from Foodbank has revealed that nearly seven in ten food insecure households experienced food insecurity for the first time within the last year.

The report also found that 100,000 more Australian households have experienced food insecurity in the last 12 months.

Foodbank Australia chief executive Kylea Tink said the country needed political and social will to put an end to hunger.

Canberran Travis Gilbert became unemployed last year for the first time in 22 years.

Mr Gilbert said he had exhausted his leave entitlements and found himself on Job Seeker.

He said that money covered some everyday necessities, including rent, phone bills, electricity payments and a bus ticket.

Yet, the Canberran had to find money for groceries elsewhere and had to dip into his super to make ends meet.

He said without this he would have had to attend food banks and rely on free food.

Mr Gilbert said it was "quite shocking" that "people on full-time incomes in the ACT are sometimes presenting to the food pantries seeking help with bills and food."

He added that he was "pessimistic" about the political will to fix food insecurity and poverty across Australia.

HelpingACT volunteer Rhonda Owen said that food insecurity "can happen to anyone because many people are functioning fine, but [are] just one pay cheque away from needing food help."

Foodbank Australia's latest hunger report revealed that 69 per cent of food insecure households experienced food insecurity for the first time within the past year.

It found one in three households across the country experienced food insecurity within the last 12 months, which was also recorded in the organisation's report last year.

The report outlined 3.6 million households in Australia were going hungry in the past year, compared to 3.5 million households in the year prior.

Foodbank Australia chief executive Kylea Tink said this could be attributed to the cost of living crisis and rising interest rates.

"They'll prioritise keeping a roof over their head. They'll prioritise keeping the utilities on. They'll prioritise still being able to get to work. So their first point of cut is food," the chief executive said.

The report also found that regional households had been hit harder than their metropolitan counterparts, with almost one in four having experienced severe food insecurity compared to 18 per cent of urban households.

"[It] seems completely counterintuitive, given these are the communities that live most instances closest to the source," Ms Tink said.

The chief executive also said the most likely age demographic affected by food insecurity in the last year was those aged between 18 and 34.

The report also found more than half of First Nations households have experienced food insecurity, which included 40 per cent in the severe category.

Ms Tink said that the country had a significant challenge and had "to decide whether we want to become a nation where the distinction between those that have and those that don't have, can be felt so directly."

Foodbank Australia said they welcomed the $700,000 in "surge funding" from the federal government earlier this month.

The chief executive said there wasn't a doubt Foodbank Australia would "be able to turn that money into food" but added it wasn't "going to solve the problem overnight".

Ms Tink said there needed to be conversations across agriculture, health and education to get "a whole-of-system approach if we're truly going to remove hunger".

The chief executive added there needed to be both political and social will to put an end to the hunger crisis in Australia.

Foodbank Australia has called on the federal government to establish a nationalised school breakfast program, with the aim to reach every child by 2030.

The organisation said it has delivered 3,649 school breakfast programs across the country.

Ms Tink said the "one bright light" across the research was that school breakfast programs had increased across the country.

She said that school breakfast programs in Victoria and New South Wales are "some of the best in the country".

HelpingACT volunteer Rhonda Owen said national breakfast programs were critical for children as it helped them to learn.

"I think it would help education in general.

"There's certainly been studies to show that children learn better if they've had breakfast and go into class with a full tummy," the volunteer said.