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91% skipping meals, 60% eating expired food and 1 in 5 eating from bins – New Salvos Report exposes Cost-of-Living Emergency for Australia’s Poorest

The Salvation Army today issued an urgent warning that Australia’s cost-of-living crisis is spiralling into an emergency for the nation’s most marginalised people, with a new report revealing nearly one in five (19%) people surveyed saying they had eaten from bins and three in five (60%) saying they had eaten expired or spoiled food in the past 12 months. 
 
The new report surveyed 4,400 Australians seeking emergency relief support from The Salvation Army and revealed widespread food insecurity and severe financial distress, with 91% saying they skipped meals in the past 12 months and almost one third (32%) saying this happened daily. 
 
The report also found one third (35%) said they survived on only one meal a day and 67% said they watered down food or drinks to make them last longer. 
 
One community member who received support from The Salvation Army said, “We starve, it’s that simple. We drink water because it fills us up. We walk a bit to take our minds off this horrible life we are in, and we beg whoever we can for help.”
 
Another community member simply said they “go without food, find thrown-out food, look in bins” in order to survive.
 
Children are increasingly bearing the brunt of the crisis, with 35% of parents saying their children had gone to school hungry and almost 6 in 10 (59%) households with school-aged children saying kids had missed school because families could not afford transport costs in the past 12 months.
 
“It is deeply confronting to see so many people across our community pushed to such desperate levels of hardship, where parents are skipping meals, children are going to school hungry and people are eating spoiled food or even eating from bins simply to survive,” says Major Bruce Harmer from The Salvation Army.
 
“No one in Australia should be forced to choose between heating their home, feeding their children or buying medication, yet this is the reality facing more and more people every single day.”
 
The report highlighted widespread “energy poverty”, with 84% of respondents going to bed early to keep warm, 63% living in darkness, relying on candles and torches, and almost half (49%) using public places such as shopping centres or public bathrooms to avoid using electricity at home.
 
Medical care is also increasingly out of reach, with over half (51%) unable to afford to see a doctor, dentist or optometrist, 46% unable to afford prescription medication and one quarter (25%) relying on hospital emergency departments instead of visiting a GP.
 
Another mum who received support from the Salvos said , “We never have enough food. We buy what is cheap and rely on help and food banks. I am very careful about our electricity use. My oldest son has been making do this year with only one school shirt. We put water in dish soap, shampoo, cleaning products, and other items to stretch them. We rarely buy milk, but when we do, we add water to make it last longer. We don’t spend money on clothing. We often fill prescriptions late or don’t take them daily to stretch them out further.”
Further findings from the report included:
· 82% said they had gone an entire day without eating in the past year.
· 87% said they avoided using heating or cooling over the past year due to cost pressures
· 77% said they had been unable to properly heat or cool their home in the past year
· 90% have experienced being unable to afford public transport or fuel for their car
 
The Salvation Army is calling on Australians to support its vital work, with demand for assistance continuing to rise across homelessness, emergency relief, financial hardship, family violence, youth services and community meals. The Salvos’ Red Shield Appeal is aiming to raise $41 million to support those doing it tough across the nation.
 
“Our report surveyed thousands of people who reached out to the Salvos for emergency relief support, with 90% saying they would not have managed financially without the help they received,” Major Harmer adds.
 
“But the need is growing rapidly and we cannot do this alone. Right now, your support can help provide food, financial assistance, safe shelter and hope to Australians doing it incredibly tough.”
 
Across Australia last year, through The Salvation Army’s network of over 400 centres and 2,000 services, the Salvos provided:*
· Assistance to one person every 17 seconds
· More than 1.74 million sessions of care to over 228,000 people in need
· Over 1 million nights of safe accommodation
· More than 1.4 million meals to those who accessed our homelessness services.

Today I will travel to India to participate in the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and hold the Australia-India Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue.

In these uncertain times, the Quad is a vital partnership – four nations working together to shape a peaceful, stable and prosperous future for the Indo-Pacific region.

Together, Australia, India, Japan and the United States are delivering concrete outcomes on shared interests including maritime security, critical minerals supply, infrastructure development and disaster relief.

While in India I will hold the 17th Australia-India Foreign Ministers’ Framework Dialogue with my counterpart, Minister for External Affairs Dr S. Jaishankar.

Australia and India’s partnership has never been more consequential.

As Comprehensive Strategic Partners, Australia and India are deepening cooperation in trade and investment, defence and maritime security, climate and energy transition, strategic technology, and education and skills; with an enduring social connection at the heart of our partnership.

The Albanese Government will continue to strengthen Australia’s relationships and work even harder in new and existing coalitions like the Quad as we keep building Australia’s future in an ever less stable world.

Senator Faruqi joined family, friends, and supporters at Sydney International Airport this morning to welcome home seven of the brave Australian participants on the Global Sumud Flotilla: Neve O’Connor, Sam Woripa Watson, Isla Lamont, Juliet Lamont, Surya McEwen, Zack Schofield, and Anny Mokotow.

These Australians were among the hundreds of humanitarians kidnapped and imprisoned by Israel while attempting to deliver aid to Gaza. Many participants have reported physical, psychological, and sexual abuse while imprisoned by Israel.

Lines attributable to Senator Faruqi, Deputy Leader of the Greens and spokesperson for International Aid & Global Justice:

“It was an honour to welcome home to our brave Global Sumud Flotilla participants who have kept our hope alive and who carried with them not just aid, but humanity, love, and a commitment to a free Palestine.

“The kidnapping, abuse, torture, and violence they were forced to endure at the hands of Israel is depraved, but I can see that their spirits remain unbroken. We are so proud and grateful to all of them and their families. They give so many others the inspiration to keep speaking out for Palestine and holding our own government to account.

“The world has been horrified to see the treatment by Israel of civilians on a legal mission to deliver life-saving aid and break the illegal siege of Gaza, just as the world has been horrified by Israel’s genocide, mass murder and starvation of Palestinians over the last two and a half years.

“Israel was able to abuse and torture Australians so brazenly only because it has been given full cover, impunity and active support by countries like Australia to keep committing and escalating their crimes against Palestinians.

“Prime Minister Albanese and Foreign Minister Wong should be ashamed for calling Israel a friend and an ally, not only because of the abhorrent abuse of flotilla activists, but because of Israel’s ongoing and brutal occupation, apartheid and genocide of Palestinians.

“It is frightening how little the Labor government cares about Palestinian lives or indeed the safety of our own citizens.

“If Labor gives a damn about peace, international law or justice, they need to stop shaking hands with the architects of this genocide and they need to stop believing Israel’s lies and propaganda. Instead, they must sanction Israel, end the arms trade and cut ties. Useless words expressing grave concern mean nothing when people in Palestine and Lebanon are being killed every single day.”

The Victorian Greens say the Allan Government has capitulated to the gun lobby after rejecting a key recommendation from former Police Commissioner Ken Lay to cap the number of firearms a person can own, following the Bondi massacre.

Despite accepting 15 of the 16 recommendations from the firearms review commissioned after the Bondi tragedy, Labor refused to support limits on the number of guns a single licence holder can possess.

The review found some recreational hunters own up to 68 firearms, while some sports shooters own as many as 288.

Leader of the Victorian Greens Ellen Sandell said Jacinta Allan’s Labor Government had put politics and gun lobbyists ahead of community safety.

the Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell:

“Victorians are right to ask why anyone needs dozens or even hundreds of firearms and why Labor is letting them.

“This was Labor’s chance to show leadership on gun reform and community safety, but they blinked because they’re more worried about upsetting powerful gun lobby groups in marginal seats ahead of this year’s election than community safety.

“This is exactly why people are fed up with Labor. They’ll say or do whatever they need to cling to power, even if it means rejecting common-sense reforms to keep people safe, just because the lobbyists will get upset.”

The Greens have welcomed the resignation of NACC Commissioner Paul Brereton, which came the day before he was due to face Senate Estimates for the first time.

The Greens have been calling for Commissioner Brereton’s resignation for years. Today he has resigned after sustained community and political pressure. 

Greens Senator and Justice Spokesperson David Shoebridge: 

“Paul Brereton’s resignation is the right outcome for the NACC and is a step towards rebuilding trust in the Commission. 

“It is striking that he chose to resign today the day before his first planned appearance at Senate Estimates which was only scheduled following a successful Greens motion in the Senate last sitting week.

“The Robodebt victims, including the people who died as a result of that unlawful scheme, and the hundreds of thousands of Australians harmed by it, deserved better from NACC than they received under Brereton’s leadership. 

“Commissioner Brereton’s inability to appropriately manage conflicts of interest, including relating to the Robodebt scandal, has plagued the NACC and materially damaged public trust. 

“Repeated questioning in Parliament oversight committees has slowly drawn out details of Commissioner Brereton’s ongoing involvement with Defence and this has been essential in shedding light on the NACC.   

“The NACC was established because Australians demanded genuine, independent accountability in the Commonwealth public sector. That task is more important than any single Commissioner.

“The Albanese Government needs to learn from this experience and approach new appointments with a focus on transparency, accountability and with genuine oversight by the Parliamentary Joint Committee into the NACC. 

“The Greens will keep fighting to make sure the NACC becomes the integrity body this country so desperately needs.”