Federal election 2019: Cost-of-living pressures forcing families to get food from charities

It’s a problem hitting families across the country, and it could decide the election — especially in this massive region, where it’s crippling thousands.

The number of working families relying on food-relief charities has soared in recent years, as cost-of-living pressures turn groceries into a discretionary budget item.

Each week, the not-for-profit group Foodbank delivers food to more than 600 charities across New South Wales to keep thousands from going hungry.

Once upon a time, the bulk of recipients were groups that fed the homeless, people with disabilities or Australians in crisis, like domestic violence survivors.

“But we’re seeing more and more people who work actually looking for food relief, and that’s an increasing chunk of people seeking support,” John Robertson, Foodbank NSW-ACT chief operating officer, told news.com.au.

“There’s a growing cohort that are working, just like we do, but because of things like rent or mortgages, electricity costs, they just can’t make ends meet.

“Despite their best efforts, they’re not able to put food on the table for themselves and their families. We know that food has become a discretionary item in family budgets.”

Foodbank’s enormous warehouse in western Sydney provides for 600 charities a week, a growing number of which are used by working families.

Cost of living has been one of the central concerns for voters in the upcoming federal election, perhaps nowhere more so than in Sydney’s west.

In Greater Western Sydney especially, one of the country’s most populous regions, it’s an issue that is pushing households to the brink, shocking new data reveals.

News Corp ran a State of the Nation survey in the lead-up to the poll, attracting more than 25,000 responses, and 39 per cent of people across the country listed cost of living as their primary concern. But in electorates in Sydney’s west, that figure was significantly higher at 51 per cent.

Of those in the region, 22 per cent said they were worried about affording basic necessities like food and utilities, two points higher than the national average, while 66 per cent of people in Sydney’s west feel costs are rising while wages aren’t.

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More and more Australians are relying on charities to help put food on the table.

Demand for Foodbank assistance from people who worked but couldn’t make ends meet had exploded, Mr Robertson said.

Supermarkets, farmers, manufacturers and suppliers donate excess stock, end-of-line products and produce deemed “too ugly” for sale, which is sorted at an enormous warehouse and distributed to those in need.

Despite the enormity of the operation, Mr Robertson said there were still people going without.

“We’re not meeting between 30 and 35 per cent of the need out there in our communities,” he said.

One of the programs Foodbank runs highlights the seriousness of the issue — a school breakfast scheme that feeds children who show up hungry for a day of learning.

“We’re currently operating in 142 schools across New South Wales, which is a lot of families who can’t afford to give their kids breakfast,” Mr Robertson said.

“That’s a worrying number, but I can tell you, there are probably 900 schools with an identified need (for the program) based on a measure used by the Department of Education.

“All the research shows that if you give kids breakfast, their academic results improve. They’re able to focus and their behavioural issues reduce.

“We know from the schools we’re already working in that it’s making a significant difference to the outcomes for education.”

Almost 150 schools are part of Foodbank’s school breakfast program in NSW, but several hundred more could also benefit. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Foodbank lobbied the State Government for $8 million funding over four years to expand the program, adding another 500 schools. It has not yet received a commitment.

Sydney is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in, with housing costs outstripping almost any other metropolitan area.

Even on the far western outskirts, the median house price and average rent leaves the majority of people in housing stress — paying 30 per cent or more of their household income on housing.

Poor access to essential services means people have to travel greater distances at greater cost.

Cost of living is the biggest election issue in western Sydney — much more than anywhere else in Australia.

Research by the NSW Council of Social Services found a divide between Sydney’s eastern suburbs and its outer western ones, with those past Parramatta more likely to experience inequality.

It found 23 per cent of Western Sydney residents believed social inequality had increased substantially in the past four years, NCOSS CEO Joanna Quilty said.

“Sydney is a wealthy city in a wealthy state, yet so many are struggling to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head,” Ms Quilty said. “There’s no excuse for that.”

Foodbank is the largest food-relief charity in the country but can’t meet the soaring demand.

According to the Australian National University’s Centre for Social Research, living standards in Greater Sydney plateaued six years ago and have barely lifted since.

In terms of policies from the major parties to help people being hit hard by cost-of-living pressures, both Labor and the Coalition are promising sweeping tax cuts.

Labor will extend those tax cuts to people earning $40,000 or less who would otherwise miss out under the government’s reforms.

The Coalition has promised to crack down on energy companies that charge too much and demand they lower prices and offer discounts.

Labor wants to invest in renewable energy to provide a long-term saving to households. It has also announced a range of healthcare spending to save people requiring medical care.

And it announced a $4 billion package to provide subsidised and, in many cases, free childcare for families.

The Coalition wants to list more medicines on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme.