Foodbank’s latest national Hunger Report shows about one in three Tasmanian households struggled to get enough food over the past year.
The report, released today, found 37% of regional Tasmanian households experienced food insecurity, including 26% who experienced severe food insecurity. In metropolitan Tasmania, the figure was 31%, with 20% severe.
Nationally, one in three households (33%) were food insecure, equivalent to an estimated 3.6 million households. The rate was higher in regional Australia (36%) than in metropolitan areas (32%).
The Tasmanian results were broadly in line with 2025, with the report saying none of the year-on-year changes were statistically significant and results should be treated with care because some samples were smaller.
Research company Ipsos surveyed 5,880 Australians for the report between July 9 and August 4, including an additional sample of 470 Tasmanians.
Rising living costs were the most common reason households gave for going without, cited by 80% of food-insecure households.
Higher grocery prices (68%), energy costs (54%) and mortgage or rent costs (49%) were also commonly reported.
Among households experiencing severe food insecurity, half said an adult had gone a whole day without eating because there was not enough money for food.
The report found embarrassment and shame were the biggest barriers to seeking help from charities, reported by 48% of food-insecure households.
Greens MP Cecily Rosol said community service organisations needed more funding to keep up with demand.
“Some are even having to cut services due to persistent underfunding by the government,” she said.
Rosol said she often heard from people “struggling to afford the basics” who visited the food pantry at her office.
“The Liberal government must urgently provide community service organisations with the funding they need to ensure Tasmanians can put food on the table,” she said.
Community Affairs Minister Roger Jaensch said the government recognised the challenges many Tasmanians faced due to the rising cost of living.
“Our focus is on building an integrated food relief sector that supports Tasmanians in need to access sufficient, safe, nutritious and quality food, while connecting people to services that support longer-term food resilience,” he said.
Jaensch said the government was investing $7.1 million over four years to implement its new Food Resilience Strategy and support food relief programs and services.
He said the government announced a further $500,000 for community food providers in April.
“This funding allowed food relief providers and neighbourhood houses to continue to support Tasmanians through cost of living and fuel pressures.”
