Tasmania will spend $6.5 million over four years expanding its school breakfast program to help feed hungry students, with the government aiming to eventually reach all 160 public schools across the state.
Education Minister Jo Palmer said the funding would allow charity Variety Tasmania to grow its program from 40 schools to 70 next year, with the goal of supporting every government school soon after.
Variety Tasmania chief executive Mohammed Aldergham said the program currently serves nearly 11,000 students a day across 40 schools, up from just five when it launched in 2022.
“By the end of the first term once we start to see the breakfast served daily they’re reporting higher engagement by students,” Aldergham said.
“They’re reporting a much more collegiate relationship socially between the kids.”
Palmer said children arrive at school hungry for many reasons – including long commutes, running late and families struggling with cost-of-living pressures.
“We also know that children who are hungry tend to be far more disengaged from their learning,” she said.
Aldergham said the program was helping ease the burden on families doing it tough.
“We know that some kids, they are born into families where they cannot afford three meals a day,” he said.
The charity works with each school to assess student numbers and food costs, while linking them with volunteer groups and sourcing donated products.
At Lindisfarne Primary School in Hobart, breakfast program coordinator Purdie Hudson said the initiative is about more than just nutrition.
“For us it’s around providing an opportunity for connection for our students,” Hudson said.
“For us primarily it’s around making connections with our students.”
The $6.5 million commitment will be included in the state’s interim budget on Thursday.
