Queues continue to grow

Increases in demand not stopping due to the cost of living

Across our six branches, our staff and volunteers continue to see a significant increase in demand. Each branch sees queues each day. Every day. 

When enquiring with our front-line staff as to which day is the most busy day at our Perth branch, the response is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  

This is the result of the skyrocketing cost of living which is pushing many people into poverty and is forcing people to make impossible decisions each week about whether to pay a bill or put food on the table.  

As the cost of groceries soar, and bills climb, the household food budget has come to be seen as a discretionary spend, meaning the feeling of hunger has become a familiar one for many in the community.  

37% of single parent families experienced severe food insecurity in the last year, skipping meals or going whole days without eating.  

We recently saw 1,044 households come through our network of six branches in one day, an unfortunate new record broken for the state.

Cost of living pressures have seen a 90% growth in demand for our services over a two-year period. In March 2021 we supported 410 households daily compared to 761 households daily in March 2023.  

The trend of rising customers numbers continued into April and  May with 49% more people accessing our services than at this time last year (501 customers in May 22 vs. 748 customers in May 2023) .

We now have more than 14,000 households registered who have access cards to Foodbank representing close to 35,000 adults and children. 

The volume of food required also increased, with a rise of 22% on the same time last year.  

In May alone, we provided 842,188 meals to those in need.  

People in our communities are really struggling. But do you know what else is increasing? The amount of food and groceries we’re receiving and distributing thanks to our partners, donors and amazing volunteers.