Posted: 2024-07-16 19:34:52

Earlier this year, Pam Hibbert was faced with a scenario no parent ever wants to endure.

After moving into her home in Ipswich, west of Brisbane, with her daughters, the disability pensioner found herself unable to afford groceries.

"I was really struggling one week, and I had no idea how I was going to feed the two girls," she says.

It's a situation playing out across the country, with Australian households battling concerning levels of food insecurity as the cost-of-living crisis takes its toll.

But amid the increasing demand on outreach services, some communities are banding together to try and bridge the gap for those struggling to make ends meet.

A woman types on a laptop at home.

Mary Coleman created the People Helping People Ipswich Facebook group in 2023 after seeing the toll of the cost-of-living crisis.(ABC News: Curtis Rodda)

"I put a shout out [in a Facebook group] that I was really struggling one week after I moved in here," Pam says.

"Next minute on my doorstep was half a dozen bags of pantry items."

'People that are struggling, they all understand each other'

As many as 3.7 million households in Australia are estimated to have battled concerning levels of food insecurity last year, according to Foodbank Australia's 2023 Hunger Report. 

The cost of living was the most common cause, with respondents pointing to increased living expenses (79 per cent), reduced or low income or government benefits (42 per cent), and limited access or ability to travel to get food (16 per cent), among other factors.

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