‘The Hungry Country’: Regional NSW Families Hit Hardest as Food Insecurity Reaches Crisis Point

Key points

• Nearly one in four regional households, 23 per cent, experienced severe food insecurity, compared with 18 per cent in capital cities, according to the Foodbank Hunger Report 2026. Overall, 3.6 million Australian households, or one in three, experienced food insecurity over the past 12 months, up by 100,000 on 2025.
• Foodbank chief executive Kylea Tink said hunger is now affecting middle-income and working families. The organisation is lobbying governments for a national minimum standard for school breakfast programs by 2030.
• It welcomed a $700,000 federal surge funding commitment announced on October 11.