A survey of frontline charities, conducted by food rescue organisation OzHarvest, showed 77 per cent of Australian households had experienced an increase in people seeking food in the past year. In Canberra, the number of people requesting food support for the first time was 37 per cent — the highest rate in the country. "Considering we're supposed to be the lucky country, for a lot of families, it doesn't feel that lucky," says CEO of the Canberra PCYC, Cheryl O'Donnell.
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00:00Autumn afternoons outdoors are a routine for Skylie Taylor and her kids.
00:10The fresh air offering some breathing room.
00:13One, two, three.
00:15In a cost of living crisis.
00:17Taking my daughter to the park, like, just think that's the only thing at the moment that doesn't cost money.
00:22The burden of household expenses weighs heavily on the 24-year-old Canberra mum.
00:28I was scraping by to feed everyone.
00:31I think I probably would have been in hospital from being malnourished myself,
00:35putting all the kids first and not feeding myself.
00:38So, yeah, scary place to actually think of.
00:41Last year, she started looking after her younger sisters, but extra mouths brought extra costs.
00:48She turned to local food pantries to get by.
00:52It was hard to reach out for the help.
00:55I felt like I couldn't do it on my own, which isn't a great feeling, being a mum and a sister.
01:02As families feel the squeeze, so too do frontline services.
01:06Are you on the list? Otherwise, write your name.
01:08Just over the ACT border, crowds queue each week at this Queenbeyan community centre
01:14to get their hands on donated groceries.
01:17Hot meals are also in hot demand.
01:21In the last 18 months, with the housing crisis, but also with the cost of living,
01:27we are finding there are people that we wouldn't have necessarily seen beforehand.
01:32A few figures from food rescue organisation OzHarvest shows 77% of charities around Australia
01:39have experienced a surge in people seeking food in the past year.
01:43Families are having to make decisions as to whether to pay the rent, pay the electricity or feed the family.
01:50The OzHarvest data paints a bleak picture of the cost of living crisis in the nation's capital.
01:56Of those seeking food relief around Canberra, 37% are doing so for the first time.
02:03It's the highest rate of anywhere in the country, and the new faces are taking charities by surprise.
02:09It's people who have mortgages, it's people who have double incomes.
02:13And so, I think in Canberra, the general wealth that we experience here
02:19often means that we don't notice this level, this layer of need in our community.
02:25Charities say the sector needs more funding to fight food insecurity.
02:30Thanks so much mate.
02:31But addressing underlying causes of poverty will take bold solutions.
02:36Considering we're supposed to be the lucky country, for a lot of families it doesn't feel that lucky.
02:41Canberrans falling through the cracks, hungry for change.