The Salvation Army has issued an urgent warning that Australia’s cost-of-living crisis is spiralling into an emergency for the nation’s most marginalised people, with a new report revealing nearly one in five (19 per cent) people surveyed saying they had eaten from bins and three in five (60 per cent) saying they had eaten expired or spoiled food in the past 12 months.

The new report surveyed 4400 Australians seeking emergency relief support from The Salvation Army and revealed widespread food insecurity and severe financial distress, with 91 per cent saying they skipped meals in the past 12 months and almost one third (32 per cent) saying this happened daily.

The report also found one third (35 per cent) said they survived on only one meal a day and 67 per cent said they watered down food or drinks to make them last longer.

One community member who received support from The Salvation Army said, “We starve, it’s that simple. We drink water because it fills us up. We walk a bit to take our minds off this horrible life we are in, and we beg whoever we can for help.”

Another community member simply said they “go without food, find thrown-out food, look in bins” in order to survive.

Children are increasingly bearing the brunt of the crisis, with 35 per cent of parents saying their children had gone to school hungry and almost six in 10 (59 per cent) households with school-aged children saying kids had missed school because families could not afford transport costs in the past 12 months.

“It is deeply confronting to see so many people across our community pushed to such desperate levels of hardship, where parents are skipping meals, children are going to school hungry and people are eating spoiled food or even eating from bins simply to survive,” says Major Bruce Harmer from The Salvation Army.”

“The report highlighted widespread ‘energy poverty’, with 84 per cent of respondents going to bed early to keep warm, 63 per cent living in darkness, relying on candles and torches, and almost half (49 per cent) using public places such as shopping centres or public bathrooms to avoid using electricity at home.

Medical care is also increasingly out of reach, with over half (51 per cent) unable to afford to see a doctor, dentist or optometrist, 46 per cent unable to afford prescription medication and one quarter (25 per cent) relying on hospital emergency departments instead of visiting a GP.

Further findings from the report included:

• 82 per cent said they had gone an entire day without eating in the past year.

• 87 per cent said they avoided using heating or cooling over the past year due to cost pressures

• 77 per cent said they had been unable to properly heat or cool their home in the past year

• 90 per cent have experienced being unable to afford public transport or fuel for their car

The Salvation Army is calling on Australians to support its vital work, with demand for assistance continuing to rise across homelessness, emergency relief, financial hardship, family violence, youth services and community meals.

The Salvos’ Red Shield Appeal is aiming to raise $41 million to support those doing it tough across the nation.

Across Australia last year, through The Salvation Army’s network of over 400 centres and 2000 services, the Salvos provided:

• Assistance to one person every 17 seconds

• More than 1.74 million sessions of care to over 228,000 people in need

• Over one million nights of safe accommodation

• More than 1.4 million meals to those who accessed our homelessness services.

To donate to The Salvation Army’s Red Shield Appeal, or if you need support from the Salvos, visit salvationarmy.org.au or call 13 SALVOS. People can also donate at any Salvos Store.