Submission to Treasury: Economic Reforms Roundtable

SUBMISSION TO THE TREASURY’S ECONOMIC REFORM ROUNDTABLE

SecondBite | FareShare welcomed the opportunity to provide comments to the Economic Reform roundtable consultation in July 2025. As a national food relief organisation, we witness first-hand the profound intersection between food insecurity and broader productivity and resilience challenges in Australia.

About SecondBite | FareShare

SecondBite | FareShare (1) is a major national food rescue and relief organisations, serving communities across Australia. We source high-quality surplus food from over 800 farmers, manufacturers, and retailers and supply it to more than 1,000 local charity partners that support communities facing food insecurity. Our charity partners operate a wide range of programs including onsite kitchens, ready to eat meals, school programs, emergency relief packages and food pantries.

In FY 2025, the organisation redistributed over 25.7 million kilograms of surplus food and prepared more than 2.8 million meals in our kitchens — aiding families impacted by natural disasters as well as those struggling with the rising cost of living. More than 100 tonnes of produce were harvested in our kitchen gardens and 1200 volunteers provided their support to the cause.

Food insecurity in Australia

Australia is facing a historic and urgent food insecurity crisis, with 1 in 6 adults and 1.2 million children experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity.(2)

The cost-of-living crisis, rising housing and utility costs mean families are routinely skipping meals, reducing nutritional quality, and sacrificing their own wellbeing—especially for parents striving to shield their children from hunger.

Food insecurity weakens economic resilience and productivity by lowering workforce participation and performance, raising healthcare costs, limiting human capital development, and impacting social cohesion.

Role of food relief sector in addressing food insecurity and building a more resilient and dynamic economy

The food relief sector directly supports Australia’s economic resilience through several interconnected mechanisms:

Buffering Against Economic Shocks and enabling resilience: By providing vulnerable populations with immediate access to nutritious food during crises like natural disasters, pandemics, and economic downturns, food relief sector helps reduce the impact and duration of social and economic fallout, enabling quicker recovery and safeguarding social stability.(3) Food relief charities play a critical role as first responders during natural disasters and continue supporting affected communities long after the immediate crisis has passed, as seen in the Gippsland fires (2019/20) and Northern Rivers floods (2025).

Protecting Human Capital: By ensuring access to regular, nutritious meals, the food relief sector helps:

Maintain health and productivity—well-nourished individuals can participate in workforce and education more effectively.
Alleviate long-term healthcare burden- preventing malnutrition-related diseases.
Support economic resilience- enabling stable and capable workforce.

Reducing Food Waste and Enhancing Resource Use: By rescuing surplus food and redirecting it to those in need, food relief programs reduce economic losses, lower environmental impact, and make better use of existing resources—contributing to both sustainability and resilience objectives.(4)

Supporting Vulnerable Populations and Social Protection: Food relief forms a crucial component of social protection systems, helping disadvantaged groups (such as low-income families, homeless, women escaping domestic violence) cope with chronic poverty and sudden shocks. This reduces the risk of deepening poverty cycles that would otherwise diminish economic participation and resilience.

Regional and Remote Australia resilience: Food insecurity is particularly severe in non-metropolitan areas, where access to fresh produce is limited by inadequate chilled supply chains, climate impacts, and infrastructure gaps.(5) These organisations help ensure ongoing access to nutritious food and contribute to rebuilding social resilience in the long term.(6)

First Nations Peoples support: First Nations communities face higher levels of food insecurity due to historical and ongoing inequities, leading to greater health disparities and long-term health issues among Indigenous Australians.(7) Food relief organisations play a crucial role in meeting the immediate food needs of First Nations peoples while also supporting long-term health goals.(8)

Stabilising Local and Regional Food Systems: Food relief organisations often source from local producers, support regional supply chains, and collaborate with local businesses, making regional food systems more self-reliant and adaptable during supply chain disruptions.

However, the sector is experiencing an ongoing challenge of growing demand for food relief and finite resources. SecondBite | FareShare’s 2024 Agency Survey reveals that frontline charities are under significant pressure, with a 65% rise in weekly demand for food support programs compared to 2022. A growing number of people are unable to access support due to limited resources, leading to increasing waitlists for food assistance.

Considerations for the roundtable

As Australia looks toward a more productive, fair, and sustainable future, the food relief sector should be acknowledged as a vital and strategic part of that vision and essential to:

Building national resilience to emergency;
Building health and human capital;
Closing the gap for marginalised and remote populations;
Reducing environmental and economic waste and supporting a just transition to net zero and,
Fulfilling our intergenerational duty to enable all Australians to thrive.

Sustainable, long-term funding is crucial for the food relief sector to continue supporting vulnerable communities and strengthening national resilience. This includes secure, ongoing investment that allows organisations to plan, expand, and innovate effectively.

Governments should consider incentives like tax benefits, grants, or operational support to encourage food rescue and redistribution, helping ensure surplus food reaches those in need. These measures would strengthen the sector’s capacity and encourage broader industry participation in building a more equitable and sustainable food system.

We recommend the Economic Reform Roundtable recognise community-based kitchen gardens as strategic, cost-effective investments that enhance food security, support local productivity, and build economic resilience. Integrating kitchen gardens into regional food systems, easing regulatory barriers for not-for-profits (such as land access, water use and zoning), and encouraging innovation (e.g high yield garden models) can enhance supply chain resilience and productive economy —closely aligning with the Roundtable’s goals.

Lastly, SecondBite | FareShare supports Philanthropy Australia’s call for the Government to reduce red tape and enhance flexibility for the donors. We encourage the Government to take real, tangible actions on reforming the Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) system—a central recommendation of the Productivity Commission’s Future Foundations for Giving inquiry.(9)

Conclusion

Strengthening food relief programs is key to Australia’s long-term economic resilience, sustainable productivity, climate goals, and inclusive growth. By fostering collaboration between government, industry, primary producers, and the food relief sector, we can build stronger, more resilient communities capable of withstanding and recovering from future challenges.

Footnotes

(1) SecondBite and FareShare merged on July 1, 2024.

(2) https://reports.foodbank.org.au/foodbank-hunger-report-2024/

(3) SecondBite | FareShare, in partnership with other leading food relief organisations, responded to multiple major natural disasters, including Ex-Cyclone Alfred in 2025 where over 50 Tonnes of food was distributed.

(4) A FIAL study estimates that Australia wastes 7.6 million tonnes of food each year, costing the economy over $36.6 billion annually—with around 70% of this food still perfectly edible.

(5) About 37% of regional, and 44%–51% of remote (and remote Indigenous) households, regularly experience food insecurity—much higher than the national average.

(6) FareShare’s nutritionally balanced shelf stable meals are designed to address challenges faced by remote locations.

(7) 51% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households in remote areas reported being food insecure within the last 12 months (source: https://oia.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/posts/2025/02/Impact%20Analysis.pdf)

(8) SecondBite| FareShare’s Meals for the Mob program was developed in consultation with First Nations communities to provide nutritious, culturally appropriate, ready-to-eat meals. Over 400,000 meals have been delivered into remote and regional first nations communities under the program.

(9) Philanthropy Australia Media Release 2025: Philanthropy Australia encourages engagement with ‘Giving Fund’ reforms and cautions against ‘cherry picking’.