Salvos personnel reveal ongoing toll of cost-of-living crisis
- May 27
- 3 min read
BY LAUREN MARTIN
The Salvation Army has released the results of its annual survey of community members who seek support from its services, revealing that the need is higher than ever, and people are experiencing emergency levels of need as a result of the cost-of-living crisis. But this isn’t news to Salvation Army officers, workers and volunteers on the frontline, who are witnessing the impact.
With nearly one in five people surveyed by The Salvation Army saying they had eaten from bins, and three in five saying they had eaten expired or spoiled food in the past 12 months, The Salvation Army is working across the nation to feed, walk alongside and provide wraparound care to those hit hardest.
Every week across Australia, free and low-cost food is distributed from hundreds of Salvation Army corps-based social mission expressions. These food relief services are overseen by community workers and corps leaders, but the majority of the work is done by an army of big-hearted volunteers, many of whom have been on the receiving end of Salvation Army support.
The newly-released report includes a comment from one community member who received support from The Salvation Army, saying: “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.”
Food donations reducing
“There are lots of new faces and deep, heartbreaking stories,” says Captain Phil Sutcliffe from Northern Rivers Salvos in northern New South Wales, where food donations are declining as numbers of people in need are increasing. “We have certainly seen a shift in the food donations coming through.”
At Sydney’s Shire Salvos Miranda, Lieutenant-Colonel David Godkin says food donations have been down all year, whilst the number of people coming for food assistance has sky-rocketed: “I think it’s because the cost-of-living crisis is affecting everybody, even businesses that donate to us.”
At some points this year, he and his team have hit crisis point, where they have had conversations about whether or not they could keep operating their food cooperative, that supports other local charities and support services with donated fresh food and grocery items. Each time it’s reached that point, they have continued on in faith, and provision has arrived. But the up and down rollercoaster of an increase in demand and a decrease in supply takes its toll. As does the transferred stress of those who are presenting at the centre in desperate need.
“The increase in stress levels in people is very significant and very noticeable,” he says. “It’s starting to have an effect on us too because we are having to deal with people [and listening to their stories] and that has a knock-on effect that really affects our staff and volunteers as well.”
The terror of homelessness is palpable, says Major Gaye Day, Salvation Army officer in Arndale, South Australia. “More of our community members are expressing their fear of homelessness in the very near future, if not already, and many of these community members are now from the working class, often experiencing a lack of work shifts or hours.”
Social isolation “dangerous”
The levels of poverty being experienced that are outlined in The Salvation Army’s research released today are leading to high levels of social isolation. Captain Danielle Cook, from Caboolture, Queensland, says isolation can be dangerous for both mental and physical health, but at The Salvation Army, people are finding a place to belong.
“We actually have more volunteers on team now than in previous years,” she says. “People who have come for support but ended up finding community and a sense of belonging. As people are facing deeper hardship with the increase in cost of living, isolation is becoming a bigger threat, so those searching for a community to belong to is also increasing which is becoming a beautiful thing to journey through with people.”
At Shire Salvos Miranda, the threat of isolation has also been identified, and the team has increased the amount of social and community connection opportunities that people can engage with.
“We have cooking classes, free Pilates, craft and dancing classes,” he says. “People are just craving community, and I think they find in community some sort of comfort because they are sitting around a table talking to people who are going through the same sort of financial hardship, and they realise ‘I’m not alone’. It also takes their mind off their stressors, even if it’s just for a short amount of time.”
In Cairns, Far North Queensland, Corps Officer Captain Ben Johnson sums up the stoic nature of officers, staff and volunteers across the nation: “We are just meeting as much need as we can.”
