Ordinary Australians are being forced to seek help from charities as they struggle to feed and house themselves during the cost of living crisis, leaving many “embarrassed” and “apologetic”.
Salvation Army frontline workers have reported a surge in the number of people accessing their services for the first time as cost of living pressures hit Aussies harder than ever before.
The charity says there has been a stark increase in new recipients of its services since December 2023 and said “it is hitting hardest right now”.
Research released by the charity found 94 per cent of people accessing its help are struggling to afford essentials, such as housing, groceries, medical care and utilities.
“These are people that have never reached out to a charity before,” NSW Salvation Army public relations secretary Andrew Hill said.
“They are embarrassed and have a sense of shame when asking us for help.
“People are apologising to us saying, ‘I’m sure there are others who are worse off but I don’t know where to go or what to do’.
“Either they’ve been evicted because they cannot pay rent, or they are having to choose between utilities or food, which are impossible choices.”
The Salvation Army reported 63 per cent of those seeking assistance had skipped meals and more than one in four said they were forced to consume expired or spoiled food in order to survive.
Most respondents said they couldn’t even afford the basics, with 61 per cent unable to pay their utility bills on time; this is more than six times the national average of 10 per cent.
“We are seeing people being priced out of the areas they have lived in for 10 to 15 years in terms of rental increases,” Mr Hill said.
“That means they’ve been priced out of their support structures; where they go to doctors, where their kids go to school, generally the area they are familiar with.
“That increases their feeling of isolation.”
The research surveyed 1500 people who had reached out to the Salvos Doorways financial relief service over a 12-month period.
“Certainly we started to see this last Christmas, people were reaching out for the first time,” Mr Hill said.
“But we are seeing on the front lines that it is hitting hardest right now.”
The 60th Red Shield Appeal will launch this week, with the aim to raise $38 million to enable the Salvation Army to support those doing it tough in Australia.
The organisation runs more than 400 centres across the country providing 2000 different types of services to support people experiencing difficulties such as homelessness, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, family and domestic violence and financial hardship.