Today was the first sitting day of 2025 and I’m very happy to report that I managed to successfully move my first Private Member’s Motion in the Assembly. The motion called for the development of a coordinated ACT Food Relief Action Plan, which will be co-designed with the community sector.
Such a plan has been lacking despite widespread agreement that it’s desperately needed given the level of food insecurity in our community. The latest available data shows that, in a 12-month period, 12,500 Canberrans had run out of food without being able to afford to buy more. Thankfully, 50 community-led food relief initiatives have emerged across the ACT to keep people from falling through the cracks. But now the organisations and volunteers behind these initiatives are being stretched to breaking point.
A report released yesterday by VolunteeringACT showed that most food relief organisations had seen a 25 per cent increase in demand over the last year, with some experiencing a 75 per cent rise. The current system relies heavily on direct food donations, which are proving insufficient to meet the level of need we’re seeing. I’m hearing from frontline community service workers who are paying for food using their own personal money to ensure their community food pantries don’t run empty. That’s pretty incredible, and a testament to the goodwill of our community, but it’s not sustainable.
I believe in government, and I believe that our government has a responsibility to ensure the basic needs of its citizens are met. That doesn’t mean supplying food, shelter and clothing for everyone. But it does mean ensuring these basics are made available to those who can’t supply them for themselves.
When it comes to feeding hungry Canberrans, our community sector has been playing this role with minimal support. The successful passage of my motion today will change that, backing the efforts of community sector organisations with a coordinated plan from the government, underpinned by a commitment to make sure our food relief system is equipped to meet demand. Specific considerations in the development of this new ACT Food Relief Action Plan are to include:
- Determining the scope and scale of government support required to maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of the ACT’s food relief sector;
- Investigating opportunities to address challenges faced by community organisations in sourcing, receiving, storing and distributing quality food across the ACT; and
- Considering incentives aimed at the ACT retail and hospitality sectors to encourage food donation and reduce food wastage.
The motion received unanimous support from all Members of the Assembly, with minor amendments from Liberal MLA Chiaka Barry and fellow Independent Fiona Carrick. Ms Barry’s amendment called on the government to avoid placing administrative and bureaucratic burdens on organisations in the food relief system, while Ms Carrick’s amendments accelerated the timeline for the delivery of the Plan, which will now be tabled in the Assembly by March 2026, and made it clear that interim surge funding will be needed to support the food relief sector while the Plan is being put together.
I’m looking forward to engaging further with the government on this issue. It’ll be important to ensure the Plan is fit for purpose. Given I’m far from an expert on the topic, I’ll be relying on advice from our community sector along the way about how it’s shaping up and how much funding will be needed to roll it out.
I’m encouraged by what I heard from ACT Community Services Minister, Suzanne Orr, during our negotiations. She’s serious about doing a good job of this and making the Action Plan a meaningful piece of work that creates tangible change for those who need it. Like me, she doesn’t want to let this become just another glossy brochure that sits on a shelf somewhere.
I’m also encouraged more broadly by the collaborative nature of the exchanges I had in building consensus around this motion, particularly with Laura Nuttall from the Greens, Chiaka Barry from the Canberra Liberals and Fiona Carrick. It’s energising to have managed a meaningful multi-partisan commitment to tackle food insecurity in our city — an issue that really shouldn’t be overly politicised anyhow.
The development and passage of today’s motion wouldn’t have been possible without the advice and support of a range of community sector experts, including Jean Giese, Robyn Hendry and Heather Fitt from VolunteeringACT, Lucy Hohnen from Vinnies Canberra/Goulburn, Mohammed Ali from HelpingACT, Paula McGrady from the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre, and Devin Bowles from ACTCOSS. To these fantastic individuals and to everyone involved in keeping Canberrans from going without food: thank you! It’s great to be delivering something significant for our tireless community sector organisations and the people who rely on them. Both cohorts have, too often, been forgotten.
This year promises to be an exciting one, and the first sitting day definitely lived up to that. My team and I are feeling pumped to work hard each day to deliver for our community.
Let’s see how the rest of the week unfolds!