Social Assistance Payments and Food Insecurity inAustralia: Evidence from the HouseholdExpenditure Survey.

It is widely understood that households with low economic resources and poor labourmarket attachment are at considerable risk of food insecurity in Australia. However, little is knownabout variations in food insecurity by receipt of specific classes of social assistance payments thatare made through the social security system. Using newly released data from the 2016 HouseholdExpenditure Survey, this paper reports on variations in food insecurity prevalence across a range ofpayment types. We further investigated measures of financial wellbeing reported by food-insecurehouseholds in receipt of social assistance payments. Results showed that individuals in receiptof Newstart allowance (11%), Austudy/Abstudy (14%), the Disability Support Pension (12%),the Carer Payment (11%) and the Parenting Payment (9%) were at significantly higher risk of foodinsecurity compared to those in receipt of the Age Pension (<1%) or no payment at all (1.3%). Resultsfurther indicated that food-insecure households in receipt of social assistance payments enduredsignificant financial stress, with a large proportion co-currently experiencing "fuel" or "energy"poverty. Our results support calls by a range of Australian non-government organisations, politicians,and academics for a comprehensive review of the Australian social security system.