Salvos Food Crisis Warning Hits Home On The Peninsula
The Salvation Army has warned that Australia’s cost-of-living crisis is pushing vulnerable people into severe food, power and medical hardship, as homelessness pressures continue across the Mornington Peninsula and Frankston.
A new Salvation Army survey of 4,400 Australians seeking emergency relief support found 91 per cent had skipped meals in the past 12 months. Almost one third said they skipped meals daily.
The report also found 60 per cent had eaten expired or spoiled food, 19 per cent had eaten from bins, 35 per cent had survived on one meal a day, and 67 per cent had watered down food or drinks to make them last longer.
The findings come as part of the Salvos’ Red Shield Appeal, which aims to raise $41 million nationally to support people facing homelessness, financial hardship, family violence, food insecurity and other crisis pressures.
Working People Also Seeking Help
Salvation Army spokesperson Warren Elliott told STPL News the organisation had seen more people seeking help, including households where people were still working.
“We have seen a significant increase in people needing support. These are not just people receiving benefits. They include working people who are doing it tough and being forced into terrible choices, such as not going to the doctor, not filling prescriptions, or being unable to send their children to school.”
Children Going Hungry
The Salvation Army report found children are also feeling the impact.
According to the survey, 35 per cent of parents said their children had gone to school hungry. Almost six in 10 households with school-aged children said children had missed school because their family could not afford transport costs.
Major Bruce Harmer from The Salvation Army said the findings showed the depth of hardship facing people seeking support.
“It is deeply confronting to see so many people across our community pushed to such desperate levels of hardship, where parents are skipping meals, children are going to school hungry and people are eating spoiled food or even eating from bins simply to survive.”
Local Pressure Across The Peninsula And Frankston
The national findings land in a region already facing serious homelessness and housing pressure.
Mornington Peninsula Shire says the municipality has the highest number of people sleeping rough in Victoria. In February 2026, the shire recorded 138 people actively homeless, including 105 people sleeping rough in tents, cars and foreshore reserves.
STPL News has previously reported that homelessness and emergency relief demand have grown across the Peninsula.
In August 2025, STPL News reported that research commissioned by Mornington Peninsula Shire estimated up to 689 people were experiencing homelessness across the region, including about 100 people sleeping rough in cars, tents or on the foreshore.
The same report found more than 3,800 people were on the public housing waitlist, nearly half with priority access needs. It also found 35 per cent of local renters were in rental stress.
Local emergency relief requests also rose sharply between July 2019 and July 2024. Requests increased from 274 to 413 in Mornington, and from 199 to 608 in Hastings.
Young People Caught In The Crisis
The pressure does not only affect adults sleeping rough.
STPL News has previously reported that, in 2023–24, nearly 480 children and teenagers were recorded as homeless across Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula. More than 880 were identified as being at risk of homelessness.
The same data showed 2,857 people in Frankston and 1,704 people on the Mornington Peninsula accessed homelessness services in 2023–24.
Children and adolescents made up about one in four local clients.
Rosebud Deaths Highlight Local Risk
Rough sleeping has become increasingly visible along the southern Peninsula, including around foreshore areas, camping grounds and public reserves.
In January, STPL News reported that a man had been found dead at the Rosebud Foreshore Camping Grounds.
Police at the scene told STPL News the man appeared to be experiencing homelessness and had been living in a nearby makeshift camp. Police said the death was not being treated as suspicious at that stage.
The Herald Sun has since reported another man died while sleeping rough in Rosebud days before he was due to view a housing option.
While the Salvation Army report covers people who sought emergency relief from the Salvos nationally, the local context shows how food insecurity, transport costs, housing stress and rough sleeping can overlap across Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula.
Power And Medical Costs Add Pressure
The Salvation Army report also found widespread energy hardship.
According to the report, 84 per cent of respondents had gone to bed early to keep warm, 63 per cent had lived in darkness using candles or torches, and 49 per cent had used public places such as shopping centres or public bathrooms to avoid using electricity at home.
Medical costs also placed pressure on people seeking support.
The report found 51 per cent could not afford to see a doctor, dentist or optometrist, 46 per cent could not afford prescription medication, and 25 per cent had relied on hospital emergency departments instead of visiting a GP.
Mr Elliott said the pressures were unlikely to ease quickly.
“We foresee that things will continue to get worse until cost-of-living pressures ease. The impact of overseas conflict on fuel and other costs means many people will continue to struggle.”
Salvos Appeal For Support
The Salvation Army says demand continues to rise across homelessness, emergency relief, financial hardship, family violence, youth services and community meals.
Mr Elliott said governments and the wider community had a role to play.
“We are calling on all levels of government, local, state and federal, to help support people in need. We are also calling on the public to support the Red Shield Appeal, which aims to raise $41 million.”
Across Australia last year, The Salvation Army says it provided more than 1.74 million sessions of care to more than 228,000 people, more than one million nights of safe accommodation, and more than 1.4 million meals to people who accessed its homelessness services.
People who need support can contact The Salvation Army on 13 SALVOS or visit salvationarmy.org.au.
The Salvos national figures come from the supplied Red Shield Appeal 2026 media release.
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