By Holly McGuinness
Recent data released from the Australian Bureau of Statistics has shown that inflation levels continue rising as the consumer price index is up 6.1% from the year to June.
Food inflation has risen 4.3% in twelve months, with fruit and vegetables up by 5.3% this quarter and an annual increase of 7.3%.
Anglicare Victoria provides emergency relief to families that may be struggling to make ends meet, they have observed an increase in those accessing services in Sunshine and around Victoria.
Chris De Paiva, Community Partnerships and Program Manager at Anglicare Victoria said that in one day alone 30 people attended interviews to access relief at their Sunshine relief centre.
Mr De Paiva said regarding the last twelve months, “Nearly three times the amount of funds were spent on emergency relief in Sunshine than what we usually have in our budget, we were just able cope, as we had some extra support,”
Across metropolitan programs Anglicare has seen a 20% increase in first time recipients accessing their services, “families are starting to make difficult choices between choosing fuel to get around and attend part time work or to buy food,
“There’s fuel costs to get the kids to school as well, it’s ironic as we’re meant to be coming out of covid but there’s nearly more covid than ever and we don’t have that same funding,” said Mr De Paiva.
A major concern during these times of hardship is the mental health impact this can impose “we’re noticing mental health stress is a regular topic of conversation from the people who come to us, which is compounded by severe financial stress and another common factor is rent arrears and housing stress,” said Mr De Paiva.
Anglicare urges anyone who is experiencing hardship to reach out as there are a number of support services available across Brimbank.
