Introduction

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Student budgets have tightened amid high inflation between 2015 and continued pressure in 2025. This study looks at how the prevalence and severity of food insecurity among Australian university students changed in the past years.

The broader picture is concerning: analysis from Homelessness Australia suggests some students have as little as $13 a day left after rent. In 2023, 13.2% of households experienced food insecurity. Among domestic students, one in seven regularly go without essentials, and three in five report money worries. Because groceries are unavoidable, price rises that outpace wages hit lower-income students hardest, forcing a larger share of limited income toward food and leaving less for study, health, and daily life. This slideshow ties those cost pressures to student outcomes.

CPI vs WPI

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Analyzing the trend

  • The Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Wage Price Index (WPI) are rebased to 2019 Q1 = 100 (ABS July quarter 2015 - Sept 2025) so they’re on the same scale and directly comparable.

  • From 2015 to 2025, CPI for food & beverages rose 31.4%, while WPI rose 29.4%.

  • The gap between CPI and WPI widened from 4.1 points (Jul 2015) to 7.2 points (Sept 2025), showing that prices have outpaced wages over time.

  • Although CPI and WPI move together (high correlation ≈ 0.98), CPI’s faster growth means students’ purchasing power has eroded

What the graph means for student food insecurity

  • When food prices rise faster than wages, a bigger share of limited income goes to groceries.

  • Students, especially those on minimum or variable hours, have less left for other essentials, making them more vulnerable to food insecurity.

  • The widening CPI–WPI gap helps explain reports of students skipping meals, buying cheaper/less nutritious food, or cutting back on academic due to financial strain.

Rising Rents

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Analyzing the trend

  • The data is provided by insights and surveys by the “Homelessness Australia” over the year 2021 - 2023

  • Rent’s share of income increases steadily from approximately 65% in mid-2021 to about 73% by early 2023, representing an 8% increase over roughly 18 months

  • The leftover portion decreases correspondingly from 35% to 27%, meaning young students have progressively less money available after paying rent

What does this mean for young students?

  • Students are increasingly rent-burdened, leaving less money for food, transportation, healthcare, savings, and other essentials.

  • With only 27% of income remaining after rent, there is a very minimal financial cushion for emergencies or unexpected expenses.

  • Rising rents are pushing students out of nearby housing. Many are leaving school or moving farther from campuses and city centers. The longer commutes and higher living costs leave less money and time for essentials, increasing the risk of food insecurity.

Overall Food Insecurity

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Analyzing the trend

  • The data is collected from all UTAS students enrolled in 2022 (33,00 students) using the United States Department of Agriculture Household Food Security Survey Module six-item short form.

  • Total food insecurity increased significantly rose from 42% in 2022 to 51% in 2024, representing a 9% increase and affecting over half the student population by 2024.

  • Marginally food insecure : Remained constant at 8% in both years, showing no change in the mildest category

  • Moderately food insecure: Grew modestly from 16% to 18%, a 2 percentage point increase

  • Severely food insecure : Jumped sharply from 17% to 26%, representing a 9 percentage point increase and the largest absolute change

Key Insights

  • The entire 9-point increase in total food insecurity came from the “severely food insecure” segment, indicating conditions worsened dramatically for the most vulnerable

  • Not only are more students are food insecure, but they’re experiencing more severe levels of insecurity, suggesting urgent needs for food, income support, or both

  • By 2024, over a quarter of the survyed student population faces severe food insecurity, representing a critical concern

Potential Contributing Factors:

  • Rising food prices (as suggested by the earlier CPI data)

  • Increased rent burden reducing food budgets

  • Economic pressures outpacing income growth

Household Matters

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Analyzing the trend

  • The ABS provided detailed dataset for food insecurity in different households across Austrlia in year 2023.

  • Group households face disproportionate risk: They experience nearly 3.5 times the food insecurity rate of households without dependent children, with severe insecurity particularly pronounced

  • Severe insecurity dominates group households: At ~14%, this is the highest severity rate across all categories and household types, suggesting acute vulnerability

  • Households without dependent children most secure: Their low rates across all severity levels indicate greater economic stability or fewer mouths to feed

  • Living alone carries moderate risk: Lone person households fall in the middle, possibly reflecting single-income vulnerability but fewer dependents than group households

How does this affect students

  • Highest risk: Students living alone or in group houses face the most moderate to severe food insecurity, compared to living with family/partner usually means milder risk due to shared costs.

  • Impacts: Tighter budgets leads to cheaper, lower-nutrition food, fatigue and stress, and worse study performance from extra work hours and money worries.

  • Campus food support and emergency grants, rent/transport relief, and bulk cooking/cost-sharing with housemates to stretch budgets help these students majorly especially during peak academic times

Gender and Age Disparities

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Student Food Insecurity by Age

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Student Food Insecurity by gender

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Enrollment Status

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Domestic Students

  • Increased from 38.1% to 50.6% (12.5 percentage point jump)

  • Now exceeds 50%, meaning majority of domestic students are food insecure

International Students

  • Rose from 60.6% to 62.2% (1.6 percentage point increase)

  • Consistently higher rates than domestic students in both years

  • Nearly 2 in 3 international students face food insecurity

Key Insights

  • International students disproportionately vulnerable: Rates 12 points higher than domestic students, likely due to visa work restrictions, limited family support, lack of government aid eligibility

  • Domestic students catching up: Sharp increase suggests economic pressures increasingly affecting all students regardless of origin

  • Both groups in crisis territory: With rates above 50-60%, food insecurity is now the norm rather than exception for students

  • International students’ smaller increase: May indicate they were already at crisis levels, with less room to worsen, or developed coping mechanisms

Conclusion

Steps to Improve Student Food Security

  • Provide Direct Food Aid: Offer meal vouchers and establish/maintain food pantries at universities or community centres.

  • Offer Emergency Financial Support: Provide emergency support to students facing acute financial difficulty.

  • Ensure Accessibility of Services: Provide clear information and easy access to all available support services.

  • Promote Cost-Sharing Strategies: Encourage and inform students about simple cost-sharing strategies at home (e.g., in group houses or with partners) to help manage shared expenses like groceries and rent.

Conclusion

Prices for food and rent are rising faster than wages, so student budgets do not stretch as far. Our CPI and WPI graph shows a clear gap that has grown over time, which means buying the same groceries now takes a larger share of income. The age and gender charts, along with the household results, show that students who live alone or in group houses face the highest rates of moderate to severe food insecurity. Those living with family or a partner tend to face milder risk because costs are shared.

This pressure affects nutrition, energy, and study performance. Some students skip meals or choose cheaper food with lower nutritional value, which can harm both physical and mental health. Universities and community groups can help through meal vouchers, food pantries, and emergency support. Clear information, easy access to these services, and simple cost sharing strategies at home can reduce the risk of food insecurity for students across Australia.

RMIT is partnered with Just food collective which provide students with free meals which are nutrient and healthy. They also provide groceries and cooking workshop to improve food security among RMIT students. RMIT university also support with student food insecurity to its students at “RMIT food security”.

References