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