Programs to ensure preschool and school students do not go hungry - South Australian House of Assembly Social Development Committee - June 2025
In 2025, The Salvation army provided a submission to the South Australian Legislative Council’s Inquiry into the prevalence and effectiveness of programs in preschools and schools to ensure children and young people don't go hungry during the day.
As a locally embedded community organisation, and major provider of emergency and food relief, The Salvation Army works hard to ensure that people are fed both in their homes, and at schools.
In the submission, we discussed how cost of living pressures have caused community members we assist to find themselves in significant food insecurity. This is backed up by our 2025 Red Shield Appeal Report data.
We also highlight how food security is founded in four critical areas, Food Access, Food Availability, Food Use and Food Stability. The Salvation Army’s interactions with each pillar in communities across Australia.
Critically, we discuss the specific ways in which The Salvation Army partners with schools, through our Corps, to assist with the provision of school breakfast clubs, emergency lunches and the Give Grow Evolve program, teaching students food schools and utilising them for some emergency meals in our services.
The Salvation Army’s key recommendations focused on the need for improved housing affordability and increasing the base rate of JobSeeker.