What is the right to food?

The right to food in Australia is the principle that everyone should have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food. Australia has ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which recognises the right to adequate food in article 11, but does not have a constitutional or statutory right to food. The right is delivered through a combination of household income, welfare support, food relief services, food safety regulation, and Indigenous food sovereignty initiatives.

Most Australians have secure access to food. Household incomes from employment, superannuation, and Centrelink payments cover food costs for the majority. The Age Pension, Disability Support Pension, JobSeeker Payment, Family Tax Benefit, Parenting Payment, and other Centrelink payments provide income support, although campaigners argue that the JobSeeker rate is too low to cover essentials including food in many areas.

Food relief services support people in immediate need. Foodbank Australia, the country's largest food relief organisation, distributes about 100 million kilograms of food each year through more than 2,950 charity partners, providing meals to an estimated 3.7 million Australians. OzHarvest rescues and redistributes surplus food. SecondBite, Fareshare, and many local food relief programmes extend the network. School breakfast and lunch programmes operate in many states for students in lower socio-economic areas. Food insecurity rose during COVID-19 and the subsequent cost-of-living pressures, with Foodbank's Hunger Report estimating that about 3.7 million Australian households experienced food insecurity in 2023.

Food safety is regulated by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), a bi-national statutory authority. FSANZ sets the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code covering food composition, labelling, additives, contaminants, and microbiological limits. State and territory health authorities enforce the Code. The Council of Australian Governments has produced the Indigenous Australians' Food and Nutrition Strategy. Bush food industries, increasingly led by Indigenous enterprises, produce macadamia nuts, wattleseed, Kakadu plum, lemon myrtle, finger lime, riberry, and other traditional foods for both domestic and export markets.