Parliamentary Committees

Social Development Committee: Inquiry into the Prevalence and Effectiveness of Programs in Preschools and Schools to Ensure Children and Young People Do Not Go Hungry During the Day

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (16:07): I move:

That the report of the committee on its inquiry into the prevalence and effectiveness of programs in preschools and schools to ensure children and young people do not go hungry during the day be noted.

The terms of reference for this inquiry were referred to the committee by the House of Assembly on a motion of Ms Erin Thompson MP on Thursday 20 February 2025. The committee thanks all of those who submitted evidence to the inquiry. A full list of submitters and witnesses is contained in the report. The committee particularly thanks the Department for Education and existing partners working in the school breakfast program, Foodbank SA & NT and KickStart for Kids.

The committee also thanks Professor Rebecca Golley of the Caring Futures Institute, Flinders University, and Dr Stefania Velardo at Flinders University for their multiple contributions throughout the inquiry. The committee would also like to thank Helen Connolly, the Children in the North Alliance, and the children and staff of Swallowcliffe School P-6, Elizabeth Downs Primary School and Fraser Park Primary School for hosting committee members on their site visits to the schools. Of course, we thank our staff, Ms Robyn Schutte and Ms Mary Bloomfield, for their work on the inquiry.

The committee called for submissions to the inquiry at the beginning of May 2025 and received 29 written submissions from individuals, government and non-government organisations, associations, advocacy groups and academics from a number of universities. The committee held six hearings of oral evidence at Parliament House, with evidence presented by 19 individuals from a number of organisations, government departments and universities. The evidence was clear that the primary reason children and students go to school without having had breakfast or without taking their lunch was food insecurity. The evidence showed that:

53.2 per cent of South Australians reported financial hardship as a major concern as a consequence of the rising cost of living in 2025;

16 per cent of South Australians experienced food insecurity in 2023;

26 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households in South Australia reported food insecurity;

6.9 per cent of South Australian children and young people reported experiencing food insecurity, an increase of 1.5 per cent from 2023;

the child poverty rate in South Australia is 17.3 per cent—that is one in six children living in poverty; and

32 per cent of children and young people attending South Australian government schools receive the School Card.

In South Australia there are currently numerous school food programs run by many different providers, the largest being the School Breakfast Program, co-funded by the South Australian government and provided by Foodbank SA and NT and KickStart for Kids.

The committee received evidence that this SBP has been very successful and the work being done is commendable, because so much is being done by volunteers. The committee heard that the expansion and uptake resulting from the increased state government funding in 2023 has been an important step forward in addressing the needs of children and young people and the increased funding has allowed the providers to meet increased demand and reach more students and schools.

There is now much research to show that children who go hungry during the school day are disadvantaged compared to their peers who consume nutritious food at school. Likewise, children who consume foods that are poor in nutrition, low in protein and high in sugar and simple carbohydrates are also worse off. The committee was provided with a wealth of evidence from across the world, with some research conducted in South Australia at the Flinders University. This evidence shows the impacts of hunger and that the experience of food insecurity can have lifelong consequences for children and students, including poorer academic outcomes, poorer health and mental health, and poorer life outcomes overall when compared to their peers.

These children and students struggle to engage academically and socially and many avoid school because of these circumstances. The evidence provided insight into what alternative outcomes might look like for these children and students, demonstrating the benefits of a nutritionally balanced school meals program.

The inquiry explored what types of model of school meals program would work in South Australia, and evidence shows the most flexible model would be one of proportionate universalism. This is because it has the broadest reach with the least amount of stigma and discrimination, it can be rolled out to those schools with the most urgent need first, while staggering a rollout to those schools with less urgent requirements. At the same time the model can be adapted to suit individual school situations and it provides flexibility to accommodate whether a school wishes to provide a centralised service or a service where food is prepared on or off site.

A school meals program for South Australian public school students and children has the ability to also provide many benefits to the broader community and numerous examples of interstate and overseas models show this. For example, there is the capacity for economic stimulus in local communities through procurement of product services and employment in that local community.

There are many aspects to a school meals program that will need to be determined and, as the evidence also shows, what works best has to be undertaken with an across-government public health approach. State government departments for health, human services and primary industries will have opportunities to collaborate with the Department for Education, the individual school communities and the experts in this area to develop an holistic SMP that benefits our children and our communities.

The committee has made three recommendations to the Minister for Education, Training and Skills, including options for the adoption of a universal free school meals program in South Australian public schools. I commend the committee's 51^st report to the house.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (16:13): I rise to speak very briefly to the report. I thank all members of the committee, in particular, of course, the Hon. Ian Hunter, who was chair of the committee. I am doing a lot of acknowledging Ian's chairing skills today. He did do an excellent job in getting this committee moving this term, but in particular in looking at this issue, which I think was one that multiple members were passionate about and interested in.

Certainly from my perspective, I have been a long-term advocate for free school lunches, and it is really encouraging to see that this has been recommended by the committee. In particular, I draw the chamber's attention to recommendation 1:

Noting the multiple models of school breakfast and lunch programs operating across South Australian schools, the Committee recommends the Minister for Education, Training and Skills:

a. Develop, fund and implement provision of a nutritious school-provided meals program based on the model being piloted at Swallowcliffe…(similar to that of the Tasmanian model) in all public primary schools.

Paragraph b. recommends that, alternatively, the government considers specifically targeting schools and students most in need. If members have not had an opportunity to go to Swallowcliffe, I would encourage them to do so. I know the Hon. Russell Wortley and myself found it to be a really valuable experience, as did other members of the committee, so I certainly encourage members to go and have a look at that.

One of the key lessons for me, having spent some time there and looking at how the model is working, is it does not have to cost a fortune to roll this out. They have a very good system that could be rolled out at scale. No child should be going to school hungry in our state, and I think what is really exciting about this report is it has set some clear recommendations that can be picked up by the next government, whomever that might be, and implemented. I encourage both the Labor and Liberal parties to look at this report because there is some really good stuff in there.

I meant to do it in my previous contribution, but I might do so now, just to acknowledge the Hon. David Pisoni who was on the committee, and who I know is very interested in this, but also was on the committee looking at the 50^th anniversary. I do want to acknowledge that he is finishing up in parliament and has been a long-term advocate on a number of social justice issues, particularly in the LGBTI space, and I know that his leadership on those issues has been greatly appreciated by many in the community.

Motion carried.