The surge in demand for emergency relief over the last three years has been proven. The release of a detailed UnitingCare report shows financial hardship had been rising prior to the Global Financial Crisis.

The It’s not about the bread report was released at South Port Uniting Church in Melbourne, highlighting a range of reasons and strategies behind a 76 per cent hike in emergency relief requests since 2005.

Report findings show:

• Demand for food and rent assistance is increasing the most and more people across a wider socio-economic scale are seeking emergency relief for the first time and repeatedly.
• Eleven of the 14 UnitingCare Victoria and Tasmania (UCV&T) agencies have not been able to meet all requests for assistance.
• Volunteers – who make up 94% of agency workforce – are requiring ongoing up-skilling to contend with the growing complexity and severity of hardships experienced.
• Financial stress is causing more social isolation, depression, loneliness, family breakdowns and school absences.

UCV&T director, Raoul Spackman Williams said one of the report’s most notable points showed income affordability was not matching the rising cost of living for many.

“A strong picture has emerged indicating that [UnitingCare’s] emergency relief program is increasingly serving the purpose of income support for more and more people who are living below the poverty line.”

Uniting Care Australia director Lin Hatfield Dodds said more federal government support was needed. But as it has recently shelled-out billions on stimulus packages, she said government boosting of emergency relief funding was unlikely.

“Currently the Newstart allowance is absolutely inadequate. We support the Anti-Poverty Week campaign to raise this rate as no one can live on $30 a day.

“This report will help direct the work with government to decide a strong health and financial wellbeing system – because it’s more than just about the bread.”

She said as the government had been outsourcing social services aid for nearly 30 years, “it is out of touch and needs to come to us to make it work”.

UnitingCare and its other church partners now cater for 70% of outsourced social aid across Australia.

“UnitingCare has over 1300 sites across Australia – that’s more than McDonalds – which means we’ve got a lot of lobbying power,” Ms Hatfield Dodds said.

UnitingCare has more than 400 community service agencies, more than 36,000 staff, 24,000 volunteers and aids over two million Australians each year. UnitingCare is part of the Uniting Church of Australia – the nation’s largest non-governmental provider of community services.