Abstract
A significant proportion of Australian households struggle to afford adequate food. This experience of food insecurity is driven by factors such as rising living costs, inadequate social assistance payments, and unemployment or underemployment. Food relief has become Australia’s principal response to food insecurity. Findings from previous research indicate that the governance of food relief is underdeveloped and has substantial gaps, particularly in the context of the right to food. That research also revealed the high reliance Australian governments place on third-sector organisations to deliver publicly financed food relief services to eligible individuals and households. In the absence of comprehensive government-led responses, the third sector often bears the responsibility for meeting immediate food needs, without a coordinated or consistent regulatory framework. This presentation examines the next phase of my research, which adopts a reform-oriented approach aimed at translating identified governance gaps into practical, human rights–based recommendations to guide the development of food relief law and policy. Alongside my co-researchers, we employed the Delphi method to collect insights from Australian experts on food relief governance in the context of the human right to food through a series of online surveys. Our analysis of the data took a solutions-focused approach to address the central research question: How can food relief governance be reformed to better realise the right to adequate food in Australia? This presentation will detail the results.
Presenters
Katherine KeanePhD Candidate, Law School, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Food Relief, Governance, Reform, Delphi study, Human Rights
