Many students in Australia face food insecurity, and access to healthy, nutritious and affordable food can be affected by broader economic disadvantages. In Victoria, student unions and universities offer practical support through food supplies and free meals. The University of Melbourne‘s student-led research also shows why these services matter to students’ well-being and ability to study. Here’s how student unions are addressing food insecurity in Victoria.

Victoria’s Food Insecurity Challenge

A 2014 pilot study at Victorian universities reported that 48% of participating students experienced food insecurity, including 30% experiencing hunger. The University of Melbourne’s 2021 Talking Hunger report cites that earlier study; its own project used student co-researchers to interview other students about their experiences. The older survey figures should not be treated as a current estimate for every Victorian university.

Wider poverty provides important context. In analysis published in 2023, the Victorian Council of Social Service reported that more than 800,000 Victorians, including 216,000 children, lived in significant economic disadvantage — 13.3% of the state’s population. These figures describe the wider state population, not the prevalence of poverty or food insecurity among university students.

The Talking Hunger project documented how food insecurity could restrict students’ social interactions and create embarrassment or shame. It recommended making food security part of student well-being policy, including affordable meals and greater student involvement in responses.

Uneven Experiences

Food insecurity in Victoria does not affect all students equally. A 2018 Farrago article, drawing on the 2017 Universities Australia Student Finances Survey, reported particular hardship among Indigenous and regional students. It included an Indigenous student’s account that they “do not eat much anymore.” This illustrates an individual experience within the survey reporting, rather than a finding about all Indigenous students at the University of Melbourne.

A Practical Response

The University of Melbourne Student Union’s Union Mart offers free food, drinks and household products. Its service page describes a no-questions-asked honesty system and says it aims to cater to a range of diets. In 2026, the service expanded to include frozen meals, with FareShare meals listed as available during Union Mart hours. Students use an allocation of points to choose the products they need, subject to stock and product limits.

Other Victorian universities also offer food relief. Victoria University has partnered with SecondBite, a food-rescue organization, to provide free, healthy frozen meals for students to eat at home. The available meals vary with the ingredients and stock supplied.

Looking Ahead

A meal program alone cannot undo the economic disadvantages that contribute to food insecurity in Victoria. However, accessible food relief can form part of a broader response that takes students’ different circumstances into account. Union Mart and Victoria University’s meal partnership offer practical examples of support, alongside the need to involve students in decisions about food security.

– Hashir Hameedi

Hashir is based in Australia and focuses on Global Health and Politics for The Borgen Project.

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