Amid the cost-of-living crisis, food insecurity is on the rise for many Australians. But for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander communities, accessing healthy, affordable food can be even more challenging. Two early-career researchers are exploring ways to tackle this inequity in Australia鈥檚 food systems.
Imagine paying $10 a kilo for apples. Or $7 for tinned soup. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families living in remote communities, it鈥檚 a daily reality. Many are paying more than double capital-city prices for groceries, which are often also in limited supply.1
But Dr Simone Sherriff (GradDipIndigHProm 鈥13, MPH 鈥17, PhD 鈥24) says that food insecurity in remote Indigenous communities is about a lot more than just high prices and added freight costs. She also cites low incomes, lack of job opportunities, poor infrastructure, unsafe housing and systemic inequality 鈥 related to colonisation and disrupted cultural practices 鈥 which together limit access to affordable, nutritious food.
And it鈥檚 not just a remote issue 鈥 similar inequities exist in regional towns and urban centres across Australia.
As part of her PhD, Simone collected data from Aboriginal families in the NSW Riverina region and in Campbelltown, on Sydney鈥檚 outskirts, to build evidence of their experiences of food insecurity in non-remote settings. Believed to be one of the first qualitative studies of its kind, it aimed to ensure that Aboriginal voices were heard in food security discussions.
A lot of Aboriginal families live in suburbs where they don鈥檛 have any supermarkets, and they have to travel to major shops.
Dr Simone Sherriff
鈥淎 lot of Aboriginal families live in suburbs where they don鈥檛 have any supermarkets, and they have to travel to major shops,鈥 Simone explains. 鈥淢any families don鈥檛 have a car or can鈥檛 afford rego or petrol. So, they鈥檙e having to get public transport, walking to the bus and back with all their kids and groceries.鈥
Some she interviewed had experienced racism on public transport, leaving them fearful. In urban settings there is also easier access to unhealthy foods and takeaway, and exposure to marketing particularly aimed at children.
Another study Simone worked on found that 96 percent of Aboriginal households in NSW struggled to afford food 鈥 triggering other health issues. This led to the development of a food planning tool to assist communities in discussing food security to help to identify solutions.
A proud Wotjobaluk woman, Simone, started out as an apprentice chef, transitioning to the role of researcher through her work at a local Aboriginal health service. This inspired her to enrol at university 鈥 聽the first person in her family to do so. After completing a Graduate Diploma in Indigenous Health Promotion and a Master of Public Health at the University of Sydney, Simone was awarded the Turner PhD scholarship, made possible through the generosity of alumna Margaret Turner (MHS 鈥94, BA 鈥21).
Breastfeeding and beyond
Simone鈥檚 PhD studies led to her current role as a Research Fellow at the University鈥檚 Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, and initially to work on food security of a different kind 鈥 a breastfeeding pilot program back in regional Wagga Wagga on Wiradjuri Country, where she grew up.
Working with local Aboriginal mothers, she led the development of the Yalbilinya Miya (鈥榣earn together鈥 in Wiradjuri) project, in collaboration with the Riverina Medical and Dental Aboriginal Corporation, the Poche Centre, and the Lowitja and Sax Institutes.
鈥淭he community had noticed that many Aboriginal mothers were starting to breastfeed in hospital but stopping soon after they were discharged, due to a lack of support,鈥 Simone says. 鈥淔or 65,000 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have sustained our babies through breastfeeding for the first four years and beyond of the baby鈥檚 life. So, we spoke with local mothers and Elders to understand recent experiences and what support actually helps.鈥
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for babies up to six months, and continued breastfeeding, along with complementary foods for up to two years and beyond.2 However, fewer than 87 percent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers initiate breastfeeding, with that rate reducing sharply to 30 percent between one and six months of age, due to a lack of culturally appropriate support.3
Simone says the women鈥檚 feedback revealed that their breastfeeding challenges were believed to be tied to the impacts of colonisation and historically high rates of child removals, which had contributed to the disruption of passing down of breastfeeding knowledge across generations.
鈥淪ome mums had never seen anyone in their family breastfeed and felt isolated,鈥 Simone says. 鈥淥thers feared judgement or even child removal if they admitted struggling. There is also currently no Aboriginal-specific lactation training in Australia, and existing services are often expensive or considered culturally unsafe.鈥
In response, Simone worked with the community to develop a holistic breastfeeding program. It included weekly mums鈥 groups, Aboriginal health worker support, lactation-trained GPs, free pumps with breastmilk education, and a Facebook group plus after-hours phone support.
鈥淲e also held an on-Country breastfeeding photoshoot and exhibition to inspire more mums, and to bring visibility back to the practice of breastfeeding,鈥 Simone says.
鈥淚n a few months, around 87 percent of the mums had reached their breastfeeding goals 鈥 which were usually to breastfeed for between six and 12 months 鈥 by being surrounded with the right care and support.鈥
The team has also received requests from other communities across NSW to share these initiatives.
Closing the food gap
Simone is now working with PhD candidate Caroline Deen to address a lack of food security data for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, with funding from the University of Sydney鈥檚 Charles Perkins Centre.
Caroline, a proud Kamilaroi woman, has a background in nutrition and dietetics. 鈥淚鈥檓 visiting communities whose voices haven鈥檛 been heard in food security literature,鈥 she says, 鈥渁sking what they think should be measured.鈥
The pair are also collaborating with M膩ori researchers in New Zealand and are hoping to connect with Canadian First Nations researchers.
One issue they have come up against is what Caroline describes as the 鈥渉ighly inappropriate鈥 application of a US-developed food security measurement tool 鈥 the USDA鈥檚 Household Food Security Survey Module 鈥 to the Australian context.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 capture the nuanced experiences of Indigenous peoples,鈥 she explains. 鈥淚t raised concerns, because it asks questions around not being able to feed your children, and that鈥檚 related to reasons that First Nations children were taken away in the past, so a lot of people didn鈥檛 feel safe answering those questions.鈥
Simone adds: 鈥淎 key issue is we don鈥檛 even collect proper food security data in these communities.鈥 There鈥檚 a saying, 鈥楴o data, no problem.鈥 But food insecurity has been a very big problem for a long time.
鈥淚 hope our work will inform monitoring and evaluation of food security 鈥 and hopefully, the development of appropriate strategies and targets 鈥 to contribute to building more reliable food systems across Australia.鈥
Caroline Deen (left) and Dr Simone Sherriff (right) are exploring community鈥憀ed solutions to address food insecurity in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
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LinkSources
2. World Health Organisation, 2025.
3. 2022鈥23 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey