Responding Well in Challenging Times

We are deeply grateful, as Loaves and Fishes Tasmania, for the Tasmanian Government’s recent investment into the food relief sector.

This $500,000 commitment is a meaningful and timely response to what many in our communities are experiencing right now. We are one of a number of organisations, both large and small, who have been entrusted with a portion of this funding, and we do not take that lightly.

There will be voices that say more is needed. And in many ways, they are right.

But there is also a deeper reality we need to acknowledge. In this season, there will not be enough resources to maintain everything as it once was. Government support is critical, but it is not limitless, and it was never designed to carry the full weight of community need.

It is also important to be clear about what we are seeing.

We are not stepping away from people in crisis. That remains central to who we are and how we serve.

At the same time, we are not currently seeing a significant increase in direct demand through our services. What we are seeing is a significant increase in the cost of operating, and we are hearing the same from many of the community organisations we walk alongside across Tasmania.

We are also aware of those who are experiencing food insecurity but are not accessing traditional food relief. This hidden need matters, and we are working with communities to better understand and respond to it.

We are also seeing the pressure being carried by farmers and producers. In many ways, they are bearing the weight of what is happening across the system.

This is not just a food relief issue. It is a food system challenge.

So the question for us is not just what has been given, but how we respond.

At Loaves and Fishes Tasmania, our response is shaped by our values.

One of those values is Innovation and Adaptability, embracing new ways of working as needs evolve. Another is Servanthood, walking alongside people and communities, not just delivering services to them. These are not abstract ideas. They guide our decisions every day.

This means we do not simply deliver services into communities, but work alongside them, listening, responding, and building solutions together. That is where dignity is formed, and where lasting change begins.

In this season, that means being intentional.

It means ensuring that the support we help provide across Tasmania is not just reactive, but shaped with communities, targeted, reaching people in ways that are thoughtful, dignified, and connected to longer term outcomes.

It also means continuing to build and strengthen practical models that are already making a difference, including our social wholesale approach, targeted distribution, cross subsidisation, and place based partnerships, working with communities across Tasmania to develop unique, locally shaped solutions.

We will be doing this immediately through our community partners, right across Tasmania.

We are also seeing more clearly that the challenge in front of us is not just about food supply, but about the strength and resilience of the food system itself.

Food insecurity is not simply about having enough food. It is about having access to food that is nutritious, appropriate, and sustaining over time.

This is where our focus continues to grow. Not only responding to immediate need, but strengthening local food systems, supporting access to fresh and seasonal produce, and ensuring that dignity includes the quality of what people receive, not just the quantity.

Relief matters, but on its own, it will never be enough.

This is why we are continuing to meet immediate demand, while also building our social food wholesaler, supporting social supermarkets, and investing in creative, innovative, place based solutions with communities across Tasmania.

We want to make the most of this investment, not just to respond now, but to help position communities for what comes next.

Because getting through this moment matters.

But building something more resilient on the other side matters even more.

Andrew Hillier

CEO, Loaves and Fishes Tasmania