Speaker 1 0:00
Welcome to a Vision Australia radio podcast. Love our podcasts. Why not listen to us live, tune in anywhere, anytime, ask your smart device to play Vision Australia radio, or visit va radio.org
Speaker 2 0:21
on the Vision Australia and reading radio networks. This is the Powerd news, rap, G'day.
Sam Rickard 0:26
I'm Sam Rickard. It's the 26th of November, 2025 and we're reading articles from the Powerd dot media website. Joining me as usual, seeing across the from the counter from me is Emma Myers. G'day, Emma, hello. All right, so we've got a particularly cheerful episode today, but you're not actually here due to the magic of radio. You're somewhere else. Maybe you can tell us where you actually are right now, in theory, or going well, assuming you get the right flights and all that sort
Emma Myers 0:55
of stuff. So I'm actually at the driving change summit, which is a conference for people with disability in the film and media industry, so I'm here for the entire week.
Sam Rickard 1:10
That sounds like fun, actually. So I'm quite envious of you. All right. So on to slightly less cheerful things. We are looking at affordability of food. I'm lucky that we're now on a reasonable income so that we don't necessarily have to worry about this. But of course, it's a problem among the disability community.
Emma Myers 1:31
Yeah, so two in three civilian households with a member who has a disability are going hungry because the cost of living is so high, and a lot of people are saying that, you know, food insecurity is obviously not great because the cost of food is so high in this day and age, and when you add disability and all The costs that come along with having a disability, on top of the price of food, it can make things extraordinarily difficult, and you end up missing out on meals. Well, I mean,
Sam Rickard 2:12
you were talking to a gentleman with type two diabetes, and he does require a specific diet, which is also more expensive, yes.
Emma Myers 2:19
So we all know that junk food is cheaper because it's easily manufactured. There's not much effort put into it, whether, whether elements such as fruit and veggies, they're often extraordinarily pricey. But for people with type two diabetes, that's the kind of food that they require to be able to live a healthier lifestyle. And the guy that I was talking to also had to worry about putting food on the table for two kids, so he was saying that he actually skips more than two meals a week just to be able to feed your kids.
Sam Rickard 3:03
Well, I mean, people with health issues, I mean, this is a major issue, because you do require nourishment. I mean, you can't skipping a meal is not a luxury. It's, it's, it's doing harm, yeah.
Emma Myers 3:16
I mean, we all know that we need food to survive. But in this day and age, that doesn't seem to be enough to sway the government to cut food prices.
Sam Rickard 3:30
I actually like the suggestion also we had here on a tax incentive to recycle food, as it were, that's an interesting approach to things, where organizations like food bank would actually come into their own.
Emma Myers 3:44
I mean, it's interesting, because I thought we were already doing that. I thought that growth with shops were giving food to food bank and odds harvest and all of these other food charities. But apparently not enough.
Sam Rickard 4:01
Well, that's, again, a case of, yes, it's, it's a real, major concern. And I think we can keep an eye on this one, and I'm sure we're going to hear more in the near future. And now with the news, it's John Hocking,
Speaker 2 4:14
as the cost of living crisis worsens, almost half of Australian renters with disability were found to have struggled to put food on the table over the past 12 months, according to the food bank hunger report 2025 the food bank hunger report, an annual survey tracking Australia's food insecurity crisis, revealed that cost of living pressures remain the number One concern for one in three households, followed by housing and the broader economy. When factoring in disability or health conditions, the figures rose to two in three households according to the 2025 survey for those living with disability, a lack of financial resources, difficulty affording nutrition. As food and hidden costs associated with disability can often mean skipping meals, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Victorian father Jai Haines is a First Nations man living with an acquired brain injury and type two diabetes. He says skipping meals allows him to provide for his children, but comes at a dangerous cost. The food for my diabetes is so expensive that I can't even afford to buy what I need. I'm going into hypers because the price of everything he believes the government should introduce food vouchers so the disability community doesn't miss out on vital nutrition. Stop this food wastage. Give it to the people. You don't have to give money, but at least give food vouchers. I would prefer food vouchers than money. Mr. Haynes says Carl cost is a community connector for Bendigo, community health services, providing social services for people with disability and complex mental health needs experiencing a disadvantage. He says there is a large intersectionality between disability and homelessness. Rental properties are scarce in our area for people with disability, many live in boarding houses, which charge up to 75 per cent of the Disability Support Pension for accommodation and bills. The community worker argues that the current rental economy leaves the disability community with very little money to purchase quality food that provides adequate nourishment. They rely on welfare services, he says, Food Bank Australia, CEO Kylea Tink is calling on the government to work with Food Bank to minimize the impact food insecurity has on Australian families. Food insecurity doesn't discriminate, says ms Tink, Australians are doing everything right, working, budgeting, seeking help, yet, still they go hungry. This is a failure of policy, not people. We need coordinated national action now to counter the food insecurity crisis. Ms Tink is urging the federal government to adopt the National Food Donation tax incentive and an immediate cash injection of $5 million to assist with natural disaster preparedness. The food bank CEO claims the suggested National Food Donation tax incentive would make it cost effective and easier for farmers, growers and manufacturers, to donate edible surplus produce to food relief organizations, instead of sending it to landfill, a national food donation tax incentive is not a radical suggestion. It would deliver enough food for the equivalent of 100 million meals, saving producers and businesses money and help to halve food waste by 2030 for now, the food bank CEO says Australians will continue to struggle until the government commit to positive change toward food insecurity. Food insecurity can be eradicated, but the federal government must step up lead and take smart action to ensure Australians are not going hungry. The following story contains materials that may be harmful or traumatizing to some people. Listener, discretion is advised many within the disability community would be interested to hear the recommended solution for those with disability who also live with subsequent mental health conditions outlined in the review of the national mental health and suicide prevention agreement, which was released by the Productivity Commission yesterday, listing areas that are falling behind within the mental health sector, the report identified costs, wait times, workforce shortages, as well as inadequate and unresponsive crisis support as the key elements in need of improvement. The review of the national mental health and suicide prevention agreement presented a recommendation that state and territory governments take immediate responsibility in addressing the gap which affects 500,000 people with psychosocial conditions outside of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. People with disability are three times more likely to die by suicide than those without disability with a suicide rate of over 33% and higher likelihood for LGBTIQ A plus people with disability, according to people with disability Australia, according to people with disability Australia, mental health conditions can be both a cause and effect of disability. The organization also says it views people with mental health conditions. Actions as people with psychosocial disability, and argues that the suicide rate of people with disability is higher than noted in the current statistics show. Minister for Health disability and aging, Mark Butler claims the government is committed to working with states and territories advocacy organizations and people with lived experience to shape the future of mental health and suicide prevention in Australia, this is an opportunity to reset and get this right. We must amplify the voices of people with lived experience and ensure future arrangements present a clear long term vision for improving mental health outcomes and reducing suicide according to a statement released by the Department of Health, the government is investing $7.8 billion in mental health and suicide prevention over the next year, Minister butler will bring the report to the next health ministers meeting to begin discussions on future arrangements in due course, if this story has raised issues for you and you would like support, you can call lifeline on one, three, double, 114, or beyond blue on 1300 224636,
Sam Rickard 11:16
thank you, John. There is a lot to take out of that last story, and I will reiterate to our listeners, we've given out the phone numbers for lifeline. If you do have any concerns, give them a call, because they do a fantastic service, and we want you to keep listening to us. So how did you approach this story? I mean, what? How? What was the first inkling of this coming about?
Emma Myers 11:44
Yeah, so the federal government released its review into the mental health and suicide prevention agreement specifically because they want to do more to improve the outcomes of people with mental health and people who were suicidal. But the thing is, the statistics are really quite shocking. Sam I mean, people in the disability community are three times more likely to die by their own hand than those without disability. But in saying that there is a silver lining, one of the recommendations from the review said that the government should invest in more funding for mental health services for people with psychosocial disability who aren't already on the NDIS? Well, I think that's an
Sam Rickard 12:42
important thing as well, because, I mean, I mean, we've done a story recently on the attempts to get people with various conditions onto the NDIS, because it's seen as a disability in on itself, but if you can't get on there, you still need support, yeah. But the other, other other part of this story I found fascinating is that of cause and effect and Effect and Cause, as it were, sometimes having a mental illness, can be the cause of you acquiring a disability. But also, I don't know, I I've had my own issues over the years, and it's been related largely not to having a disability, but to people's reaction to that disability. So I'd say that if you poke the disability community hard enough, you'll find a large proportion of us have had issues relating to things just simply because of life itself. So yeah,
Emma Myers 13:39
and I'll agree with you on that, Sam, because I've had something similar. And, you know, I've dealt with my mental health. I live with depression and anxiety, and I have done since 2011 and I've been to a few psychologists, and I've only just found one who treats my mental health first and does it and assume that I have a mental health condition because I have a disability, but rather the experiences I've had because of people's reaction to my disability. Indeed.
Sam Rickard 14:20
I mean, that's and I think that's an important one thing to talk about. That's probably a whole different topic that we could talk forever about. But in the meantime, once more, we have run out of time. What are you working on for next week's show?
Emma Myers 14:35
I've got a few interviews with ambassadors for the internet. You know they have disability coming up.
Sam Rickard 14:42
Well, I believe also you have a interview with the Minister for Disability and the NDIS, Jenny McAllister as well, which we do as you were talking in the process of working on there's a lot to unpack with with all of that. And I think that there's some topics there. I think that really our listeners would be quite interested. To hear about anyway. That is a wrap for this rap. Bye. For now, bye.
Speaker 2 15:04
You can find these articles and more by going to Powerd, spelled P, O, W, E, R, D, dot media, along with the podcast of this show, the Powerd news rap was brought to you by disability media Australia. This show was produced by Sam Rickard in the Adelaide studios of vision, Australia radio. Sam.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
