“Quality food is too expensive to afford”: 1 in 2 Tasmanians are food insecure in 2022 due to the rising cost of living

The Tasmania Project Cost of Living Survey (TTP8) was open between 21 September and 9 October 2022. The survey asked respondents, Tasmanians aged 18 and over, a variety of questions about how they were coping with rising costs of living (for an overview of the full survey results see the report by Seivwright & Kocar (2022)). The survey also used the USDA Household Food Security Survey Module 6-item short form to determine the prevalence and severity of food insecurity. The methodology for measuring and calculating food security status, including the survey questions, is outlined at the end of this report. A total of 1,284 responses were collected. The sample was more than two-thirds female (67.8%), skewed older (53.0% aged 55 and over), and educated (87.3% with post-secondary qualifications). Half the sample resided in the Hobart Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4), 19.5% in Launceston and North East, 17.8% in West and North West and 11.1% in South East. The data were weighted against these variables to ensure that the sample is more demographically representative of Tasmanian residents, overall. For detailed information about the methodology used to weight the data, please see the accompanying Technical Report (Kocar, 2022). All results presented in tables and figures in this report are based on weighted data.