Food security status

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Security Model was used in the IHMHS (USDA 2025). This tool is widely used and well-recognised globally and therefore Australian data collected using this method can be compared internationally:

• The questions were asked of a household spokesperson aged 18 years or over, on behalf of all members of the household.
• The specific experiences of children in the household do not form part of this measure.
• Minor modifications were made to the wording used in some questions to improve their ability to be understood and interpreted in the Australian context.

Food security status was collected in the following collections:

• National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (NATSIHS) 2022–23
• National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (NNPAS) 2023
• National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (NATSINPAS) 2023.

Results for the Australian population are available as a part of the NNPAS 2023. Food security status data of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are available as a part of the NATSIHS 2022–23.

The collection of information using the UDSA Food Security Model is a change to how food security data was collected in the Australian Health Survey (AHS) 2011–13 as it was agreed that the definition of food security used in the 2023 surveys should be broadened to reflect the complexity of factors affecting food security and the different impacts/outcomes of food insecurity in Australia (Dryland et al 2020; Seivwright et al. 2020; Temple 2020). As the set of food security questions has been updated, results are not comparable to the AHS 2011–13.

Researchers wanting to do analysis on food security data within the DataLab should consider their research requirements, sample size and availability of other data on the file. Further advice on which files should be used for this topic can be requested from the ABS (health@abs.gov.au).

Dryland R, Carroll J-A, Gallegos D (2020), Moving beyond Coping to Resilient Pragmatism in Food Insecure Households, Journal of Poverty; 25(3): 1-18, accessed 25/07/2025.

Seivwright AN, Callis Z, Flatau P (2020), Food Insecurity and Socioeconomic Disadvantage in Australia, Int J Environ Res Public Health; 17(2):559, accessed 25/07/2025.

Temple JB, Booth S, Pollard CM (2019), Social Assistance Payments and Food Insecurity in Australia: Evidence from the Household Expenditure Survey, Int J Env Res Pub Health (16):455, accessed 25/07/2025.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) (2025), Food security in the US – survey tools, USDA, accessed 25/07/2025.