Calls to cap food prices in remote communities after essential goods were found to be twice as expensive as urban equivalents

Consumer advocates want to see price ceilings for staples in Australia’s remote communities after mystery shopping revealed they cost twice as much as in some capital cities.

The remote work was conducted by consumer advocacy organization CHOICE in four Western Australian and Northern Territory First Nations community stores.

The findings follow similar reports from communities in the Kimberley earlier this year; here local people paid twice the price for fuel and basic foodstuffs compared to the cities.

The development of the National Strategy for Food Security in Remote First Nations Communities by the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) is expected to be completed by 2025.

Their shopping carts contained nine basic items, including apples, flour, whole milk and ground beef.

The research found the average price of nine essential items at Woolworths, Coles, Aldi and IGA across all Australian capital cities was $44.70.

In four remote communities, this cost was more than twice as high as $99.38.

Products are mislabeled or not labeled at all

CHOICE investigative reporter Jarni Blakkarly traveled to the NT’s Tiwi Islands and said he found a huge disparity between remote pricing and capital cities like Melbourne.

“We found that price tags on the shelves often did not match the produce available there, or sometimes had no price indication at all on fresh fruits and vegetables,” he said.

Mr. Blakkarly said the human impact of food insecurity is significant for communities facing high prices at grocery stores.

“It was quite common for people to tell me that they often had to skip a meal or two on the weekend because they didn’t have enough money to buy food or had to rely on friends or family.” in question.

Mr Blakkarly said CHOICE would give evidence next month to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s investigation into supermarkets, including findings from the remote community report.

“When it comes to essential items, we think the government may have a role to play in helping reduce the costs of delivering them to these remote communities,” he said.

The “stark difference” in pricing was clear to Mr. Blakkarly, where the city price was around $2.50 in the Tiwi Islands, where a can of canned soup was $7.

Mr Blakkarly said mandatory price information on all products and unit pricing was needed to help customers make the best decisions on food purchasing.

While Mr Blakkarly acknowledged the challenge of cost-of-living issues across the country, he said the findings in the report highlighted how these challenges were affecting remote communities.

“There’s a group of people who live in these remote First Nations communities who are making it that much more difficult when it comes to being able to afford to put healthy, quality food in front of their families,” he said.

Call for government to cap remote prices

Boandik woman and Mob Strong Debt Help financial advisor Bettina Cooper travels to remote communities for help and sees rising prices firsthand.

Ms Cooper said healthy products were often underpriced, forcing people to leave them on the shelf to avoid embarrassment at the checkout if they didn’t have enough cash.

“Usually the option is one store, that’s it. No other stores. No public transportation,” he said.

“What you have in that store is what you have.”

Ms Cooper said there were currently no regulatory laws that could protect people from higher costs and no mandate for remote pricing.

He said it’s important for the federal government to make sure remote stores display prices, price monitoring tools and price caps for essentials.

“We’re talking about more than 150,000 First Nations people living in remote communities.”