13/10/2026
ALMOST 4,000 CHILDREN IN MANDURAH COULD BE LIVING IN POVERTY. 💔
Not somewhere else. Not in another city.
Right here. In our own community.
Two major reports released this week reveal a heartbreaking reality about poverty in Western Australia.
🔹 456,000 Western Australians are living in poverty, including nearly 99,000 children.
🔹 1 in 3 people in single-parent families are living below the poverty line.
🔹 The number of Western Australians living in poverty has increased by 47% in just five years.
And here in Mandurah?
There are 25,253 children and young people living in our community. Applying WA's estimated 2025 child poverty rate of 15.6% suggests almost 4,000 local children could be living below the poverty line.
These are children in our schools. Families in our neighbourhoods. People we pass in the supermarket every day.
And poverty doesn't always look the way you think.
It's working parents who still can't afford groceries. Families choosing between rent and food. Grandparents raising grandchildren on a pension. People doing everything they can, but still falling behind.
FOOD INSECURITY IS OFTEN THE FIRST SIGN THAT A FAMILY IS STRUGGLING.
At Bridge Builders, we see this every single week.
Our Community Food Pantry now supports 125+ families every week, while Backpack Buddies helps ensure hundreds of local children have food over the weekend.
The Return to School Project helps families afford school essentials, and our Birthday in a Box and Gift of Christmas programs provide food and gifts when household budgets are already stretched.
But here's what we really want people to understand.
A food hamper is SO much more than a bag of groceries.
❤️ It's a parent who can pay the electricity bill.
❤️ It's a family who can put money towards overdue rent.
❤️ It's children who have food to eat while Mum or Dad navigates illness, unemployment or an unexpected crisis.
❤️ It's breathing space. Dignity. Relief. And sometimes, the difference between a family coping or falling further into crisis.
Food relief is often the doorway to help.
It creates opportunities to build trust, understand what's happening behind the scenes and connect families with other services and support.
And that's why investing in food security matters.
BUT WE NEED TO ASK SOME BIGGER QUESTIONS.
If poverty keeps rising, despite years of investment in large, established organisations, isn't it time we looked at how and where funding is distributed?
This isn't about taking away from the important work those organisations do.
It's about recognising that we need to tackle poverty from BOTH the top down AND the bottom up.
We need government action on housing affordability, income security, employment and the rising cost of living.
But we ALSO need sustainable investment in the grassroots organisations working directly with families, responding to local needs and providing practical support every day.
We cannot expect grassroots charities to carry an ever-growing need on short-term grants, donations and goodwill alone.
We need genuine partnerships, shared resources and funding that reaches the communities where it's needed most.
SO HERE'S OUR CALL TO ACTION.
👉 To our local MPs and government: Let's work together on a properly funded, coordinated response to food insecurity and poverty across Bindjareb | Peel. Lisa Munday MLA Rhys Williams MLA - State Member for Mandurah David Bolt MLA Luke Herdegen - One Nation Member for Secret Harbour Jessica Stojkovski MLA Matt Swinbourn MLC Tanya Plibersek Andrew Hastie
👉 To our local businesses: Partner with us. Sponsor Backpack Buddies, support our Food Pantry or help us provide essential resources to families doing it tough.
👉 To our community: Donate, volunteer, advocate or simply share this post. Help us make sure these families aren't forgotten.
Because while we work towards long-term solutions, there are families in Mandurah who need to put dinner on the table TONIGHT.
And that matters just as much.
We don't just want to fill empty cupboards. We want to help families find their feet again.
Almost 4,000 local children potentially living in poverty should be a wake-up call for all of us.
Let's stop accepting rising poverty as inevitable and start investing in solutions that make a real difference.
💙 Together, we can build a community where no child goes hungry and no family has to face hardship alone.
Support our work or become a community partner:
🌐 www.bridgebuilders.org.au
Please SHARE this post. These are OUR children, OUR families and OUR community.
Sources: Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre – 2026 Poverty Snapshot;https://bcec.edu.au/assets/2026/10/BCEC-2026-Poverty-snapshot-report_WEB.pdf
Commissioner for Children and Young People WA – Profile of Children and Young People in WA 2026.https://ccyp.wa.gov.au/media/wzbc3m3m/ccyp9552-profile-report-2026-web2.pdf
