Supermarket profits could feed 1.5m needy Australian children

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 18 Oct, 20:31 · Archive

Australia's two largest supermarkets made combined profits of $5.3 billion in 2025/26, enough to feed up to 1.5 million children in poverty, a think tank says.

A Greens-affiliated think tank says the combined profits of Coles and Woolworths could feed up to 1.5 million needy children annually. The Green Institute calculated their combined supermarket profits at $5.3 billion in 2025/26, set against an estimated annual cost of $2.5 billion to $3.3 billion to feed Australia's 757,000 to one million children living in poverty, based on an average of around $60 per child per week.

Coles and Woolworths profits have surged by 58 and 41 per cent respectively since 2019, while real wages declined by 6 per cent, the institute said. A poll commissioned by the think tank found one in five parents in Australia had sent their children to school without enough to eat in the past 12 months.

The Green Institute is using the analysis to support its case for a government-owned supermarket chain modelled on New York stores selling cheap groceries. Green Institute executive director Max Chandler-Mather said the research backed the think tank's push to establish such a chain. The proposal would involve the Commonwealth buying 200 Coles and Woolworths stores and opening more than 400 additional shops.

How it is being reported

• Supermarket profits could feed 1.5m needy kidsThe profits from Woolworths and Coles in one year could feed up to 1.5 million children, according to a think tank pushing for publicly owned supermarkets.Perth Now · 18 Oct, 20:02
• Supermarket profits could feed 1.5m needy kidsThe profits from Woolworths and Coles in one year could feed up to 1.5 million children, according to a think tank pushing for publicly owned supermarkets.The West Australian · 18 Oct, 20:02

In this story: Coles · Woolworths · Green Institute · Max Chandler-Mather · Australia

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