Supermarket giants could solve childhood poverty with one major fix, report finds

Bob Hawke’s famous hope that “no Australian child need live in poverty” could finally be delivered if Coles and Woolworths used their profits to buy food for disadvantaged children, a new report has claimed. 

The analysis from the Green Institute – the Greens political party’s think tank – found that the two supermarket giants’ profits are enough to pay the food bill for every Australian child living in poverty, with change to spare.

While official figures differ, the Smith Family believes 1.2 million children and young people – or one in six nationally – are living in poverty, a higher rate than New Zealand, Germany and Ireland. 

Consumer comparison website Finder estimates the total yearly food costs for a child is $3305, which means it would cost about $4 billion to feed every child living in poverty. 

In the 2025-26 financial year, the combined profits of Coles’ ($2.37 billion) and Woolworths’ ($2.95 billion) supermarket divisions totalled $5.3 billion. 

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However, the two giants claim their margins are reducing. Coles said it makes less than 3 cents on the dollar in profit. 

The institute’s report is the left-wing outfit’s latest push for publicly owned supermarkets, which it claims would slash grocery bills by 30 per cent, an idea currently being rolled out by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. 

Green Institute executive director and former federal member of parliament Max Chandler-Mather accused Coles and Woolworths of pushing an increasing number of Australian families into poverty with rising prices.

“What kind of political and economic system lets kids starve while supermarket bosses get filthy rich?” Chandler-Mather said. 

“Coles and Woolies profit levels are now so excessive, they make enough money that they could feed each of the million Aussie children living in poverty for the entire year and still have billions of dollars left over.

“Every day politicians sit on their hands and allow Coles and Woolies to run rampant is another day these politicians choose to put the mega profits of their corporate donors above ensuring every kid has enough food to eat.”

The report claims that Coles and Woolworths’ supermarket profits have been enough to feed every Australian child living in poverty since 2020.

As it stands, Australia will not meet its commitment under the UN Sustainable Development Goal to reduce the nation’s poverty rate by half by 2030. 

The Smith Family has advocated for the creation of an official national poverty line, which does not currently exist.