MEDIA RELEASE: 99% of people seeking asylum Australia has transferred to Nauru are not able to access enough food

Media Release, Monday 20 July 2026

Thirteen years after Australia reintroduced offshore processing on Nauru, almost every person seeking asylum interviewed by the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) said they cannot afford enough food, despite Australia spending nearly $1 billion on offshore detention in the last financial year.

The shocking findings come as the 19th July marks 13 years of Australia’s offshore processing policy, and are based on interviews with 78 of the approximately 91 people seeking asylum living at RPC-3 or in community accommodation on Nauru. Covering the experiences of more than 85% of this group, the evidence-based research provides a rare insight into conditions within an offshore processing system that operates largely out of public view.

The research found:

• 99% could not buy enough food with the allowance they receive
• 68% rarely or never had access to fresh fruit, vegetables and meat
• 82% did not have easy access to free, clean drinking water
• Many reported regularly skipping meals, significant weight loss, fatigue and worsening mental health.

Most people seeking asylum living in the community in Nauru survive on an allowance of $260 AUD per fortnight and are denied the right to work, leaving them unable to meet their basic needs. The interviews have also uncovered additional issues leading to people not being able to access enough food, including violence perpetrated against them when they visit the shops or try to fish to supplement their diet.

People described regularly skipping meals, reducing portion sizes and surviving on rice or even just dry biscuits after running out of money. Others reported eating discarded or expired food because the alternative was going hungry. One participant had lost 16 kilograms since arriving on Nauru, while another said he was only eating one meal a day so that the food he has can last over the fortnight.

The research also found that most people do not have reliable access to free, clean drinking water. Respondents described having requests for water filters denied, boiling and cooling water to drink, and being unable to purchase clean water because of the expense.

The findings stand in stark contrast to the cost of Australia’s offshore processing regime. Since 2012, offshore detention has cost Australian taxpayers more than $14.35 billion, and over the last financial year spending has blown out by over $400 million to nearly a billion dollars.

The findings are published in the ASRC’s new report Hungry for Freedom: Food deprivation among people seeking asylum on Nauru.

Jana Favero, Deputy CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre said: 

“The Albanese Government has paid an outrageous sum of nearly one billion dollars of taxpayer money to private companies running offshore detention over the past year, yet the people it sent to Nauru don’t even have enough food to eat. This raises serious concerns about where all that money is going.”

“The offshore detention system is completely broken. Even the most basic standards of safety and human dignity are not being met, and there is no excuse. We know we are responsible and that this system destroys people’s physical and mental health, and now we have evidence that people are also being deprived of enough food to eat. The Albanese Government is failing in its duty of care and violating the basic human rights of people it has sent to Nauru.”

Mohammed* a person seeking asylum transferred to Nauru said:

“When I’m hungry, I feel tired, dizzy and too weak. I don’t feel normal. It increases sadness. I’m not angry at the government or the process, I just want to have enough to eat.”

*name changed to protect identity

For media enquiries or interviews, contact:
Natasha Blucher on 0412 034 821 or media@asrc.org.au