Community
7 June, 2026
Wingecarribee not so wealthy
The Wingecarribee may be viewed as a ‘wealthy’ area – but the perception is far from reality according to Jodie Watson from the Highland Community Centres.
The Wingecarribee may be viewed as a ‘wealthy’ area – but the perception is far from reality according to Jodie Watson from the Highland Community Centres.
Speaking at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Southern Highlands Community Forum, Mrs Watson said more than 20 per cent of households across the shire were considered ‘low-income’.
Most of those households were single parent families, older residents, people living with disability, carers and young people try to stay connected to education and employment.
And the cost-of-living crisis is hurting people in the Wingecarribee as much as it is anywhere else.
Over the last 12 months she said Highland Community Centres had recorded a significant increase in emergency relief requests – particularly for food, fuel and essential bills.
More families were experiencing housing instability due to rising rents, evictions or simply giving up their leases and there were more people sleeping in cars, couch serving or living in overcrowded accommodation.
Mrs Watson said there had also been an increase in transport-related hardship with people unable to attend medical appointments or community programs because they have been unable to afford fuel.
More and more older residents have been unable to keep up with utilities, medical costs and basic living expenses.
Mrs Watson said there had been double-digit rent increases across regional NSW over the past three years – and Wingecarribee had exceeded that trend.
Many local families were now spending well over 30 per cent of their income on housing – the recognised threshold for financial stress.
The median rent in the Wingecarribee is now $670 per week.
Food insecurity has also risen sharply with National Foodbank data indicating that one in three households struggle to afford groceries.
“Families who once needed occasional support are now returning regularly because they simply cannot keep up,” Mrs Watson said.
In the past year alone Highlands Community Centres has provided $17,300 in Energy Accounts Payment Assistance (EAPA), 28-30 food boxes every week, 120 Rapid Relief boxes containing non-perishable food and personal care items and 178 no-interest loans for essential items such as white goods, technology, vehicle repairs, registration and insurance.
Nationally, The Salvation Army has warned that Australia’s cost-of-living crisis is spiralling into an emergency for the nation’s most marginalist people.
A survey of 4400 people seeking emergency relief from The Salvation Army revealed that nearly one in five people surveyed (19 per cent) had eaten from bins and three in five (60 per cent) had eaten expired or spoiled food in the past 12 months.
The report found that 91 per cent had skipped meals in the past 12 months and almost one third (32 per cent) said this happened daily.
One third (35 per cent) said they survived on one meal a day.
The report highlighted widespread ‘energy poverty’, with 84 per cent of respondents going to bed early to keep warm, 63 per cent living in darkness - relying on candles and torches - and almost half (49 per cent) using public places such as shopping centres to avoid using electricity at home.
Medical care is also increasingly out of reach with over half (51 per cent) unable to afford to see a doctor, dentist or optometrist, 46 per cent unable to afford prescription medication and one quarter (25 per cent) relying on hospital emergency departments instead of visiting a GP.
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