Shirley Napurrula Miller, an Alice Springs grandmother who receives a disability pension, told the ABC she struggles to afford groceries between pay cheques, with the cost of food 'too high'.
'Sometimes I can't buy groceries, or meat, or anything,' she said. 'I just live on noodles.'
The NTCOSS report, released today, examines changes in the cost of living between 2016 and 2026 across key spending areas of housing, utilities, transport and food. It shows that many Territorians are being forced to make impossible money decisions, weighing up what they must prioritise to live.
Using estimates from Foodbank Australia, the report found that 46 per cent of NT households experienced food insecurity in 2025, above the national average of 33 per cent. In remote areas, the cost of food is even more prohibitive than in urban centres such as Darwin and Alice Springs, with the average cost of a healthy food basket 40 per cent more in remote stores than in a supermarket in 2023.
The 10-year comparison found that while incomes have increased in real terms, the cost of essentials has too, making it harder for everyone, especially those on low incomes, to meet basic needs.
Power costs have risen 18 per cent. Those on prepaid plans, predominantly First Nations people in urban and remote public housing, are having their electricity cut off more frequently, with an average of 2,284 more disconnections per month last year compared with 2019 to 2020. The report recorded 103,648 involuntary self-disconnections in major centres in the NT last year.
Compounding the pressure, the report states that the prepaid electricity price is higher than for standard postpaid billing to account for customers not paying a fixed daily charge. 'Affordability challenges are a key driver of such disconnections,' it says, noting that being without power for extended periods can have a significant impact on people's health and wellbeing.