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Stretched to breaking point: Coffs Harbour community services unite as fuel and cost-of-living crises bite
More than 60 per cent of low-income households across the Coffs Harbour-Grafton region are in housing stress and frontline services are stretched thin. This is the backdrop and set to be a key focus of a Local Connect Forum, the NSW Council of Social Service (NCOSS) is convening in Coffs Harbour on Tuesday 19 May 2026.
NCOSS, in partnership with the Gurehlgam Corporation and Blue Sky Community Services, will bring together NGOs, local councils, and social service and community health providers to discuss the region’s most pressing challenges and potential solutions, including a coordinated response to the fuel and cost-of-living crisis.
Local services have reported rising demand for support, with many people seeking help for the first time. Across the Coffs Harbour- Grafton area:
- 60.9 percent of households are in housing stress
- 70 percent name food as one of their top three cost pressures
- 17 percent are living in poverty – higher than the state average across every single age group.*
NCOSS CEO Cara Varian said the scale of need is outpacing what services can deliver.
“Higher fuel costs are punishing already stretched household budgets in regional NSW. Rent is through the roof. Grocery bills continue to climb. And the social and community services holding people up are being asked to do more with less, for longer,” Ms Varian said.
“When fuel prices spike, regional people don’t just pay more at the pump. The ripple effect is they have to reduce or lose access to health appointments. They lose connection to family and community. They lose work. And often children’s school attendance is impacted. Geography is shaping disadvantage in this state, and the response has not matched the scale of what’s happening on the ground.”
Ms Varian said the forum was an opportunity for frontline organisations and their staff to share their challenges, build new networks and learn about best-practice solutions to better support communities and their needs.