A $5 subsidised canteen launched by  the University of Melbourne in Semester 1 is struggling to meet  demand, with students facing long queues and meals selling out hours before closing.

The Campus Canteen, designed to ease financial pressure on students amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, has quickly become a flashpoint for concerns about food insecurity on campus. Student leaders say its popularity highlights a problem the University can no longer ignore.

‘We were telling them all last year how big the need was,’ says University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU) President Joshua Stagg, who was an UMSU Welfare Officer at the time. ‘Now that the queues are stretching out the door, they finally get it.’

Stagg describes how the canteen is operated through the Students and Scholarly Services division and funded by the Student Services and Amenities Fee, a compulsory student charge. While students cover the cost through this fee, the University does not profit, and the service is expected to run at a loss.

The vendor, already used by some residential colleges, according to Stagg, offers meals at $5 for students and $12 for non-students, with the student price locked for 2025 and future increases tied to inflation.

But rapid uptake has raised logistical concerns. First-year commerce student Aishah Kayani says she has yet to successfully get a meal.

‘I’ve tried to go a few times, but the line quite literally stretches outside onto the street,’ she says. ‘The deal sounds really good, $5 for a meal, but I end up just eating nothing. In the morning, the line’s too long, and by the afternoon, the food’s already sold out.’

Others say the canteen has provided rare relief from the financial stress of university life.

‘Throughout my degree, I never considered food something I’d struggle to afford, but it became just another financial burden,’ says third-year science student Sarah Ibrahimi. ‘The canteen has helped alleviate that pressure. For once, there’s an affordable option on campus.’

‘When students line up in person, it becomes a protest in real time’

UMSU has been pushing for such initiatives for years. In 2024, the union released its Campus in Crisis report, which finds that 88% of surveyed students earn below the poverty line, over a quarter report $100 or less in savings and nearly half say they have gone hungry during class because they cannot afford a meal. Stagg says the report was a turning point.

‘I’d been telling the university students were going hungry, but it was easy to ignore without hard data,’ he said. ‘That report gave us the proof. We took it to the elected representatives, Deputy Vice-Chancellors and directors, and said: this problem exists whether you want to talk about it or not.’

The switch from online to in-person food queues at Union Mart, the free grocery service run by the UMSU Welfare Department, also helped make the issue visible. That shift, introduced by then-Welfare Officers Stagg and Divyanshi Sati, was a deliberate move to highlight the scale of student need.

‘Our power isn’t what it used to be. Student unions used to be independently funded. Now we rely on money from the University ... And we’re doing work they don’t always like, because part of our job is asking for change.’

‘When students line up in person, it becomes a protest in real time,’ Stagg says. ‘That’s what we saw with Union Mart and now with the canteen; hundreds of students lining up shows just how bad it is.’

A University spokesperson says the Campus Canteen is currently serving 500–600 meals a day between 8am and 8pm on weekdays. ‘The current location is a pilot for the next few years. ‘We will be opening a Southbank Campus Canteen in 2025, and have longer term ambitions for a larger scale Parkville canteen in a central location on campus,’ they say. ‘The University has been working closely with students to address food insecurity with several established food relief programs in addition to the recently opened Campus Canteen.’

Stagg confirmed that while the canteen is a pilot program, it is influencing long-term planning.

‘This isn’t meant to be permanent — but it’s already changing how the University thinks about future campus development,’ he says. ‘They didn’t expect it to be this successful. It’s forced a real shift.’

While the canteen is not driven by commercial profit, its current space is limited. Staff are still adjusting to demand, and options like expanded serving windows are being explored. A larger, more permanent version is under discussion, though no details have been announced.

UMSU is also lobbying for systemic reforms. In 2024, while Stagg was serving as Welfare Officer, the Union presented to a Victorian parliamentary inquiry into food insecurity. It is now preparing a briefing for state MPs ahead of the next election.

‘Our power isn’t what it used to be,’ Stagg said. ‘Student unions used to be independently funded. Now we rely on money from the University, which controls how much we get. And we’re doing work they don’t always like, because part of our job is asking for change.