Families going without food and medicine to pay the bills Familes under pressure: A new report has found that some of the country's poorest families are going without the basics in order to pay their power bills. Some of Australia's poorest families are skipping meals and selling possessions to pay their power bills, a new report has found. Research by Lynne Chester from the University of Sydney found 75 per cent of low income families were reducing their expenditure on food because of soaring energy costs. National electricity prices are projected to rise by 14 per cent this financial year. Electricity prices in NSW have doubled since 2007-08, while gas prices have risen by about 47 per cent over the same time, said the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal. "Some families are under so much pressure, parents are going without meals ... they might skip breakfast and lunch and just eat dinners so they can feed their children," Dr Chester said. The research, based on interviews and data collected from 130 low-income households in Victoria, NSW, Queensland and South Australia, also found that 10 per cent of families had cut back on GP visits and delayed filling prescriptions. Others are selling things to pay energy bills. They've learnt how to use eBay and are selling their possessions," she said. People also reported living in the dark, only using heating and cooling on extreme weather days, watching less TV, and going to bed fully clothed because housing was so cold. The pressure to reduce energy usage was also causing arguments and tensions with children, the report found. Dr Chester's research, presented at a recent Brotherhood of St Laurence seminar, revealed that despite efforts to reduce their energy usage, many low-income households felt it had little impact on their bills. We found that these families had cut and cut their usage and couldn't cut any further and yet their efforts weren't reflected in the bills because prices just keep rising. More than 90 per cent of the research participants were living in rental accommodation and were dependent on pensions and allowances. The report found efforts to reduce bills further were restricted because they rented or lived in public housing. It means they can't make their housing more energy efficient or make repairs to improve efficiencies ... and they can't afford to get more energy efficient appliances. There's a whole lot of barriers to reducing energy use further. She said many respondents felt let down by the energy retailers' hardship programs and were often pressured into repayment arrangements that did not suit their circumstances. The report, to be released this week, calls for more energy efficient public housing and a national review of hardship and concession programs. IPART said there was a 25 per cent increase in the number of disconnections for non-payment of electricity bills in the last financial year, and a 15 per cent rise in gas disconnections. The Energy Retailers Association of Australia defended retailers' hardship plans. "When they run their course, hardship programs can be very effective in not only resolving immediate payment difficulties, but also in helping customers manage their longer term energy costs," said ERAA chief executive Cameron O'Reilly.