News and Media
Here you’ll find news, announcements, and media releases from ACTCOSS and the Gulanga Program, along with major community sector news.
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2024 ACT Budget lacks decisive action to meet cost-of-living crisis
Decisive action is required to help Canberrans doing it tough through the cost-of-living crisis. While the ACT Budget contains some welcome cost-of-living relief measures, the Budget as a whole does not sufficiently emphasise or help people being pushed to the economic margins. To be most effective for Canberrans in need, the Budget needed to target […]
National Reconciliation Week 2024
National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. The National Reconciliation Week theme for 2024, Now More Than Ever, is a reminder to all of us that no matter what, the […]
The Choice at the 2024 ACT Election
As the ACT’s election season gets underway, it is important to think about the process of the election, and what the ACT needs from this process. The election can be a contest of bold ideas about the sort of society we want, or a series of largely unsubstantiated assertions about which party can deliver city […]
Let’s tear down this housing policy and completely rebuild
For an alarming proportion of Canberrans, securing and keeping appropriate housing is a struggle that is too often unsuccessful. A quarter of a century ago, young adults worried about whether they could afford to buy a house, but for many that concern is now about whether they can afford to rent an apartment. A growing number […]
10,000 new public housing dwellings welcome
The ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) responded to today’s announcement by the ACT Greens of an election commitment to build and buy 10,000 new public housing dwellings in ten years. “ACTCOSS calls on all parties and candidates to commit to similarly transformative change of the ACT’s housing system,” said Dr Devin Bowles. “Business as […]
Woolworths incident evokes the spirit of Robin Hood
Earlier this week, my children witnessed a man hastily push a trolley loaded with groceries out of Woolworths, skipping payment at self-checkout. While no one in my family had seen anything similar before a couple of years ago, it is now a semi-regular occurrence. I’ve been wrestling with how to help my kids interpret this. […]
How long can the climate safety net hold?
The golden period between Christmas and New Year’s Day has traditionally been a time when Australians relaxed and recharged for the year ahead. As climate change worsens, this period of respite will be viewed differently by today’s children, who will come to associate it with predictably unpredictable extreme weather events. This year, many in Queensland were […]
If nothing is done, we’ll be waving goodbye to middle-class Australia
There is growing understanding about the depth and extent of the Australian cost-of-living crisis, which is driving thousands of working families into poverty. It is less well appreciated that the most dramatic effects of the crisis will be in permanently remaking economic and social relationships across communities, driving and solidifying inequality. Without decisive government intervention, […]