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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ACT Budget 2023 – Solid Investments, Time for Greater Collaboration
The ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) has welcomed funding in today’s ACT Budget for housing, homelessness, mental health, and expanded energy concessions. ACTCOSS invites the ACT Government to collaboratively explore where increasing service delivery by non-profit community organisations would enhance the Government’s return on investment. The Budget included previously announced measures of $345m for […]
ACTCOSS releases 2023 ACT Cost of Living Report
Living costs in the ACT have reached their highest levels in twenty years, and women are disproportionately facing the effects of these increases – these are the latest findings in the 2023 ACT Cost of Living Report, released today by the ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS). The report, which tracks the changes in the […]
ACTCOSS welcomes investments to address ACT housing crisis
The ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) has today welcomed the ACT Government’s announcement of $345m in additional funding for housing measures in the 2023-24 ACT Budget. The investment will be spread across public housing growth and renewal, land release and the Affordable Housing Project Fund. ACTCOSS CEO Dr Devin Bowles said: “We congratulate the […]
Cost-of-Living Crisis hits Canberra Community Sector
The ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) has called for more funding for community services to address the cost-of-living crisis following the release of a report highlighting increased demand for support across the ACT. ACOSS’s report, At the Precipice: Australia’s Community Sector through the Cost-of-living Crisis released today, showed that across Australia, increased demand is […]
Urgent action needed to address ACT’s worsening housing and homelessness crisis
The ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) has today joined with ACT Shelter in calling on the ACT and Federal Governments to take urgent action to address the worsening housing crisis in the Territory, following today’s release of a national report showing that Canberra remains the most expensive Australian city for people on low incomes […]
ACT least affordable jurisdiction for renters on low incomes
A report released today has shown that the ACT’s rental affordability is the worst in the country for people on low incomes – and continues to worsen. The Rental Affordability Index report issued jointly by National Shelter, SGS Economics & Planning, Beyond Bank and the Brotherhood of St Laurence highlighted that low-income households in […]
Gulanga Media Release: National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day – “My Dreaming, My Future”
Yesterday, the ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) and the Gulanga Program observed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day, an initiative of SNAICC, first held in 1988. The Gulanga Program acknowledges the significance of this day, and the strength, resilience and endurance of our babies, children and young people. Rachelle Kelly-Church, Head of the […]
ACT Budget – treading water
The ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) has welcomed funding in today’s ACT Budget for housing, health and the ACT community sector but said more is needed to support Canberrans struggling as the cost of living skyrockets. The Budget, described by Chief Minister and Treasurer Andrew Barr MLA as “delivering for Canberrans now and into […]