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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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, […]
ACTCOSS welcomes decision to end mandatory relocations of public housing tenants
The ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) has welcomed the ACT Government’s decision to not proceed with mandatory relocations under the Growing and Renewing Public Housing Program. “We commend the ACT Government for responding to the recommendations made by the ACT Ombudsman, and for listening to the concerns raised by public housing tenants and the […]
Joint COSS letter to National Cabinet on Rental Crisis
Ahead of the National Cabinet meeting (16 August), ACTCOSS and the broader Councils of Social Service (COSS) Network* has called on state, territory and federal governments to step-up and take significant action to address the rental crisis. In a letter to the Prime Minister and Australia’s premiers and chief ministers, the COSS network – representing thousands of social […]
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 […]
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 […]
Full range of human rights need to be enacted by ACT Government
The ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) has welcomed the ACT Government’s commitment to introduce a right to a healthy environment in the Human Rights Act 2004 but has called on the ACT Government to enact all Economic, Social and Cultural Rights including a right to housing. Minister for Human Rights, Tara Cheyne MLA […]