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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Frontline workers put the spotlight on poverty in the ACT for Anti-Poverty Week 2025
This week is Anti-Poverty Week, a time to confront the reality that poverty exists here in the ACT, just as it does across Australia. Held each year to spark national and local conversations, it’s an opportunity to recognise where poverty exists, and take action to end it. In the ACT, frontline community workers say the […]
ACTCOSS and ACT Shelter urge Assembly to make housing a human right
Today in the Legislative Assembly the second reading of the Human Rights (Housing) Amendment Bill is being tabled for debate. This marks a pivotal moment in the campaign to enshrine housing as a human right in the ACT’s Human Rights Act. ACTCOSS and ACT Shelter, alongside ACT service providers and community organisations, have long advocated […]
2025 ACT Budget: Increasing revenue necessary but missed opportunities to support people in need
After several years of financial headwinds, it comes as little surprise that the ACT Government had to increase revenue to continue to guarantee the services Canberrans expect. “Most of the new revenue appears to be broadly progressive, which is absolutely appropriate given that the cost-of-living crisis continues to hit people on low incomes the hardest,” […]
Unequal relief: As pressure eases for some, cost-of-living crisis extends for Canberra’s lowest income earners
ACTCOSS’s latest ACT Cost of Living Report reveals that easing inflation and recent interest rate cuts have done little to relieve acute financial stress faced by Canberra’s lowest-income households. ACTCOSS CEO, Dr Devin Bowles, said: “Improvements in the economy over the last year have disproportionately benefited middle and high-income earners, while those experiencing poverty continue to […]
Joint Submission calls for the continuation of the Rent Relief Fund
ACT community service organisations are urging the ACT Government to continue funding the Rent Relief Fund in a joint submission ahead of the 2025-26 ACT Budget. This vital program, set to end on 30 June 2025, provides financial relief to vulnerable private renters experiencing rental stress or severe financial hardship. Since its re-establishment […]
Crisis point for Canberra’s community services: Will the ACT Budget deliver crucial investment?
Canberra’s community sector is at breaking point and today ACT for Community supporters will gather at the ACT Legislative Assembly, where MLAs are expected to acknowledge the funding challenges that have long strained the sector. “It is heartening to see MLAs using their platform to shine a light on the funding challenges that have burdened […]
ACTCOSS supports Board of Inquiry into the Treatment of Aboriginal Detainees
The ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) stands in full support of the motion introduced today by Independent MLA Mr Thomas Emerson, calling for a Board of Inquiry into the treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people incarcerated in the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC). We echo the urgent calls of families and community leaders […]
ACTCOSS welcomes bill to enshrine access to housing as a human right
The ACT Greens today introduced a bill to the Legislative Assembly to enshrine the right to housing in the ACT’s Human Rights Act. This move follows sustained advocacy from ACTCOSS, service providers, other community organisations, and frontline workers who see the impact of housing insecurity every day. “Housing is a human right, and we need […]