Media Release: 2026 ACT Cost of Living Report

ACTCOSS’ 2026 Cost of Living Report shows how half a decade of inflation and economic strain have left low-income households close to the brink.

“Too many Canberrans are faced with near-impossible trade-offs between basic necessities after five years of steadily increasing financial pressure,” said ACTCOSS CEO, Dr Devin Bowles.

“The first half of the decade saw the financial heat being increased for a growing number of Canberrans, and many are now like the proverbial frog in a pot of boiling water.”

The Report shows that from 2020 to 2025 the cost of essentials has skyrocketed in the ACT.

Essential goods and services have climbed well above inflationary levels with major increases in the cost of automative fuel (+48.6%), education (34.7%), medical and hospital services (+25.6%), utilities (+23.5%) and food (+22.2%).

“The rise in the costs of meeting these most basic needs disproportionately impacts people who were already doing it tough – behind every statistic is someone trying to hold their life together,” said Dr Bowles.

“Increasing costs mean that community organisations are seeing more Canberrans seeking help for the first time,” said Dr Bowles.

“We’re supporting a growing number of people who never expected to need help from a charity – families, older women, and young people who simply cannot find or afford secure housing,” said Lucy Hohnen, CEO of St Vincent de Paul Society Canberra/Goulburn.

“More and more people in our community are making impossible choices between rent, food, transport, healthcare and keeping the lights on,” said Amy Kilpatrick, CEO of Care Inc.

ACTCOSS has been urging the ACT Government to do what it can to ensure targeted and adequate assistance to make sure that all Canberrans can cope.

Practically, this means investing in social housing, reviewing financial assistance payments for utilities and housing costs, and appropriately funding the food relief sector.

“The pre-budget announcements by the ACT Government – to provide an additional $23.7m financial uplift to the community sector, alongside $15.4m to support homelessness services, and additional funding for food relief services – are welcome moves in the right direction to help Canberrans doing it tough,” said Dr Bowles.

“Even with the additional support, many Canberrans are at risk of falling into poverty and hardship, or now need help getting out of poverty,” said Dr Bowles.

“There is a need for further investment from both levels of government. The most fundamental change would be for the Commonwealth to increase the amount of income support payments to lift people out of poverty, especially with unemployment set to increase,” said Dr Bowles.

Housing will remain a critical challenge, with rental affordability in the ACT falling even further from last year’s previous record low.

“Even those in urgent need are waiting months for public housing, while many wait years – an unacceptable reality when safe housing is not guaranteed,” said Ms Hohnen.

Anglicare’s 2026 Rental Affordability Snapshot found that, out of the rental properties advertised in the ACT during their survey period, none were affordable for someone on JobSeeker. Only a single listing was affordable for a full-time minimum wage earner.

“The reintroduction of funding under the ACT Housing Crisis Support Fund will provide immediate financial relief to vulnerable renters experiencing rental stress or severe financial hardship. In the long term, we recommend the ACT commit to restore social housing to at least 10 per cent of all housing stock by 2036,” said Dr Bowles.

“The additional funding for food relief services is also a timely response to community concern as pressures from fuel supply disruptions continue to stretch services.”

Across the whole community sector, demand for services has been far exceeding supply.

ACTCOSS advocates for social justice in the ACT and represents not-for-profit community organisations. Follow us @ACTCOSS on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

Authorised by Dr Devin Bowles on behalf of the ACT Council of Social Service Inc (ACTCOSS)