ACTCOSS ACT Budget Priorities 2025–26 – Preliminary Statement

Too many Canberrans can’t afford basic essentials amid relentless cost-of-living pressures, stagnating wages, and a deepening housing crisis. For people on low incomes, the situation is untenable: the public housing waitlist is so overstretched that only the highest-need cases are housed, while the rental market remains out of reach, forcing impossible trade-offs between food, healthcare, utilities, and education.

This preliminary statement aims to give the ACT Government ample time to factor these priorities into their budget planning. However, it precedes the 2025-26 ACT Budget Roundtable Consultations. ACTCOSS’ comprehensive budget statement followed the Roundtables, which can be found here.