Advocacy Publications

This factsheet provides an overview of factors driving energy hardship nationally and in the ACT. It also contains recommendations aimed at addressing energy hardship. 

Incarceration is expensive, ineffective and in most instances doesn’t leave our community safer. While the ACT Government has promoted justice reinvestment as a policy approach, too many Canberrans remain trapped in a cycle of harmful and costly incarceration. To break this cycle and build safer communities, the ACT Government needs to further reinvest away from […]

The ACT Government has taken nation-leading steps toward responding to drug use as a health issue rather than a justice issue, but more needs to be done to minimise the harms from alcohol, tobacco and other drugs in the ACT. ACTCOSS are calling on the incoming ACT Government to: prioritise harm reduction and increase investment […]

In July 2024, the ACT Government released a consultation paper on minimum standards for rental properties and occupancy law reform. The purpose of this consultation was to seek community views about how the ACT’s tenancy and occupancy laws can be improved and what minimum standards should be introduced to offer better protections. ACTCOSS’s submission supports […]

The 2024 ACT Cost of Living Report shows that the extent and severity of financial stress in Canberra has worsened as the cost-of-living crisis has continued, hitting low-income households hardest. The report reveals that over the past five years, children, young people and families have been disproportionately impacted by above-inflation increases in the cost of […]

Australia is in the midst of a housing crisis, yet current action on housing remains fragmented and inadequate, both within and across different levels of government. Australia has never had a national housing strategy or plan that provides an authoritative framework for housing policy development, action and accountability. Recognising the current lack of direction and […]

Everyone needs a home. A home where they feel safe, a home that’s secure, and a home they can afford. Yet for a growing number of Canberrans, an affordable home is beyond reach. Our housing system is broken, and housing stress and homelessness is harming individuals, families and the wider community. Business-as-usual, with a reliance […]

This bulletin provides a summary of ACTCOSS’s analysis of and response to the 2024-25 ACT Budget, announced on 25 June 2024. It highlights key announcements relevant to community service organisations and the Canberrans they support. It also includes a list of Budget measures requiring further clarification from the ACT Government, as well as highlighting gaps […]

The Government’s Standing Committee on Health and Community Well-being held this Inquiry to obtain evidence on the factors that influence the timing, number and spacing of children in ACT families. It was designed to shed light on why the ACT has the lowest Total Fertility Rate in Australia and to identify policies that could help […]

In this joint submission, ACTCOSS has joined with nine other organisations to call on the ACT Government to develop a comprehensive and ambitious Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Strategy in the ACT. The ACT currently has no such strategy, and the draft Strategy that has been proposed is a welcome step, but falls short of […]