Advocacy Publications

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 […]

The ICRC Electricity Prices Investigation 2024-27 draft report and proposed price direction was released in February 2024. The regulated standing offer price is expected to increase by 17% (with low confidence in the calculated estimate), mostly due to price volatility caused by the ACT Large Scale Feed-in Tariff (LFiT) scheme. ACTCOSS provided a submission highlighting […]

This submission to the 2024-25 ACT Budget process comes at a time when the ACT faces a number of critical challenges. While the ACT has the highest average weekly earnings in Australia, when we look beyond the average we see that the cost of living in Canberra means many households cannot afford the fundamentals of […]

ACTCOSS welcomed the opportunity to work collaboratively and in partnership with ACT Government colleagues in the development of the 2023 Listening Report. The joint analysis ensured a more comprehensive process to identify both challenges and opportunities for meeting the ambition of the Government’s reform agenda set out in the Commissioning Roadmap. ACTCOSS recognised the constraints […]