Advocacy Publications

In this submission, ACTCOSS supports the ACT Government’s engagement with the community in the development of its Digital Strategy for 2020-2022. In addition to supporting the themes and priorities outlined in the strategy, we refer the government to our previous recommendations on digital inclusion and the digital economy. We also highlight the need to develop the […]

This submission contains the questions ACTCOSS and its members would like the Select Committee on Estimates for 2019-20 to ask officials who appear before the hearings. This submission focusses on some key issues and questions ordered by ACT Government directorate area, but for a complete broad analysis of the ACT Budget, see our 2019-20 ACT […]

The 2019-20 ACT Budget invests in responding to a number of recognised risks in the service system and delivers on several commitments made by the ACT Government to residents in the 2016 Election and subsequently. ACTCOSS commends the ACT Government for choosing to be ambitious about investing to meet the needs of a growing city, […]

This report explores food security, food assistance and the affordability of healthy food in the ACT. Over 25,000 people in the ACT are experiencing food stress – spending 30% or more of their household income on food compared to 14% within the average household. The report identifies systemic barriers faced by people in various circumstances, […]

In this submission to the ACT’s inquiry into the management of bullying and violence in ACT schools, ACTCOSS recommends that the Education Directorate address several gaps in policy and procedure, including: a lack of mainstreamed policy to managing violence and bullying across ACT schools; problems with school-parent communication; and an ongoing need to increase collaboration […]

With the 2019 federal election coming up, the ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) hosted a forum with eight local candidates for the Senate and the House of Representatives in the seats of Bean, Fenner and Canberra. We designed the forum to stimulate local dialogue on federal issues looked at through a sharp local lens. […]

This 2019 report tracks changes in the cost of living, particularly for low-income households in the Australian Capital Territory. It builds on previous ACT Council of Social Service work on costs of living in the ACT. The report draws on figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Selected Living Cost Indexes (SLCI) and Consumer Price […]

ACTCOSS highlights the need for Canberra’s transport system to plan for everyone to move where they need to, regardless of how they move, in our submission on the draft Moving Canberra 2019-2045 Integrated Transport Strategy.  Our submission emphasises that transport is a public good and plays a key role in life transitions. A strategy must […]

ACTCOSS notes that before considering adoption reform in favour of dispensing with parental consent, the ACT needs to improve resourcing for parent support programs in the ACT and to address structural reasons for the overrepresentation of some families and groups in the out-of-home care (OOHC) system. ACTCOSS members who have knowledge and experience relevant to […]

ACTCOSS highlights cost of living issues in our submission to the ACT Legislative Assembly’s Select Committee on Fuel Pricing. ACTCOSS urges that the ACT Government to recognise the impact of transport costs on food security and access to primary health, especially for people experiencing transport disadvantage. While fuel prices peg close to national trends, our […]