Advocacy Publications

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 […]

ACTCOSS believes there are improvements that could be made to the method used by the ACT Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) to determine regulatory settings for pricing of supply of electricity to small customers in the ACT, as recommended by Frontier Economics. ACTCOSS supports improvements that maximise reduced costs to consumers.

In this submission to the ACT Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission’s review of the Utility Consumer Code, ACTCOSS believes there are improvements needed to the code and to the support processes within the industry and community services to improve consumer awareness, protection and assertion of their rights.

ACTCOSS welcomes the development of a Family Violence Death Review (FVDR) in the ACT. This is an important mechanism for systemic learning and supports broader national analysis. ACTCOSS aspires to an independent and robust FVDR. We propose it should be located in the Coroner’s Court, advised by the Domestic Violence Prevention Council, and accompanied by appropriate […]

This factsheet provides an overview of the extent of gambling harm in Australia and the ACT, outlines statistics on the prevalence of harm, and outlines ACTCOSS’ advocacy asks. This is one of a series of ACTCOSS factsheets that harnesses data to provide accessible insights into key social policy issues in the ACT. The data indicates […]

Joint submission by the ACT Energy Consumers Policy Consortium (comprised of representatives of ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS), Care Financial Counselling Service, Conservation Council ACT Region, SEE-Change and the Small Business Taskforce of the Canberra Business Chamber) In this submission, the Consortium urges the ACT Government to include a framework in its Climate Strategy that […]