Support for Canberrans When they Need It
The Greens want Canberra to be a place where everyone can live their lives to the fullest.
In a housing crisis, a climate crisis and a cost-of-living crisis, we need to go further, faster to make this city a fairer place to live.
Too many people are disadvantaged by the way our systems are set up and the ACT Greens have a plan to ensure everyone can access the services they need to improve their wellbeing, social, education, justice, health and welfare outcomes.
JUMP TO: Funding the ACT's Community Sector | Supporting our Carers | Food Relief | Discounted Concession Card Fines
Fund the ACT's Community Sector
Our community sector is critical to support people where and when they need it. But the sector is facing more demand on their services, without the proper resourcing from the government to help those most in need.
The ACT Greens will support the community sector with proper resourcing and treat them as equal partners to support everyone in Canberra.
THE ACT GREENS WILL:
- Provide short-term financial support for community sector organisations
- Provide funding in the event of climate emergencies or natural disasters
- Increase community sector funding with workload and population growth
- Ensure employee pay and conditions are comparable to similar work in the private sector and public service
- Invest further in the Sector Sustainability program
- Establish and implement a 10 year refurbishment strategy for ACT Government owned buildings leased to the community sector
- Establish the Office of the Coordinator General, Community Sector Partnerships
Support Our Carers
Unpaid carers play a critical role supporting others to live more enjoyable and fulsome lives.
But carers are often sacrifice their needs, health and wellbeing to care for those around them.
The ACT Greens will go further to recognise, value and support carers to ensure their own needs are met.
THE ACT GREENS WILL:
- Provide land for a carers respite service
- Co-design and implement a Carers Card
Food Relief at Home and School
A healthy, happy, productive society needs access to nutritious and affordable food.
But the market is failing us - price-gouging, and forcing people into impossible choices between food and medicine, or food and rent.
As cost of living pressures continue to increase for Canberrans, the ACT Greens are committing to further food relief for households and public schools students.
THE ACT GREENS WILL:
- Increase funding for community-run food relief programs, with $330,000 per year on top of the funding already committed in the most recent ACT Budget
- Expand the provision of free breakfast and lunch to 20 ACT public schools by 2028, and provide free fruit twice a week to every public school student
- Support food and emergency relief agencies with improved logistics and storage
- Fully fund the Social Recovery Framework to strengthen community recovery after a disaster.
WE NEED TO ADDRESS INFRINGEMENT INEQUITY
Canberra needs a fine system that recognises a person's capacity to pay and fines them accordingly.
We know that the cost of living crisis is actually an inequality crisis and when costs go up, the divide between rich and poor only grows.
To people who are already struggling, fines for minor infringements can be financially devastating.
THE ACT GREENS WILL:
- Halve the cost of infringement fines for all concession card holders.