Page 4378 - Week 10 - Thursday, 22 September 2011
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areas for future focus. They are improved access to information about entitlements to support and concessional programs and services; more flexibility in existing funding arrangements and programs to effectively respond to complexity of community need; and the need to pursue opportunities to effectively engage with mainstream services such as schools and libraries and the business sector. The Chief Minister’s summary of the roundtable suggestions to address concerns, I am advised, will be placed on the Chief Minister and Cabinet Directorate website some time later this month or early next month.
As I noted earlier, the government has invested in a range of concessions to better support households in need. The government funds and administers a range of concessions that aim to achieve a balance in the standard of living and access to essential services for all community members. These concessions provide support in areas such as energy, water and sewerage, and largely correspond with concessions in other jurisdictions.
The concessions program aims to ensure that each target group is supported to access an essential service or item, some of which assists them to participate in the community. The general eligibility criteria for these concessions are for low income individuals and households who are entitled to commonwealth income support.
The government allocated $12.3 million over four years in the most recent budget to increase the energy concession available to low income households to ease the cost of living pressures on the most vulnerable in our community. The funding will provide eligible households with up to an additional $131 in 2011-12, in recognition of the financial burden posed by utility costs. This secure, ongoing support shows the Labor government’s commitment to continue helping Canberrans in need. The energy concession provides an energy rebate for eligible cardholder residents of the ACT, and is currently received by more than 25,000 Canberra households. By providing this significant financial relief to offset the costs of electricity and energy, the scheme is ensuring that low income renters, as well as homeowners, will receive an additional $131 per year:
The government concessions are a direct way to support access to services for low income households. We are determined to help the many low income earners with the cost of living, and these measures reflect that commitment.
As a result of the Chief Minister’s roundtable, we have decided to ensure that the concessions website, including the concessions finder, is much more prominent on the government’s homepage.
I turn to public housing. Through the national affordable housing agreement, the state and territory governments work together to provide housing affordability and homelessness outcomes for all Australians. The agreement recognises that coordinated effort is required to progress a wide range of measures. Importantly, supply-side issues, including land release and planning reform, are included in the NAHA housing continuum, acknowledging both the interrelated nature of the housing market and the failings of this market over time to adequately and fully respond to the housing needs of all Australians.
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