Page 5307 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 15 November 2011
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The Chief Minister will speak in more detail later about some of this proactive work the ACT government is engaged in, work that will identify precisely where the emerging pressures are for working families on low incomes and how as a community we can best respond.
First, however, I would like to speak about some of the policies and programs that are already in place: a framework of assistance that has been built up to provide support for households at the points where we know the pressure reaches its highest pitch. For some households, this will be when the power bill arrives in the letterbox. For another household, it might be the point at which a rental bond needs to be scraped together. For another, it might mean a bit of help to properly equip a child for the school year ahead.
Always, Labor’s philosophy has been to target its support to those who need it most, when they need it most, where they need it most. It means talking to the community, listening to the community, and responding—and, importantly, responding in a manner that is fiscally responsible.
One area in which the government actively supports many households relates to utility costs: electricity, gas, water and sewerage. The ACT concessions program is targeted at low income individuals and households that are entitled to commonwealth income support—the households that generally have the least flexibility when it comes to budgeting, households for whom every dollar counts and for whom every dollar saved on basic bills can be used to relieve pressure elsewhere.
In addition to concessions on utility charges, the government offers a wide range of concessions to help the most financially vulnerable households better manage and meet other costs—in all, about 30 different concessions to ease the pressure for those feeling it most. These are available in the areas of education and training, housing and land, health and wellbeing, and transport. Examples in the area of housing and land include concessions on general rates, rental rebates for social housing tenants, help with rental bonds, and advice on saving energy. In the area of education and training, there is a secondary bursary scheme and student transport assistance. In the area of health and wellbeing, there is assistance with mobility aids, help for those receiving home dialysis, dental services, an interstate patient travel scheme, a spectacle scheme and ambulance cover. In the area of transport, there are concessions on drivers licences and motor vehicle registrations; concessional travel on public transport, including free bus travel for the over-75s; and a taxi subsidy scheme.
The government also administers a number of assistance programs that are designed to help those Canberrans who need just a gentle helping hand to join the ranks of homeowners. Under the homebuyer concession scheme, a concession is available to eligible householders buying a home valued at under $465,000. For properties valued at under $374,000, for example, duty of just $20 is payable. Last financial year more than 1,500 Canberra households benefited from the scheme; 615 of those households paid duty of just $20. The total value to Canberra homebuyers in terms of revenue forgone by the ACT government was $12.5 million.
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