Published: 04 August 2015

Media Release Tuesday 4 August 2015

This week is Homelessness Prevention Week and in the Legislative Assembly 

tomorrow I’ll be calling on the Barr government to develop a realistic
framework by October this year, to address Canberra’s housing crisis, Shadow
Minister for Housing Nicole Lawder said today.

“Having affordable housing, addressing long public housing waiting lists and
targeting support that enables people to sustain their tenancies are the areas that
need work if the cycle of homelessness is to be broken in Canberra,” Ms Lawder
said.

“More than 1700 people are experiencing homelessness in the ACT and many more
are at risk. Being homeless creates a plethora of issues both for the individuals
involved as well as the entire community.

“Homelessness contributes to long term unemployment and chronic ill-health.
Research even suggests the cost of sleeping rough is more than $27,000 per person
per year.

“The government should make it a priority to make housing more affordable and
reduce the public housing list. We are the national capital and the ACT government
should lead the country by example in breaking the homelessness cycle,” Ms Lawder
concluded.

Contact: Joe Prevedello 0402768432

Published: 19 June 2015

Media Release Friday 19 June 2015

Canberra’s community sector organisations are being squeezed as the Barr government continues to impose a levy which was earmarked to be abolished in this year’s budget, Shadow Minister for Family and Community Services Nicole Lawder said today.

“The continued imposition of the levy is putting more unexpected pressure on the community sector which is already cut to the bone. There doesn’t seem to have been any consultation on the continuation of the levy which was supposed to be a temporary levy from 2012 to 2015,” Ms Lawder said.

“The levy is supposed to fund a Community Sector Reform Program run by the government. Organisations like ACTCOSS have serious concerns about the levy.

“Furthermore, the government was unable to complete the activities in the first three years of the program and ACTCOSS now has to look at completing the activities.

“This is an inefficient levy which was supposed to be discontinued. The government needs to better consult with community sector organisations which carry out essential work in Canberra and let them do what they do best,” Ms Lawder concluded.

Contact: Joe Prevedello 0402768432

Published: 14 July 2015

Transcripts from the ACT Budget Estimates 2015-2016 hearings are available now online. All the transcripts from each day from 12 June to 26 June 2015 can be found here.

If you wish to watch or listen back to the proceedings, you can do so with Committees on Demand which can be found at this link.

Published: 10 June 2015