The ACT Budget, to be released later today, will relive cost of living pressures, the government claims.

“Cost of living pressures are continuing to be felt across the country,” Chief Minister Andrew Barr said.

“While Canberrans generally enjoy a high standard of living, there are some in our community doing it very tough.

“The Territory Government offers a range of targeted discounts, rebates, and subsidies to support those in our community who need it most.”

The 2023-24 ACT Budget includes these measures to support households and individuals:

• Expanding the Utilities Concession eligibility criteria to include anyone with a Commonwealth Health Care Card, meaning 12,000 more households will benefit from this support, taking the total number of eligibility households to 43,800.
• A one-off increase of $50 to the Utilities Concession, raising the amount from $750 to $800 in 2023-24, to help further relieve cost of living pressures for 43,800 households. This is the second year in a row the ACT Government has increased the Utilities Concession by $50.
• An additional payment of $250 to households on Housing ACT’s priority housing waiting list (as of 27 June 2023) in 2023-24.
• Increasing the Taxi Subsidy Scheme’s cap by 15 per cent – and removing the requirement to apply for additional trips – to ensure Canberrans with a disability or mobility restriction who cannot use public or community transport can access an accessible and affordable alternative and get out and about in the community.
• Increasing the means (income) test for access to Legal Aid assistance to better align with cost of living, so more Canberrans can access legal representation.

“Cost of living has been a key consideration throughout this year’s Budget preparation,” Mr Barr said. 

Beyond the changes announced this year, the Government will review other aspects of our Targeted Assistance Strategy, and will make further announcements about this process. 

“The ACT Government’s fiscal management has enabled us to continue delivering the infrastructure and services our growing city needs, while helping relieve cost of living pressures,” Mr Barr said. 

“This year’s ACT Budget includes significant investment in quality public healthcare and education, an increased supply of diverse and affordable housing options, and accessible public transport. These infrastructure projects continue to create thousands of jobs, strengthening our economy.

“Our nation-leading action on climate change – including our transition to 100 per cent renewable electricity – continues to translate to lower energy bills.”

Canberra households and small businesses will also benefit from the ACT Government’s partnership with the Commonwealth Government to provide additional energy bill relief through the National Energy Bill Relief Fund. In 2023-24, all Canberra households and businesses will share in over $75 million in direct bill relief as a return from the ACT Government’s Large-scale Feed-in Tariff Scheme.

These 2023-24 ACT Budget initiatives relate to the ACT Wellbeing Framework’s living standards wellbeing domain.