Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee will call in the Legislative Assembly today for an independent inquiry into poverty in the ACT.

Ms Lee is concerned by the number of Canberrans living in poverty. The ACT Council of Social Services (ACTCOSS) estimates that a staggering 38,000 Canberrans live in poverty, including 9,000 children.

“The recent cost of living increases has hit lower income Canberrans the hardest, and for the ACT to have 38,000 people living in poverty is simply unacceptable,” Ms Lee said.

• ACT ‘disastrous’ poverty levels predicted to worsen (6 May)
• Canberrans on low incomes hit hardest by cost of living rises: ACTCOSS (6 May)

Last year, Ms Lee proposed a three-party taskforce to deal with the causes and symptoms of poverty in the ACT. It was unanimously rejected by the government, despite backing from ACTCOSS.

“This motion was ultimately voted down by every member of Labor and the Greens who said it was not warranted because they already understood the root causes of poverty in the ACT and were implementing the necessary measures to address the problem,” Ms Lee said.

Former Labor Chief Minister Jon Stanhope suggested the government rejected the taskforce because of political jockeying or a lack of empathy.

• Government rejects investigation into ACT poverty (16 February 2021)
• Jon Stanhope: Why did Government veto poverty taskforce? (17 February 2021)

“Since that time, more than two thirds of community sector staff in the ACT have reported that levels of poverty and disadvantage amongst vulnerable groups have increased over the last year,” Ms Lee said.

In its submission to the ACT Budget, 2022-23 ACTCOSS reported that: the ACT has the highest rate of rental stress among lower income households in private rentals; more than 25,000 Canberrans live in low-income households; and households in the lowest income quintile spend more than 55 percent of their income on housing, food and transport.

• ACTCOSS says Budget is “treading water” (3 August)

“Despite the lip service offered to Canberrans, clearly the Labor-Greens government is either unable or unwilling to address the issue of poverty in the ACT,” Ms Lee said.

“This government continues to have the hubris to act as if they have not been responsible for years of neglect in the Housing and Community Services sectors.”

Ms Lee said the independent inquiry into the prevalence of poverty in Canberra would look at the rates and drivers of poverty; the relationships between economic conditions and poverty; and the impact of poverty on individuals in relation to employment, housing, health, and education.

The inquiry would also examine the effects of poverty in different demographics and communities; the relationship between income support payments and poverty; and mechanisms to address and reduce poverty.