ACT Shelter submission to Inquiry into Specialist Disability Accommodation Service Delivery through Housing ACT
ACT Shelter’s submission to the ACT Legislative Assembly Inquiry into Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) Service Delivery through Housing ACT argues that the failures exposed by the Inquiry are not isolated administrative issues, but the result of deeper structural problems in the ACT public housing system — including chronic underinvestment, ageing housing stock, reactive maintenance practices, fragmented accountability, and inadequate systems for disability modifications and accessibility upgrades.
The submission highlights the significant barriers faced by people with disability in accessing safe, accessible and appropriate housing, and argues that Housing ACT is failing to consistently meet its legal and human rights obligations to tenants with disability. ACT Shelter calls for a coordinated, whole-of-government disability housing strategy; stronger accountability and data systems; major reform to maintenance and modification processes; and long-term investment to treat public housing as essential social and economic infrastructure.