Public housing, disability and dignity: Submission to Inquiry into Specialist Disability Accommodation and Housing ACT
ACT Shelter’s submission to the ACT Inquiry argues that the failures in SDA service delivery through Housing ACT reflect deeper structural problems in the public housing system, including chronic underinvestment, ageing housing stock and fragmented accountability. The submission calls for stronger protections and better housing outcomes for tenants with disability, alongside major reform to maintenance, accessibility and asset management systems. It also urges the ACT Government to treat public housing as essential social infrastructure and invest accordingly.
Joint media release: Timely attention to housing maintenance in Canberra welcomed
On 4 March 2026, ACT Shelter joined with Advocacy for Inclusion and ACTCOSS to respond to the ACT Ombudsman’s damning report on Housing ACT’s management of public housing repairs and maintenance.
Homelessness in the ACT
To coincide with Homelessness Week in 2025, ACT Shelter developed a factsheet that draws together key statistics and reports on homelessness specific to the ACT. This factsheet reveals both the increase in demand for homelessness services over time, and the increase in complexity of need and duration of support.
Working with People with High and Complex Needs in Homelessness Services
In 2023 ACT Shelter undertook a desktop review project for Housing ACT to be used as a resource for the new procurement process for providing appropriate services for people not engaging with existing support services The research paper provides: A collated list of available source data that considers: The characteristics of highly vulnerable service users and […]
Return on investment for social housing in the ACT
Click here to download report This report, commissioned by ACT Shelter in 2021, shows that the costs of investing in social housing are substantially offset by avoided costs in health, justice and welfare systems: for every dollar invested in low-cost social housing, the government recoups 57 cents through welfare, health and justice savings, and around […]
Inquiry into Draft Territory Plan Variation 365
Inquiry into the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement
ACT Shelter is the peak housing body in the ACT. It is a not-for-profit organisation funded by the ACT Government to represent the interests of our members and provide advocacy and strategic advice on systemic issues affecting housing consumers in the ACT. We are an informed and independent voice on housing policy issues affecting the […]
Implementing Trauma-Informed Practice in ACT Specialist Homelessness Services
Based on a review of the research and engagement with the sector, this reportoutlines options and recommended next steps. We are now interested in testing theseconclusions and recommendations with the ACT specialist homelessness sector priorto providing final advice to ACT Government. Sector representatives are invited toprovide feedback on the ideas in this paper by contacting […]
The social and economic impact of homelessness and after housing poverty/rental stress in the ACT
In 2020, ACT Shelter – with financial support from 12 of our members – commissioned the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) to undertake a multi-stage research inquiry into the social and economic impact of homelessness and after housing poverty/rental stress in the ACT. The stage 1 report quantifies expressed demand/unmet need for social […]