It’s another big week in the Assembly with the ACT Government handing down its Budget this afternoon. Scroll down below to see my breakdown of the 2026-27 ACT Budget, and what it means for the ACT, for Kurrajong, and for our community more broadly. 

2026-27 Budget Breakdown

The 2026-27 ACT Budget was handed down at 5pm today. 

My team and I have been poring over the budget papers and I’ve pulled together my key takeaways below. 

The Big Stuff

The big headline from this Budget is that the ACT Government has committed a further $1.34 billion over seven years to build the new Northside Hospital, and that the $100 health levy added to everyone’s rates bills in last year’s Budget has been scrapped. 

The Budget papers also show the Treasurer’s forecast return to surplus has been pushed back by a year, again, and now isn’t expected until 2028-29. 

In very welcome news, the ACT Government is set to invest $641 million in new affordable, community and public housing measures. This funding package includes 450 new public housing dwellings, and support for new crisis and transitional housing delivered by Aboriginal community-controlled organisations. It also contains a significant boost for public housing maintenance and repairs, and funding to provide financial guarantees to community housing providers seeking to deliver projects through Housing Australia Future Fund. 

Another headline takeaway is that stamp duty will be abolished permanently for all first home buyers, regardless of income level or the value of the property, and for anyone buying a new unit-titled home in the ACT. That’s accompanied by general rates increases averaging 5 per cent for residential properties – see how this affects you here.

There’s also a temporary 50% reduction in lease variation charges (LVC) for “missing middle” developments, which accompanies the planning reforms that have been introduced by the Government to enable more duplexes, townhouses, terraces and low-rise apartments in our suburbs.

Infrastructure spending on several projects will be pushed back, with the Government announcing the delay in the rollout of infrastructure projects will save $715 million over four years. They’re also saving $20 million over the forward estimates by cutting back on their use of consultants and contractors.

One of the projects impacted will be the Kingston Arts Precinct, with the buildings for arts organisations to be staged over coming years while work commences first on car parking and artist housing. Disappointingly, It looks like the Government’s deadline of finishing precinct construction by 2028 set just last year will be pushed further back, although I’m hopeful that at least some of the work will get underway and completed soon. 

Still on the arts, there is a 25% permanent increase in funding (plus indexation) to support the core work of artists, arts organisations and creative industries.

Ahead of the Budget, the ACT Government announced a near $60 million boost to the community sector, which includes a $22.7 million funding uplift over four years and $14.8 million in additional funding for community legal assistance organisations and other justice support. It’s a welcome lifeline to many community organisations that haven’t been adequately resourced to meet rising demand for support among vulnerable Canberrans. 

In the Treasurer’s speech this evening, the Government announced a number of new fiscal rules, including that all future growth in the public service will be in line with population growth. 

There are also some new revenue-raising measures, including increased motor vehicle duty tax rates for higher-emissions vehicles. Higher car rego fees and an increase of the Airbnb levy from 5% to 7.5% are also in the budget papers but they don’t kick in until 2027-28.

The Good Stuff

Some of the things that are good to see in the Budget, many of which I’ve advocated for, include: 

• $5.3 million to run the Board of Inquiry into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC), including providing appropriate support to family members engaging in the inquiry.
  
• $60 million increased funding for public schools over two years, and $9.3 million over four years to make changes to the ACT’s public education system following a recent school resourcing review. 
  
• $44.2 million over four years to strengthen frontline family, domestic and sexual violence frontline services. 
  
• $11.4 million over four years to strengthen the regulation of early childhood education and care, including increasing the capacity of the regulator, Children’s Education and Care Assurance (CECA)  to undertake assessments, ratings, audits and investigations of education and care. This is something I’ve been really pushing for, and I’m really pleased to see it in the Budget. The funding is for a phased-in increase in staff with 10.5 FTE new positions in 2026-27 increasing to 16.0 FTE positions in 2029-30 (and ongoing). In February, I asked a QON about staffing levels at CECA on the back of concerns having been raised with me about infrequent audits and ratings assessments, which you can read here. Once we get to 16 FTE in 2029-30, that amount will be a 50% increase above current levels.
  
• A review of our Working With Vulnerable People (WWVP) scheme, which is something I’ve pushed for alongside the above.
  
• More than $10 million to deliver the next ACT Climate Change Strategy.
  
• $16.9 million over four years to support homelessness services. 
  
• $18.9 million investment in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
  
• $14.1 million to support the Territory’s community legal sector. 
  
• A new $5.2 million Housing Crisis Support Fund, which essentially reinstates and expands the rent relief fund that was scrapped in the last budget.
  
• $4.79 million investment in Bimberi Youth Justice Centre, including piloting a throughcare program.
  
• An additional $3.3 million to support the construction of the planned National Convention and Entertainment Centre.
  
• $3.2 million to support culturally responsive reintegration pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander detainees.
  
• $1.9 million to boost the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workforce in the ACT. 
  
• $1.8 million to strengthen oversight of justice system reforms and fund two independent justice advisors to support the Jumbunna review response, and to increase secretariat capacity for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body.
  
• $1.2 million for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perinatal mental health safe space.
  
• $754,000 over two years toward designing a truth-telling commission in the ACT aligned with the Uluru Statement, which will include research into the history, presence and contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT and surrounding region. 
  
• Expansion of the Sustainable Household Scheme to include e-cargo bikes, and lifting of  the loan cap from $15,000 to $20,000.

Kurrajong Stuff

Here’s some local projects in our electorate that have received funding. There’s not much!

• $2.4 million to continue the Oaks Estate Community Inclusion Program for the next four years. 
  
• $827,000 to support Our Place Youth Foyer in Braddon. 
  
• $750,000 for upgrades to the Kingston Shops, which will focus on seating, shade, trees, crossings, paving and landscaping. 
  
• Funding for minor upgrades at EPIC and Manuka Oval.
  
• $3.7 million to progress plans for a new City Police station.

The Missing Stuff

Some things that I have been advocating for that I’m disappointed are missing from this Budget include: 

• Restructuring health spending towards prevention and early intervention – there’s basically nothing on this in the Budget whatsoever from what we can tell.
  
• Further support for affected businesses in Civic impacted by construction works.
  
• A plan for a new Canberra Stadium (although there’s $15 million for upgrades to the existing one).
  
• Funding for a new community hub at 91A Wakefield Gardens in Ainslie.
  
• Funding for additional park rangers, which is one of the Government's commitments in my supply-and-confidence agreement with the Chief Minister.
  
• Funding for a Strata Commissioner, which is also in my agreement with the Chief Minister.
  
• Funding to establish a dedicated Night-Time Economy Coordinator. 
  
• Funding for separated bike lanes on key transport corridors like Northbourne Avenue. 

Overall, it’s a pretty positive Budget for housing and community services, but there are some key areas that remain significantly unfunded. For me, the big takeaway is that we’re still not investing anywhere near enough in preventive measures and early intervention, which means we’re paying a fortune on acute services in areas like our hospital system and justice system. 

As we head into Budget Estimates next month, I’ll be working to get more detail on these funding announcements, as well as what’s missing from the Budget, and I’ll share what I learn with you along the way.

If you have any Budget-related questions, or if there are any specific local projects in Kurrajong that you were hoping would receive funding, please reach out to my office at [email protected] and we can do some further digging to see if funding has been provisioned somewhere.

Donations from the Gambling Industry

It’s easy to forget the Assembly is also sitting during the week the Budget’s handed down. I’m trying to make the most of the sitting week, and tomorrow afternoon I’ll be introducing a Private Member’s Bill to ban political donations from the gambling industry. 

Australians are the biggest gambling losers in the world. Canberrans overwhelmingly want to see meaningful gambling reform, but financial ties to the gambling industry seem to have kept the major parties from taking bold action to tackle the immense harm caused by this industry. 

NSW banned political donations from gambling industry corporations in 2011, and extended the ban to include not-for-profit clubs with poker machines in 2023. The ACT has already banned political donations from property developers and foreign entities, but the Assembly hasn’t added gambling industry entities to the list of prohibited donors despite a Committee recommendation to do so in 2021.

I’ve consulted with experts, advocacy groups and people with lived experience of gambling harm in drafting this legislation. I’ll be pushing hard for all Members of the Legislative Assembly to put community interests ahead of vested interests by supporting the bill.

You can learn more in my media release here.

Upcoming Events

My next Phone Me Friday is on Friday 19 June from 12:30pm to 1:30pm, and my next mobile office is at the Campbell Shops on Friday 26 June from 3.30pm to 4.30pm. You can find all my upcoming events and RSVP here. 

Please reach out any time on [email protected] or (02) 6205 1475 during office hours.

Thank you for your support.

Tom