Independents for Canberra candidates are today announcing their first shared policy commitments ahead of the 2024 ACT Election.

The group of independents is focusing its initial commitments on boosting community sector funding and bolstering key advocacy organisations with additional funding.

Critical service providers in the ACT’s community sector are reporting that significant funding gaps have emerged since 2010 due to increased demand coupled with population growth of 30 per cent not having been met by substantial funding increases. Some service providers have been forced to cut back on services due to issues with the cost of service delivery and staff retention.

Independents for Canberra candidates are pledging to answer calls from the community sector to close the sector’s funding gap, and to ensure all future funding for community services is tied to population growth plus inflation.

The leader of the group and a candidate for Kurrajong, Thomas Emerson, explained that, should independents hold the balance of power in October, Independents for Canberra candidates’ support for a prospective governing party would be dependent on that party agreeing to close the community sector funding gap.

“Vulnerable members of our community are in desperate need of support across all five electorates,” Mr Emerson said.

“It’s time to tackle disadvantage in the ACT. That starts with supporting the organisations that help those who most need it.

“We believe in a Canberra where nobody gets forgotten. We need to provide sufficient funding to the community sector to support vulnerable people in our city, including those experiencing physical and mental health challenges, lower-income residents, people with disability, people sleeping rough, Indigenous people, women and children escaping violence, and other Canberrans who need our help.”

Independents for Canberra candidates also declared their support for funding full-time roles for the Chair and Deputy Chair of the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body to advocate for Indigenous people, and funding two full-time roles for Advocacy for Inclusion to advocate for people with disability.

Paula McGrady, a candidate for Murrumbidgee, has a lifetime of experience in the community sector, including as a family, domestic and sexual violence crisis support worker. She stepped away from her role on the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body in a bid to become the first Indigenous women to serve as a member of the Legislative Assembly, and said she would fight to ensure no one is left behind.

“It’s not the cost of living; it’s the cost of merely surviving for many people across Canberra", Ms McGrady said.

“The time for action is now and we all need to take a united lead. It cannot be a never-ending cycle where nothing changes.

“Frontline services and exhausted workers deserve more from our government.”

Anne-Louise Dawes, also a candidate for Murrumbidgee, is a former senior executive of a number of Commonwealth agencies including the National Disability Insurance Agency, and said she was motivated to help make the nation's capital a leader in social and economic inclusion for people with disability.

"There is such an opportunity in Canberra to enrich our workforce with the diverse talents and perspectives of people with disability,” Ms Dawes said.

"We've seen the ACT Government establish some great disability strategies and employment targets.

“As an independent crossbencher, I'll be there holding the government to account for their commitments and pushing them for more action on behalf of people in our community living with disability."

More detail is available at www.independentsforcanberra.com/policy.