Members: Adina Cirson, Peta Dawson, Meredith Edwards Travis Gilbert, John Jacobs, Alan Morschel, Chris Redmond, Christine Shaw, Neil Skipper, and Robert Tanton
The ACT Housing Strategy (PDF 2.2 MB) (the strategy) benefits considerably from the advice of the Minister's Affordable Housing Consultative Group. This group was established in May 2017 and consists of individuals from the community sector, the private sector, industry and public housing tenants chosen by Minister Berry to help provide an independent, external perspective of the challenges of housing affordability in the ACT, and the possible responses that might be considered by the government.
Over a period of 18 months the Minister's Consultative Group has devoted their time and experience to provide independent feedback to the Minister and government on the 2007 Affordable Housing Action Plan and its effectiveness, as well as the need to undertake comprehensive and meaningful engagement with the community and industry. The group assisted the government to design a community engagement plan and contributed to the design and running of the ACT Housing and Homelessness Summit - Our Canberra, Our Home, held on 17 October 2017.
The group has focused on the priority needs of the 60,000 Canberra households who fall into the lowest 40% of incomes, and were instrumental in developing four of the goals in this strategy: to reduce homelessness, strengthen social housing assistance, and increase affordable rental and home purchase opportunities.
While the strategy may not reflect a consensus of opinion among all members of the group, across all elements of the strategy, it has been greatly enhanced by their contribution. The Minister and the government would like to offer their acknowledgment of the efforts of the group and appreciation for each member's considerable involvement and support on the road towards developing the strategy.