YWCA Canberra has congratulated the Hon. Anthony Albanese MP on becoming Australia’s 31st Prime Minister, and urged him to make good on pre-election announcements that will alleviate pressures on women and families on low to modest incomes.
As a leading provider of community services in the ACT, including early childhood education and care, domestic violence support and housing services for women and their families, YWCA Canberra reports having witnessed a growing number of Canberrans in need of support.
“Demand for our services during COVID-19 increased significantly, particularly among women living with violence and older women experiencing housing crisis,”CEO of YWCA Canberra, Ms Frances Crimmins said.
“And it’s not just those already living in poverty. For some time, we have witnessed increased demand for our services among people in steady employment or in conventional housing tenure, who can no longer keep pace with the cost of living.”
YWCA Canberra have previously welcomed a number of pre-election announcements of the Australian Labor Party which could contribute to alleviating pressures on women and families on low to modest incomes, including:
- Proposed reforms of the early learning system and lifting the childcare subsidy rates which will result in substantial cost savings for parents
- Plans to build 30,000 new social and affordable housing properties, 4,000 of which will be set aside for women escaping domestic and family violence and older women facing retirement poverty.
- $1 million towards crisis accommodation and five additional frontline workers to help women escaping violence in Canberra.
“These are significant reforms that will go some way to reducing the complexity and cost to parents using early learning services and to lifting the supply of new dwellings which will become homes to the growing number of Australians experiencing housing insecurity,” Ms Crimmins said.
“We welcome these initiatives as important investments in Australia’s future and look forward to monitoring progress and outcomes throughout the next term of Parliament.”
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