The ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) today welcomed the release of the ACT Wellbeing Framework by the ACT Government.
ACTCOSS CEO Dr Emma Campbell said: “ACTCOSS has long seen the need for an agreed set of wellbeing goals to guide government decision making and to track our progress beyond standard economic indicators.
“We welcome the ACT Government’s commitment to embed wellbeing in the Government’s decision making.
“ACTCOSS will be closely monitoring the Government’s performance against the wellbeing indicators.”
ACTCOSS was closely involved in the development of the Wellbeing Framework to ensure the indicators measure what matters most to the ACT community.
Dr Campbell said: “We value the efforts the ACT Government took to engage with the community in all of its diversity. This has resulted in a set of wellbeing domains and indicators that the people of Canberra can relate to and can hold the ACT Government accountable to.
“We welcome the attention that the ACT Wellbeing Framework gives to specific groups in our community whose wellbeing may be hidden by standard economic measures.
“ACTCOSS has long highlighted the disadvantage hidden behind the ACT’s high averages on most standard measures. The Framework pays close attention to inequality in all its forms.
“Both federally and here in the ACT, we have seen similar frameworks come and go with changing government priorities and political preferences. ACTCOSS is keen to ensure that the Wellbeing Framework – a framework that has been developed with the community – is embraced by all sides of politics.
“The ACT Government recognises that the ACT Wellbeing Framework is a living document requiring ongoing engagement between government and the community. ACTCOSS will continue to engage with the Government on the wellbeing indicators, and hold it accountable to the Framework, to progress the things that matter most to our diverse Canberra community,” Dr Campbell said.
ACTCOSS advocates for social justice in the ACT and represents not-for-profit community organisations.
