But the latest analysis of the country's public services has some good news for the capital, showing ACT students continue to outperform those in other states and territories, while Canberrans can expect to outlive most Australians.

The Productivity Commission's Report on Government Services 2010, published today, investigates how $136 billion of taxpayers' money was spent across areas such as health, education, housing, justice and children's services.

The report reveals Canberra parents pay the highest child-care fees in Australia, even though ACT centres have the least-qualified workers. The median charge in an ACT child-care centre last year was $65 a day, $8 more than the national median.

The report also highlights a troubling trend among young indigenous Canberrans, who were more likely than indigenous teens in any other jurisdiction to be detained in custody during 2007-08.

The capital's tight rental market resulted in four in five Canberrans who received Commonwealth rent aid qualifying for the full payment, the highest rate in Australia. The average rental subsidy governments paid to ACT tenants was 70 per cent higher than the national average.

The performance of ACT hospitals lagged: the median wait for elective surgery in the ACT in 2007-08 was 72 days, Australia's longest, while more than 40 per cent of emergency patients were not treated within the advised time frame.

But Chief Minister Jon Stanhope focused on the positives yesterday, praising the ACT's education achievements.

About 92 per cent of eligible Canberrans attended preschool, far exceeding the national average of 70 per cent, while ACT students were the most likely in Australia to finish Year 12.

For our special report on the commission's findings, see today's Canberra Times.