Labor backbencher Michael Pettersson will on Friday move a motion in the Legislative Assembly calling on the ACT government to develop the position statement on youth mental health recovery and the workforce strategy, which is expected to pass.

Mr Pettersson said there was a youth mental health crisis happening now, as the cohort had felt the brunt of the pandemic times but ongoing efforts to address the issue had been disjointed.

"I don't want to be too prescriptive in what the plan is comprised of, but I want us to have a plan," Mr Pettersson said.

"Often when it comes to mental health, they announce we're spending money but we don't really take stock of what we're intending and trying to do."

Mr Pettersson said he thought the mental health services required were not being delivered, as a result of funding and skills shortages.

"When you speak to everyday Canberrans, they will have all heard stories about someone trying to access mental health services. And either the appointments are available months away or the books are actually just closed at the practice. If you speak to people in the sector, they will tell you that they are overworked and underfunded, so it is well and truly both," he said.

Mr Pettersson said a lot of young people were "doing it really, really tough" through the COVID-19 pandemic, because the cohort felt the brunt of unprecedented times.

"It's a pretty unfortunate set of circumstances we find ourselves in. The government has announced a range of measures in the budget, which are wonderful. They've announced $10.3 million in commitments for youth mental health and that's money well spent," he said.

Mr Pettersson said a Commonwealth mental health workforce plan, currently in development, only considered the clinical mental health workforce, but an ACT plan should also capture the psychosocial support workforce.

"I want us to have a plan for how we respond to this. We don't just need to give money to all of these entities. We also need to know what we want to see from it and how we can tell if it's being effective or not."

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Meanwhile, the ACT government will also be compelled to develop a social recovery plan after a Greens motion was passed with amendments in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday afternoon.

Greens backbencher Andrew Braddock, who moved the original motion, said the pandemic had made inequality worse and the social recovery plan would require the ACT government to provide strategic advice and support to help vulnerable Canberrans.

"It's essential that the plan is developed together with impacted people and the wider community. This will give assurance to these Canberrans that they are not being left behind," Mr Braddock said.

"The plan should also include a pathway to rebuild Canberra's social fabric, through the safe re-introduction of activities, and educational and volunteering opportunities, with a focus on community building and inclusion."

The plan will identify long-term individual, community and ACT-wide impacts of COVID-19, with a focus on groups who were already disadvantaged before the pandemic's onset, to develop a roadmap for rebuilding Canberra's social fabric.

The motion passed on Thursday also requires the leaders of the political parties in the Legislative Assembly to write to their federal party leader counterparts to call for an increase and indexation of Commonwealth social security payments above the Henderson poverty line.

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