Once radical policies like pill testing and decriminalising cannabis for personal use have gained majority acceptance across Australia after being implemented in the ACT, new polling shows.
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In the nationally representative poll, The Australia Institute asked more than 1000 people if they supported these policies and found 64 per cent backed pill testing at music festivals.
Just over half, 52 per cent, agreed with decriminalised possession and use of small amounts of cannabis, legislated in the ACT four years ago.
Bill Browne, director of the institute's Democracy and Accountability program, said with the territory heading to an election on October 19, the results showed Canberra could lead the nation in progressive law reform.
"I think seeing that bold policies from the ACT are popular not just in Canberra but nationwide should embolden ACT politicians and candidates to get their big ideas out there in front of the public ahead of the election," he told The Canberra Times.
Canberra's policy of spreading public housing throughout existing suburbs and new developments, rather than being built in high-density in concentrated areas, was supported by three-quarters of people surveyed.
"A great strength of the ACT's public housing policy is that communities are distributed throughout different suburbs, which keeps a kind of diversity and avoids any suburb from being kind of typecast," Mr Browne said.
"It keeps people in touch with each other."
When explained why Canberrans take a public holiday to mark the 1967 referendum that removed discriminatory provisions from the constitution and celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures on Reconciliation Day, 54 per cent of people said they wanted to the same.
The ACT government's decision to transition from fossil fuel to 100 per cent renewable energy in 2019, the first non-European jurisdiction in the world to do so, was backed by 71 per cent of people surveyed.
People were also supportive of the ACT's gradual phasing out of lump sum land tax on property transactions, with 60 per cent backing the policy designed to reduce up front costs for first home buyers.
The ACT is 12 years into its 20-year "swap" that reduces stamp duty on sales of property and increases annual land tax on the value of land. When the swap is complete, Canberrans who own property will pay a small amount each year instead of a large amount at the point of purchase.
The only policy not backed by a majority was the ban on billboard advertising, which has been in effect in the territory since 1937.
Billboards and roadside advertising are prohibited to avoid distractions for drivers and maintain aesthetics in Canberra, but only 37 per cent of people backed this.
Despite the slow progress on Canberra's light rail, the ACT government's decision to build a light rail network was given the tick by 69 per cent of survey participants.
A large majority - 71 per cent - supported exclusion zones around polling booths on election day at ACT elections.
When Canberrans go to the polls, no one is allowed to hand them electoral material or attempt to influence their vote within a 100-metre radius of the polling place.
The ban, which has existed since 1992, includes handing out leaflets or displaying electoral signs.
ACT programs to reduce youth crime and incarceration received 84 per cent support.