But Brisbane's nightmare week continued, adding to last Monday's diabolical 42-22 loss to Parramatta and relegating the Broncos to seventh place on the table with four rounds to go.
It was Brisbane's fifth loss from their past seven games and makes an all-important top-four finish less likely.
Canberra, meanwhile, move to 11th place equal on 22 points with the eighth-placed Gold Coast, Newcastle, Wests Tigers and St George Illawarra.
But the Raiders need to win their final four matches to earn a finals berth.
Canberra skipper David Shillington said given his team's poor performance at home this season, they were happy to treat Sunday's match as an away game.
"Sometimes it's just a mental thing," he said.
"You go away, you're in that football-prepared frame of mind.
"You're hydrating, you're hanging out with your teammates, you're thinking about footy, you're preparing the right way.
"It's been working for us going away ... so it was worth a try doing it for a home game.
"We rocked up with a great attitude today."
Brisbane centre Alex Glenn opened the scoring in the 21st minute but the home side responded six minutes later when hooker Travis Waddell scored off a quick play the ball centimetres outside Brisbane's line.
The Broncos went to the break with a 6-4 lead but Canberra came out firing in the second half with centre Jarrod Croker scoring his 15th try of the season in the 42nd minute.
Raiders lock Shaun Fensom added his team's third try in the 57th minute but Glenn made it a double when he scored in the 65th minute to close the gap to 16-12 in Canberra's favour.
It was a costly try though, with the Broncos centre carried off the field with a hamstring injury.
Canberra fullback Josh Dugan crossed for a double in the 75th and 80th minutes to seal victory for the Raiders.
Brisbane coach Anthony Griffin admitted his men were down on confidence.
"We just killed ourselves in the middle of that second half," he said.
- AAP
