Department for Communities and Social Inclusion, $1,090,488,000

Administered Items for the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion, $195,310,000

Membership:

Ms Sanderson substituted for Mr Gardner.

Hon. T.R. Kenyon substituted for Ms Digance.

Minister:

Hon. Z.L. Bettison, Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers.

Departmental Advisers:

Mr T. Harrison, Chief Executive, Department for Communities and Social Inclusion.

Mr A. Thompson, Executive Director, Financial and Business Services, Department for Communities and Social Inclusion.

Ms S. Wallace, Executive Director, Policy and Community Development, Department for Communities and Social Inclusion.

Ms N. Rogers, Director, Business Affairs, Department for Communities and Social Inclusion.

Ms J. Kennedy, Director, Community Engagement and Grants Policy and Community Development, Department for Communities and Social Inclusion.

Mr G. Myers, Principal Coordinator, Strategic Projects and Business Affairs, Department for Communities and Social Inclusion.

The CHAIR: Minister, welcome back. You are appearing now in your capacity as the Minister for Youth. I declare the proposed payments open for examination and I refer members to Agency Statement Volume 1, and I call on the minister to introduce her advisers and make a statement if she wishes.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Thank you, Chair. To my left is Tony Harrison, the Chief Executive of the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion; to my far left is Andrew Thompson, Executive Director, Financial and Business Services; to my right is Sue Wallace, Executive Director, Policy and Community Development; behind me is Nancy Rogers, Director, Business Affairs, and Greg Myers, Principal Coordinator, Strategic Projects and Business Affairs; and in the third row is Justine Kennedy, Director, Community Engagement and Grants Policy and Community Development.

It is a great honour to be the Minister for Youth. Our diverse and dynamic generation of young people is a significant resource. Our best future lies with a generation that is prepared to take on the opportunities in our changing world and create a strong, cohesive community. The Office for Youth has an across-government role in supporting young South Australians through strategic policy, youth sector support and advocacy, and events and forums that celebrate young people and ensure that they have the opportunity to have a say.

The portfolio's focus through its Youth Strategy, funding and other programs is on increasing the economic and social participation of young South Australians, especially those experiencing disadvantage. I am pleased to say that over 70 per cent of the Office for Youth funding has been used to address this priority during 2015-16. We have demonstrated our commitment to this priority through our new one-off grants program, Grants SA, which brings together existing one-off grant programs. One of the target groups for this program is young people experiencing disadvantage. Grants SA has a simpler application procedure, less restrictive guidelines and streamlined reporting, which makes it easier for eligible organisations working with young people to access funding. Feedback from the community has been extremely positive.

The government's 2016 Youth Strategy, Connected to YOUth, builds on the priorities of the 2015 strategy to address youth homelessness and support at-risk young people transitioning from school to employment or further education. The 2015 strategy included the development of a white paper on improving the economic and social participation of young South Australians experiencing homelessness. The 2016 strategy includes financial literacy, training through the Australian Securities and Investments Commission's MoneySmart Rookie program to 200 young South Australians at risk of unstable housing due to low incomes and poor budgeting skills.

In addition, building on the 2015 strategy, Connected to YOUth continues the highly effective successful transitions program. A case management and mentoring program, aimed to support our most vulnerable young South Australians to move into meaningful work and social participation. Youth engagement was a priority focus in 2015-16, including the youth engagement guide, developed in collaboration with young people, the community sector and other government agencies, and aligned with our government's Better Together initiative.

As minister I have had the privilege of engaging with many young people throughout the year. The Office for Youth also continues to support the participation of young people across South Australia through a range of events and activities that promote and celebrate our young people and to ensure they have a voice on issues that are important to them.

As will be evident already, the Office for Youth is increasingly working in collaboration with other government agencies and the community sector to better coordinate efforts within South Australian communities. As an example, the Northern Aboriginal Youth Justice Program will provide a multi-agency response to improve outcomes for Aboriginal young people in contact with the justice system. Working together to harness efforts, goodwill and resources is the best practice for community agencies and organisations, and it is the way forward for the Office for Youth.

The CHAIR: Thank you, minister. Member for Adelaide, do you have an opening statement?

Ms SANDERSON: No.

The CHAIR: Do you have any questions?

Ms SANDERSON: Thank you. In relation to the minister's opening statement—this is also referenced on page 101, targets, point 1. In 2015 you mentioned the white paper on homelessness, yet in 2016 there was no follow up—it was not mentioned in the top three. However, it shows up again for the 2016-17 year, so skipping a year forward, to conduct a cross-sector round table on homelessness and family and/or relationship violence. I am wondering why you would have produced a white paper and then done nothing for a whole year.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: It is not the case because the youth strategy is based on a calendar year. We were looking here at financial years. The white paper happened in the calendar year of 2015. In 2016, just this morning, I announced the next step of that process. We will be doing a regional homelessness youth prevention pilot program, incorporating Mount Gambier and Whyalla. This is in cooperation with the University of South Australia, Service to Youth Council and Uniting Communities.

One of the key areas that was spoken about in the white paper was about preventing homelessness. In particular, young people who have instability issues in housing often disconnect from school. We find them appearing in high numbers in our justice system, and it sets up a life-long issue of instability if they cannot support that.

One of the key things I wanted to do was look at that white paper. One of the other areas is, of course, the round tables we will be holding, probably in the second half of this year, looking at the connection between domestic and family violence as a trigger for youth homelessness.

The other issue I mentioned was ASIC's MoneySmart Rookie program. One of the other things we identified with young people is that, often if they need to leave home early, they might be share housing. We find that often people get themselves into debt without realising it—maybe through a mobile phone, a smartphone, or through perhaps not actually budgeting for utilities bills, the insurance on the house, etc., etc. So, that is a program where there has been 200 places across South Australia for young people to have that training through a series of modules. I will get some details on where we are running that program.

We identified that a lack of financial knowledge is a real barrier to people proceeding forward, because they can get themselves into lots of credit issues and therefore they might be evicted from their place of residence, or they might find themselves in a rent-to-buy plan that is actually more expensive than if they went through a different area.

Ms SANDERSON: Regarding that MoneySmart Rookie, which community organisations were involved and what amount of money was allocated to that?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: With the MoneySmart Rookie program?

Ms SANDERSON: Yes.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: We have 12 organisations involved with this: Aboriginal Legal Rights, AnglicareSA, Baptist Care SA, Campbell Page Flow Program, Centacare Catholic Family Services Country SA, Lutheran Community Care, Community Access and Services, Re-engage Youth Services, UnitingCare Wesley Bowden, UnitingCare Wesley Country, West Coast Youth and Community Support, and Yorke Youth Services. They delivered the program starting in June, and $100,000 was committed to this program.

Ms SANDERSON: My next question is on Budget Paper 4, Volume 1, page 100. I refer to the table regarding expenses. Can the minister explain the large increase in expense from the 2014-15 year, the actual figure, to the 2015-16 year? It is a rise of 30 per cent.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I am advised that the $513,000 increase in expenses between the 2014-15 actual and the 2016-17 budget was due to the commencement of the Successful Transitions program late in the financial year, resulting in a $304,000 underspend in that budget. That is where that change came in. Let me talk to you about Successful Transitions. I have to say that this is one of my personal favourite projects. When we did the youth forums, and we did country cabinets and metro cabinets, what I heard from young people and people working with young people was that between the ages of 17 and 24 there were people who were not engaging in the last bits of school or finding that transition from school to work really difficult.

As I look around the chamber here, we have people with teenagers or people who are young adults. It is often a time when your family still provides great mentoring and guidance to what you are doing. While young people think, 'I am an adult; I know what I am doing,' I certainly know that my family backed me up many times between those ages as I started my way. We find that people do not always have that support. We have that money from the Successful Transition programs and it is distributed to five service providers across three financial years. I can talk to you about the fact that we extended it also to Whyalla.

It is available to young people aged 17 to 24 years in five regions identified on disadvantage: the northern and southern metro areas, the Limestone Coast, the Murray Bridge Mount Barker region, and the Mid North region—and that included the communities of Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Peterborough. In April of this year we extended that to include the Whyalla community. During the year, 255 young people were referred to the program and 177 young people engaged with an individual transition plan. It is a key thing to have intensive case management of a young person to assist them to re-engage in school or to stabilise their housing, or deal with some of the issues they might well have and get them into an apprenticeship or traineeship to get that job going.

I would like to share with you some of the examples of this. Brandon (which is not his real name), 21 years old, was unemployed, and lacked direction and motivation. His lack of employment and occasional drug use led to a strained relationship with his mother. Successful Transitions provided intensive mentoring to build his confidence and recognise his personal strengths. Brandon was connected to job preparation support and learned interview techniques. His drug use was reduced and he was supported to find employment. Brandon is now working full-time as a car retailer, detailing cars with a view to an apprenticeship. He is motivated and loving his work and saving for the future.

Tara, who is 19 years old, was diagnosed with a personality disorder. She lacked confidence and presented with anxiety issues. She lived independently with a partner who, like her, was also long-term unemployed. Headspace referred Tara to Successful Transitions, where she was assisted to continue support from Headspace for her mental health, as well as enrol in programs to improve her communication, interview, resume and letter-writing skills. Her self-esteem and confidence grew, and eventually she secured part-time work in a bakery. She is now working regular shifts, living a healthy lifestyle and presenting as a confident and intelligent young woman.

Jack is 18 and his employment provider referred him to Successful Transitions because he was struggling to meet the mutual obligation requirements needed to keep his Centrelink payments. He had left school during year 11 due to extreme anxiety which caused him to be isolated, struggling to maintain social and sporting connections. Successful Transitions teamed with Jack to identify his goals and create a plan for the future.

Through intensive mentoring, Jack was able to develop coping strategies for his anxiety. He was supported through the Youth 2 Work program operated by Regional Development Australia, and received assistance to get his white card accreditation, which is an induction for construction training. He continued to apply for work and he gained a role at his local recycling centre. He is enjoying his work and receiving post-employment placement to ensure his transition to work is a success.

While I realise that is a lot of detail and it is just some case studies, it was a real gap which I saw and which was raised with me during these youth forums—we held about eight or so last year—and I felt that people really needed help at that particular time in their life and it could make a real difference to their outcome. It is a program which I am quite proud of, we are targeting 150 participants again this year, and I look forward to reporting to you next year about some of the outcomes.

Ms SANDERSON: From the 255 who were referred to the program, how many are now employed and what is the breakdown between full-time, part-time and casual employment?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: As I said, we then participated with 177. I am not sure we have that breakdown of detail. I am happy to take that on notice, remembering that what we were looking for was stability for that person, so perhaps returning to school or training or entering the workforce. It was always a combination of the three.

Ms SANDERSON: Does the minister agree that, given youth unemployment is around 20 per cent, all youth who are unemployed would benefit from this kind of mentoring as per the Successful Transitions program and not just the disengaged, and does the minister have any plans to make this happen?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I am very interested in intensive case management. We have actually used it in a recovery process after both the Sampson Flat and Pinery fire recovery. Throughout government, and particularly in my areas, I think we should investigate further how we do that. The question about youth unemployment is something that is everybody's business here in South Australia. We know that once you get that first job, it is much easier to get that second job. I will of course work with my cabinet colleagues to raise this.

We need to support young people to get that start and make that transition. I think as we evaluate this program, I would like to look at it over the three years, and put it forward. We know the commonwealth government has been looking at this area as well and I welcome their interest in their past program. I have some concerns about the payments within that and how that will work, but we know that support program is needed.

Ms SANDERSON: Back to page 100, can the minister also explain why the 2015-16 expenses estimated figure of $1.911 million published in the current budget was 40 per cent lower than the 2015-16 expenses budget of $3.327 million published last year? Could this be the wages figure that has been shifted into another area, or how much of it is?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: That is correct.

Ms SANDERSON: Is that the whole amount?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Yes. One of the things we have done in policy and community development is that we have combined the group of people working in multicultural, youth and volunteers, and also family and community development programs, so that they are now listed in, I think, 1.2 of the budget papers and it is a realignment of those functions.

Ms SANDERSON: The FTEs for Youth were estimated at 11.1, so that would indicate that there is an average of $127,000 per person that was transferred. Would that be correct?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: FTEs?

Ms SANDERSON: Full-time equivalents, yes.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: With the FTEs and policy and community development, the budget estimated result is 129.2 and we are looking in this budget for it to be 122.5 but, like I said, that is multicultural services, youth, volunteers and policy and community development.

Ms SANDERSON: Can the minister break that down between the three areas: multicultural, youth and volunteers?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: No; the whole point is that we have realigned the functions. Many of the skills and attributes that we wanted in that portfolio were represented across the board. We wanted a greater depth of skills and professional development, and I feel that that is what we have when we have reorganised the functions.

Ms SANDERSON: What was the intention of combining the three? Are those three portfolios combined like that in any other state? There have been a lot of questions about why those three would be put together.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: It is a contemporary approach to social policy and planning that is looking at the multidimensional nature of challenges and opportunities. As minister, I always want to be effective but efficient.

Ms SANDERSON: Was the idea to use the same staff in different areas? If so, I do not see why you would have increased the number of staff by 55.1 when you have combined three. You have not actually gained any efficiencies: you have ended up with more staff than you had individually in the three departments added together.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I think you might also be incorporating or not recognising that policy and community development is also included in that area. It is actually the four areas that have come together: multicultural, youth, volunteers and policy and community development.

Ms SANDERSON: Were there 55 in that department in 2015-16, like the previous year?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: While we are here at this session I will get someone to calculate that for us and we can compare apples with apples.

Ms SANDERSON: I refer to page 101, Performance indicators, point one. Can the minister advise what initiatives were funded by the Office for Youth, and can the minister break down the funding allocated to each initiative?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Can I ask: the number of young people involved or the percentage of funded initiatives? On which area would you like me to elaborate?

Ms SANDERSON: The Office for Youth funded initiatives.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I think I have already detailed those programs. It is Successful Transitions, it is the MoneySmart Rookie program. The other one we have that we have not talked about is Be a Job Maker, and I will be releasing more details about that. I think where you are going with this is that it would be good if we detailed where the grants are going.

Ms SANDERSON: Yes.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I suspected that that is where we were heading. I will read through how we spent the budget. Successful Transitions was $616,000; $100,000 for the rookie grants; $83,000 for the Peterborough youth plan, part of Thriving Communities; $5,000 for the youth engagement guide; $127,000 for National Youth Week; $226,000 for the Port Augusta social vision; $327,700 for YACSA; $80,000 for the Youth Network grants; $50,000 for the Youth Parliament; $55,400 for Community Voices; $56,200 for sustainable online communities; and $25,500 for the Youth Volunteer Scholarship. In addition to that, the differences for the budget this year are that we are adding the cross sector round table on youth and homelessness, the northern Adelaide youth justice project ($45,000), the University of South Australia homeless early intervention pilot ($150,000), and money will go towards Grants SA within that.

Ms SANDERSON: Also on page 101, Performance indicators, point one, the actual number of young people involved in government and community decision-making has more than halved, from 2,512 in 2013-14 to 1,042 in 2014-15. Can the minister advise what the government is doing to get more people involved in this decision-making? And can the minister advise why, in April this year, I received an answer to last year's estimates stating that that figure was 1,200—nine months after the figure should have been calculated?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Can I confirm that you are saying that the actual figure was 1,042 in 2014-15 and the estimated result in 2015-16 is an increase to 1,469? Are you asking where that increase came from?

Ms SANDERSON: Yes. In the previous year, the 2013-14 year, which is not on this page, it was 2,512, so we have less than half the number.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I am not sure where you get the figure of 2,500 from.

Ms SANDERSON: From the previous year's budget.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: What year are you talking about?

Ms SANDERSON: Last year's budget will have the actual figures for the 2013-14 year. It is the actual 2013-14 figure.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: There was a change when we were running the Duke of Edinburgh awards and that would have increased dramatically that area.

Ms SANDERSON: I think that was a few years ago now.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: This is focused now around the youth forums, National Youth Week and the community engagement forums. The biggest jump—which, I think, is your point—is when we ceased doing the Duke of Edinburgh award.

Ms SANDERSON: I think that was actually 2011-12, when 5,539 was the actual number of young involved, and then that dropped to 2,913 in the 2012-13 year, then 2,512 in the 2013-14 year. I believe 2012-13 was the Duke of Edinburgh change and now we have halved again. I know there is no youth minister's group—it had an official name—and there is all the YACSA funding through the councils. That would indicate some of the drop, but it is less than half. Are you planning on raising the number again and, if so, how?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Obviously, this is a target for the number of young people to be involved in these events. In our youth strategies, my focus was to go out and do the youth forums in the regional areas and, of course, across the metro area as well. I am happy to look at the changes. Obviously, from year to year, we have a different focus about where that money is going to go.

I suspect there were some changes when local government was not running the Youth Advisory Committee program, as it had been. There was a change there and there was the Duke of Edinburgh change behind that, but I will continue to be actively seeking. The MoneySmart Rookie program is an innovative program reaching out to different people.

We have a lot of people involved in youth parliaments, which have been going for some time, and also the Be a Job Maker program. We are connecting in different ways. I would probably say that we are connecting at a deeper level when we run those programs. I think that, while the actual number might be less, that does not necessarily reflect less interest or involvement.

Ms SANDERSON: On that same page, under Targets 2016-17, the first dot point refers to cross-sector round table youth talks. Can the minister outline who will be involved, what they are involved in, where the round tables or forums will be held and how often?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: That program is being developed as we speak. I know for myself that, when we do our country cabinets, that will definitely be something I would add to the program that I facilitate at that time. Also, when we are doing metro cabinets, that will be a time for us to pursue that, but we do not have the plan at this stage. I am happy to supply that when we do.

Ms SANDERSON: Referring to page 94, under description/objective, one of the objectives of the Office for Youth is to ensure youth policy development across government. Can the minister outline where this has been achieved for the last financial year and give some specific examples?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: The best example is about Aboriginal youth justice. It is a whole of government-based family support model that we are using. To some extent, it is based on some of the Ceduna service reforms where we have seen some promising results at this point. It is a multi-agency approach to reducing the overrepresentation of Aboriginal young people in the criminal justice system.

The proposal has been developed to a shared concern between the community and government. It is a multi-agency, family-focused response proposed to improve outcomes for Aboriginal families who present with complex needs and have experienced intergenerational contact with statutory agencies and particularly criminal justice. We are trying to interrupt the cycle with young people within high-risk family networks. Of course, Housing SA is often connected with those families as well. We also work with SA Police, the Department for Education and Child Development, the Department for Correctional Services and SA Health within that.

As I touched on before, I am particularly interested in intensive case management models because the key thing for me is you are putting the person at the middle, and we tend to have a one size fits all model in general about how we support people who are vulnerable. I am very interested to see, post the work of the Ceduna service reform, how we look at the vulnerable persons framework. We have seen the collaborations if DV is an issue within family safety frameworks.

We put the person at the centre and the services around them. I am very interested to follow this as a model. I have raised how we can do things differently with the Attorney-General because we need to interrupt the cycle of poverty and the normalisation of people's contact with the correctional services system.

The CHAIR: Thank you, minister. We will now move on to the examination of payments under the Minister for Volunteers. Could you call your new advisers, please?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I think the advisers are the same.

The CHAIR: Excellent. Do you have a statement in relation to your capacity as Minister for Volunteers?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Yes, I do have something to say. Each year, 900,000 South Australian volunteers contribute about 1.7 million volunteer hours per week across the state, and we estimate that economic contribution to be around $5 billion each year. I particularly highlight the tremendous response of our emergency services volunteers to two major South Australian bushfires in 2015 with more than 3,500 firefighters supported by New South Wales and Victorian fire authorities. They were deployed to Sampson Flat in January 2015, and 1,700 were in attendance at the Pinery fire in late November.

The recovery phase after each fire was also supported by numerous volunteer-involving organisations such as BlazeAid, the Australian Red Cross, Save'em, Conservation Volunteers, St Vincent de Paul Society and many service clubs. I would like to acknowledge the 13,900 Country Fire Service volunteers from across South Australia who respond to over 8,000 incidents each year and provide invaluable support to our communities.

This government is committed to supporting and building volunteering and recognising and strengthening the contribution our volunteers make. One way that we have demonstrated this commitment is through our major grant reform. Our new one-off grants program, Grants SA, brings together existing one-off grant programs. Its simpler application procedures, less restrictive guidelines and streamlined reporting make it easy for eligible organisations working with volunteers to access funding. As I said, feedback from the community has been extremely positive.

The year 2015-16 has been an active year for the Office for Volunteers and for our volunteers. The government has recognised the contributions of our volunteers through a range of events and awards, most spectacularly the State Volunteers Day Thank You event, which of course the member for Adelaide joined me at. It was held at the Adelaide Festival Centre over the June long weekend. I was very pleased that our Governor was able to attend to hand out those key awards. There were 1,800 people in attendance and some fabulous entertainment courtesy of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival.

We have continued to recognise significant volunteer contributions through the South Australian Volunteer Awards, awarding close to 5,000 South Australian volunteers Certificates of Appreciation and nearly 200 Premier's Certificates of Recognition. We brought volunteers and volunteer organisations together for information sharing and networking through the 2016 State Volunteer Congress held on 11 May 2016.

The strategy has been developed through a unique partnership between state and local government, the volunteer sector and the business sector. Now in its third year, it continues to offer opportunities to build partnerships. Four project teams have achieved some great results in 2015-16, contributing to the strategy's aims of improving outcomes for volunteers and volunteer-involving organisations and maintaining a volunteer participation rate of 70 per cent or better. I thank all the parties for their contribution.

Another highlight has been the development of the Volunteer Recognition Scheme, which aims to increase the number of young people who volunteer, and to use volunteering as a pathway to employment. The WeDo app for banking volunteer hours, which recognises and rewards young volunteers for their efforts, has been piloted as part of the scheme and has now been further developed by Volunteering SA&NT. We know that volunteering is fundamental to the survival of so many of our community services and it is good to see that our volunteering community continues to thrive and to contribute so abundantly to our South Australian communities.

The CHAIR: Thank you, Minister. Member for Adelaide, do you have a statement?

Ms SANDERSON: No, I do not, thank you.

The CHAIR: Then proceed with questions.

Ms SANDERSON: Budget Paper 4, Volume 1, page 102, Targets 2016-17: 'Further implement the Volunteering Recognition Scheme for South Australia and officially launch the scheme.' The pilot for the Volunteer Recognition Scheme was supposed to produce results by November 2015. I believe you have just mentioned it was called the WeDo app, which has been trialled. Can the minister advise of the date for commencement of that program and is this program still based on the Blue Dot program in the UK? If not, what are the differences between that system?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I will be launching it at the show. I hope you will be in attendance. I will send you an invitation to that. If I remember—and I will get Sue to come in—we had looked at the Blue Dot program and another reward program that was going to bank hours—Time Banking. I think this was an election commitment that we were going to do that. In fact the former minister for volunteers is here. He might recall the development of that. When we looked at that in more detail, the administration of that was going to be far more complex than initially considered, so we looked at other opportunities. The app that had both a reward and a recognition aspect to it was going to be the best way forward.

I accept that there was a little bit more time taken to do this. Volunteering SA&NT has been working with some different stakeholders to test this app out. In particular, I am very keen to involve younger people in using the app because I think that volunteering is a great pathway to employment. What we believe is, by having the WeDo app that shows how much you have done, that can quantify that work, and it also enables you to look at those transferable skills from a volunteering opportunity into work. I accept that it is taking us a little longer. There was a trial pilot in December of last year. I certainly would like it to work smoothly when I launch it at the show.

Ms SANDERSON: How much funding has been allocated? I believe in last year's estimates it was $300,000 for the 2014-15 year and $300,000 again in the 2015-16 year. There was a figure of $1.2 million mentioned at one point. What is the total cost for both of those programs that have now been combined into one? You mentioned Time Banking and getting youth into work, can a reference be generated so that young people can add Time Banking to their resume?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I will answer your last question first. I do not believe that that app will have that complexity, but it might be able to do a statement of volunteer hours done. I can come back to you about that. The funding was $300,000 per year for three years for this Volunteer Recognition Scheme.

Ms SANDERSON: And you are within that budget then; we are into the final year now, the 2016-17 year?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Yes.

Ms SANDERSON: At page 101 of the same paper, can the minister advise why there is no income listed in this year's budget papers for volunteers, and if the income has been distributed to a different program, could she please advise the details of how much would be allocated nominally for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 years?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I think the way to explain it is that it is not usual for us to have an income in this area, and that it was a credit for some advertising airtime expense in 2014-15 that we recouped and some unspent funding in one of the grants programs. It was a bit unusual. It would be a credit and a carryover.

Ms SANDERSON: In the 2013-14 actual year it was $49,000 income and for the budget last year, when you were budgeting for the 2015-16 year, it was still $18,000, so if for one year they had a credit why did the other two years still have income?

The CHAIR: Can I clarify with you, minister: do you have the 2013-14 figures in front of you or are you just relying on—

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: No, I do not.

The CHAIR: In that case, member for Adelaide, you cannot refer to matters which are so far beyond the budget that the minister cannot possibly know what those figures are without reference to your evidence. You need to address this year's budget. You can address last year's if it is detailed in the budget papers but you cannot go back in time. The minister has been pretty lenient so far.

Ms SANDERSON: We will see what she comes up with.

The CHAIR: Therefore, the minister can answer in any way she wishes.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I do not have those figures in front of me but the areas I touched on were the reasoning for that in both those years.

Ms SANDERSON: I refer to the same budget paper, page 101, and expenses. The expenses for the 2016-17 year are $13,000 higher than the original for the previous 2015-16 budget. It is also outlined that the employee expenditure associated with the program is now reported in another subprogram. Can the minister advise the reason as to why expenses would have increased even though employee expenditure is not incorporated?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: As I am advised, the increase is likely due to indexation.

Ms SANDERSON: If wages would normally be included as an expense item why has that actually increased since 2014-15 now that the salaries and wages should not even be in there at all? How has the figure risen? Are there extra expenses that are now going through this account?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: As I am advised, it could be because there is a slight underspend in a grant program but I think it is best if we take that on notice and come back to you.

Ms SANDERSON: I refer to Budget Paper 4, Volume 1, page 95, highlights, point 3, 'Worked with the not-for-profit sector to develop State Government not-for-profit funding rules,' etc. Is there a dedicated resourcing from DCSI to achieve this goal and, if so, what is it?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Obviously, while we do in volunteering work for not-for-profit this would be across the whole of the area including multicultural, youth and volunteers. Perhaps I will talk a little bit about our partnership with the non-government sector. We have our Stronger Together commitment that we signed just recently. I am the co-chair of the Human Services Partnership Forum, along with the president of SACOSS, and that is a forum in which we come together to talk about these areas, and we have outlined the Stronger Together commitment, which is the principles of partnership between the state government and health and community services sector. We have a commitment to collaborate on projects that improve the health and wellbeing of South Australians.

The areas of Stronger Together are that people are connected and actively participating, people are healthy, people are resilient and people are prosperous. We are focusing, however, with the non-government sector on a more results-based approach, and we are looking at more strategic initiatives. One of the key things of which I am very proud and on which we are now working with the NGO sector is our capacity building within the community sector. We have our SCOPE program (Sustainable Community Organisations through Partnership and Engagement), to help non-government organisations strengthen their governance and business systems, by providing direct and personal support, including assistance in seeking alternative funding and coordinating training and development.

Also, we have our STARservice Development Program, an interactive, free, online, self-paced development program to guide community organisations towards sustainability and success. It is designed for use by very small non-government organisations that want to attract grant funding and improve their governance. We have had 35 organisations do the STARservice since December last year. The other area we have worked on is SANFRAG (South Australian Not-for-profit Funding Rules and Guidelines), which is designed to ensure funding is managed consistently across government. We have now improved the funding rules and guideline principles and work is commencing to develop draft rules reflecting these endorsed principles.

The other area of course is the Australian Service Excellent Standards (ASES); 254 organisations benefited from that in 2015-16, and it is about pursuing accreditation under the service excellence standards, and our target was exceeded on that. While it might not specifically be about volunteering, we feel that our role is with our connection and collaboration with the non-government sector, capacity building, but also about working together on specific issues that we see from both sides. The Better Together principles, Stronger Together, are about making sure we have clear ways of engaging with non-government and sharing the decision-making process for the best way forward.

Ms SANDERSON: Regarding the human services partnership, which you said you co-chair, how is that partnership being resourced and how are the outcomes being resourced? So, what department and where is that money allocated coming from?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: The forum benefits from significant in-kind support from government and non-government in the form of staff time, which ensures that the forum's activities are completed in timely manner.

Ms SANDERSON: So no actual money is allocated; it is just in-kind staff at this point?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Obviously a key part of what we have looked at is streamlining of contracts and reducing the red tape, which will save all of us and become more efficient and effective.

Ms SANDERSON: I refer to page 93, highlights, 2015-16, point 3—Implemented an online application form for screening applications: what was the total cost of this initiative?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: That question relates to Communities and Social Inclusion.

Ms SANDERSON: What was the total number of applications received in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 year, and how many were received online?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: That is not part of this budget area.

Ms SANDERSON: I refer to page 101. How many volunteers have registered as at 30 June 2016, and how does this compare with the previous year? You may have said 900,000 in your opening statement.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Nine hundred thousand. I think that rather than a volunteer register, which is what you have implied, the way we measure it is through a survey that is commissioned every two years. We do that to do a survey of the South Australian population to indicate the percentage of people who volunteer, and then that is extrapolated out against the population.

Ms SANDERSON: From that 900,000 figure then—so that would be the same for the last two years—are you able to pull out how many young people that would be, as a percentage or as a number? I assume young is up to the age of 25.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I think we will take that on notice. Obviously, we have a survey that we conduct every two years that we have been doing for some time. That gives us a snapshot of the South Australian population. If I do not have a specific figure I can give you, I think potentially through Volunteering SA and NT we could look at the cohorts, southern volunteering, northern volunteering, what percentage of people they have contact with.

Of course, often we find young people do not recognise what they might do as volunteering. If they cut up the oranges for half time at the footy or they do as Tom Kenyon did and wash the jumpers after the rugby game, they might not consider that as a volunteering aspect. When we think about this it is about understanding the breadth of volunteering, and of course we try to get those figures. It is important for us to measure it because we want to encourage volunteering.

Ms SANDERSON: I refer to page 101, under the description and objective of volunteering. What role, if any, will volunteers play at the new Royal Adelaide Hospital? Will the Lavender Ladies maintain their current levels of service?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I recognise your great interest in what will be a beautiful, cutting-edge—

The Hon. T.R. KENYON: Best hospital in the country.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: —best hospital in the country. I welcome your support of that. I hope you publicly come out and support what will be our new Royal Adelaide Hospital. I will have to direct that question to the Minister for Health.

Mr GRIFFITHS: Can I ask a question?

The CHAIR: The member for Goyder.

Mr GRIFFITHS: It is about the 900,000 number that you quoted. I think it is commendable and it is wonderful that our society supports that level of involvement. Do you keep any form of statistics on the number of those people who are required to have some form of check to be able to volunteer? I know that an issue many MPs are contacted about is the challenges associated with that, getting it done in a timely manner. Is there an estimate of the number of checks that are required?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: We will endeavour to get something. That 900,000 is from a survey that we do. I can tell you that in 2015-16, 54,422 people received a screening check to be a volunteer. As I think the member for Goyder and I might have spoken about previously, sometimes people require more than one check, particularly if they are working in country health. We have endeavoured to pursue some clarification about that, but because of both vulnerability and the aged that is the requirement for people to volunteer. When we look at screening, it is not quite fifty-fifty. We have more volunteers requiring screening than employees, and about 52.3 per cent of clearances are for volunteers.

Mr GRIFFITHS: Do you keep a track on the time taken for a clearance to be provided? In some cases is an age profile a complication? If it is a more common name, is that a challenge for it? Have you tried to track it and ensure that there is an improvement in the time frames on the response to the requests?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Ninety-eight per cent are done in less than 30 days. I feel that we have turned it around.

The CHAIR: There being no more questions, I declare the examination of the proposed payments be referred to Committee A. I thank you, minister, for your time; I thank your advisers for all their hard work and time; and I thank members of the committee and their staff for their work today.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: I would like to take this opportunity to thank my very hardworking team from the CEO down in the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion. While we enjoy this time together, our time of bonding has now passed for a little while, and we look forward to next year; but I want to thank them for their work.

Sitting suspended from 14:27 to 14:46.