SUPPORTED RESIDENTIAL FACILITIES

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (14:56): My question is to the Minister for Health. Have the non-government organisation tenders for supported accommodation assistance under the government's mental health reforms been announced?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (14:56): I thank the member for Taylor for her question. As part of the Stepping Up report reforms, a new level of care, being supported accommodation which I referred to in answer to another question, was recommended. Supported accommodation aims to help people with mental illness return to the community by providing housing, community mental health team input, and non-government organisation (NGO) support. I am delighted to announce that the state government has secured contracts with three NGOs to provide support services to the value of $11.4 million over three years to people with mental illness.

The three NGOs—Life without Barriers, Mind, and Neami—each have extensive experience providing rehabilitation support to mental health consumers. These organisations will work one-on-one with 77 mental health consumers by visiting them in their homes and providing non-clinical support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The community mental health teams will continue to provide clinical support, but the NGOs will complement that work by helping consumers integrate into the community, assisting them with shopping, cooking, cleaning, seeking work and the like.

The state government has also allocated $20.5 million to provide the individual and cluster housing for this program, and I am pleased to say that there were originally 73 supported accommodation places planned but, due to national rental assistance scheme funding from the commonwealth, those 73 places have been increased to 77.

Initial start-up services with consumers commenced in May this year, and the first consumers moved in to new accommodation in early June this year. In addition, it was recently announced that further accommodation packages will become available through the state successfully gaining COAG subacute funding. While many of the supported accommodation places are out in the community, there will be 20 places with 24-hour NGO support at the new Glenside campus. These places are presently nearing construction completion and 20 consumers, many transferring from Glenside Hospital, have been allocated places there.

I would also like to take this opportunity to announce some further good news about the Glenside Hospital redevelopment. The design of the new mental health and substance abuse facility has won a high commendation and been shortlisted for overall winner in the Design and Health, International Academy Awards 2011, Future Health Project. The winner will be announced in the United States on 9 July 2011, and I congratulate Adelaide architects, Swanbury Penglase, and global health designers, MAAP Medical Architecture, on a design that creates a peaceful and therapeutic environment within a village configuration, using sustainable design techniques to provide the delivery of 21^stcentury mental health and substance abuse treatment.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Bragg.