Private Rental Assistance

Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (15:16): My question is to the Minister for Social Housing. Is there a cap on the number of times a tenant can access the private rental assistance scheme, particularly after having previously forfeited their bond?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (15:17): I thank the member for Adelaide for her interest in this area. I think we should be really clear that many of the people who access multiple bonds are some of our most vulnerable people. We have the Housing SA system where we provide houses (more than 40,000), but we also support an almost equal number of people in the private rental market, many who are low income earners and many who are quite vulnerable.

At the moment, I am concerned about the amount of debt that we have seen increase in private rental, but I am quite concerned that we must be clear to understand those who have sought to look for multiple bonds. Often we see people in crisis who are escaping domestic or family violence or have a severe mental illness. Often they might have had a multiple bond because they've gone from a boarding house to transitional accommodation and then maybe into private rental.

I acknowledge that there is some work to be done and in fact I am going through a branch review at the moment about debt, but I think we should be clear that many people who apply for multiple bonds do have some serious issues. One of the key things I want to look at is, we are rolling out a new service reform for Housing SA clients. We are looking at early intervention. I would like to look at us expanding that service to supporting those people within private rental who also need that support.