Homelessness

Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (15:00): My question is to the Minister for Social Housing. Besides the government's road map for homelessness, does the government have a long-term strategic plan to deal with homelessness and housing? If so, when was this written and is it publicly available? Figures revealed today by the Hutt St Centre show a record of 178 new clients in the past two months, a 44 per cent increase on the same time as last year, while the Anglicare CE states that 50 people are sleeping rough in the city and the Parklands, double that of last month.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—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) (15:00): I thank the member for Adelaide for her question. In South Australia, we spend about $58 million a year—that is, both commonwealth and state money—in regard to homelessness. The vast majority is around specialist homelessness services, of which we have about 400 beds in the city.

One of the things that we have going forward is that we know that the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness only continues to the end of June 2017. I have been very concerned about this because this is matched funding between the feds and the state. So, when I attended the commonwealth state and territory Housing and Homelessness Ministers Meeting in March, I took a paper to that meeting to raise our concerns. One of the key issues, when we were leading up to the cessation of that national partnership previously, was discussed at the round tables I held with the homelessness sector.

Their concern is this short-term funding that we have going ahead and how that is going to impact us because people can only get one-year or two-year contracts, and it's very difficult for them to deliver their services. An agreement was reached at that national meeting to commission a report on future policy reforms and future options for homelessness beyond June 2017. Most importantly, what I have really sought is stability for this industry. I think we share a common interest in supporting people who find themselves experiencing homelessness and how we as a state and as a nation support people when they are most vulnerable.

What I am seeking, as the Minister for Social Housing in South Australia, is a five-year agreement, an agreement that is indexed to support people who find themselves in this situation. We have a sleeping rough report that we have had for more than six years in Adelaide; it's a rough sleep account. This enables us to look at the people who are using our services in the CBD. We have seen fluctuations. We know it was a high of about 107 when we started the count. We know that when winter approaches and it is wet and cold we have increases in numbers.

I will continue to work with homelessness sector not only about this future funding, but also how we can prevent homelessness, how we can support people who are at risk of homelessness to keep the homes that they are in. I have talked about this many times since I have been the minister, and I will continue to look at the continuum of housing in this state.

The SPEAKER: The member for Newland.

Ms Hildyard interjecting: