Essentials 4 Women SA

Ms COOK (Fisher) (15:26): Today, I rise to talk about and pay tribute to the great outcomes that can be achieved when women support women. Yes, men play a critical role in the community, but today I specifically want to highlight an outstanding organisation that is run by women for women. There is one aspect of women's homelessness that is not often discussed: the difficulty of getting your period while living rough. Limited access to sanitary products means homeless women are often forced to choose between buying sanitary items and other essential items like food. It is most undignified. This does not just include homeless women, this is also families with girls who have limited access to resources.

Essentials 4 Women South Australia is a local charity that aims to provide all women with the basic, but costly, items for feminine hygiene, including sanitary products and underwear. Essentials 4 Women SA was founded in early 2015 by Amy Rust and Kelly Peacock—two mums living in Adelaide's southern suburbs. They very appropriately highlighted a gap in the current charitable system, and that was the provision of sanitary items to homeless, disadvantaged, and at-risk women.

I am sure that like many of you in this place, or listening to this today, the thought of donating sanitary items to a charity was once such a foreign idea—let alone even talking about it. Sanitary items are not a glamorous item, but they are most certainly essential. We know these items are not cheap. In fact, for many women living on a low income or, worse still, struggling to find work, they are truly treated as a luxury. To add to that, many shelters and service providers simply do not have the means to be able to give these items out month after month, given their cost.

Since their foundation, Essentials 4 Women SA have collected and distributed over 120,000 items to local women in need over three donation drives. Women in my electorate, and right across South Australia, have benefited from this, and participated in it. What a spectacular feat. But Amy and Kelly did not purchase this huge number of items. They were 100 per cent donated by the members of the community. I am pleased to say that the large bulk of those people donating have been women. It is a real Robin Hood project.

My office has proudly been one of the many drop-off points across South Australia, and I want to thank the members of my local community for getting behind this very worthy cause. As is often the case, those with the very least were the very first to come forward and make a donation. Local organisations, such as aged-care homes, schools and local businesses, also made very generous contributions.

In particular, I would like to thank the Girl Guides of Happy Valley; Reynella Braeview Calisthenics, which I know is very close to your heart, Madam Deputy Speaker; and also the nursing staff of the Flinders Medical Centre, who I am very close friends with and stay in touch with, in particular those in the intensive care unit, but broadly several wards also helped out.

As you can imagine, the sheer volume of public sentiment has meant a very large output of effort by this volunteer organisation over a very short time. It is not just the time it takes but is also the physical handling and the delivery of the items. Collecting donations from over 40 drop-off points across South Australia, sorting and distributing them to over 23 front-line services is no small task. Even with using their own two personal vehicles, their fuel, the efficiency was not very high, given the amount of going back and forth between locations.

Essentials 4 Women SA recently applied for a state government Community Benefit SA grant to purchase a delivery van, and I am so happy to say that they got exactly what they needed and that the van has been either delivered or is on the way. They were granted $31,990, and they have been busily and far more efficiently helping local women in need. In fact, they are going on their first regional tour this weekend to Port Augusta and Whyalla to provide regional homeless and domestic violence shelters with these much-needed items. It was with great interest that I saw that they were running a little competition to name their van, and a particular favourite of mine was Flo Rida—some people might understand that more than others.

I would like to congratulate Amy and Kelly on their hard work in helping to support local women in need and on the creative ways they have gone about generating public interest in their cause. I was very pleased to join my colleagues, the member for Wright, the Minister for Education and Child Development, the member for Adelaide, and also the hardworking federal member for Adelaide, in helping to support a great afternoon tea to raise money and awareness for disadvantaged and at-risk women right across the state. I have become a member, and I would encourage others in this place to also.

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