Extreme Weather Conditions

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) (14:20): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: The extreme weather event commencing on Wednesday 28 September 2016 caused power outages and storm damage across the state, along with severe flooding, particularly in the Northern Adelaide Plains area. The State Coordinator declared the incident a major incident at 5.30pm on 28 September 2016, pursuant to division 3, section 22 of the Emergency Management Act 2004. Both the Emergency Relief Functional Service in Housing SA and the State Recovery Office functions were activated.

The Emergency Relief Functional Service opened relief centres on Thursday 29 September at Ceduna, Clare, Port Augusta, Port Lincoln, Port Pirie and Whyalla, and Gawler on Friday 30 September 2016. Additional accommodation for those sleeping rough in the Adelaide CBD was also made available by inner city homelessness agencies on the nights of Wednesday 28^th, Thursday 29^th and Friday 30September and again on Monday 3 October.

The Recovery Hotline 1800 302 787 was already operational and continues to be available from 8am to 6pm. Public information about relief and recovery activities has been issued across multiple media channels, including the sa.gov.au website, social media and traditional media. Three emergency grants have been made available to assist people impacted by this event—the loss of power grant, emergency relief grant and the emergency clean-up grant. People who presented at relief centres for emergency support were assessed and, if eligible, received immediate assistance.

Due to the volume of loss of power applications received, assessment of some applications is still underway. More than 14,000 applications in total have been received. The majority of loss of power applications received at the relief centre, around 7,000, are being processed this week. Funds can take up to five days to appear in people's accounts. Those received by post or email will be processed over the coming weeks as further verification is required. People who did not meet the eligible criteria will receive a letter advising of the outcome.

As the immediate need for refuge, information and personal support services reduced across most of the state, all emergency relief centres closed at 6pm on Monday 10 October 2016, with close to 10,000 families having been assisted. The Emergency Relief Functional Service opened the Northern Adelaide Plains Flood Recovery Centre on Tuesday 11 October 2016 to support the recovery of the local community over the long term. The centre is located at the Virginia Horticulture Centre, Old Port Wakefield Road, Virginia.

Recovery services include information about available assistance through a range of agencies, including the Department of Primary Industries and Regions, the provision of emergency and clean-up grants, and connections to mental health and other supports. Given the predominance of Vietnamese and Cambodian market gardeners running horticultural enterprises in the Northern Adelaide Plains area, fact sheets have been translated into Vietnamese and Khmer.

Current Local Recovery Coordinator for the Pinery fire, Mr Alex Zimmerman, has been appointed interim Local Recovery Coordinator for the areas of the Northern Adelaide Plains affected by flooding. A local recovery committee has also been established. The Emergency Relief Functional Service has coordinated outreach services into affected communities, drawing on the assistance of the Australian Red Cross and pastoral ministries. Outreach visits to affected families have occurred in the Northern Adelaide Plains area and those areas most affected by the extreme weather, including Stockport, Clare and Blyth.

This has been a significant event with widespread impacts across the state. The government recognises that for many families and businesses, in the Northern Adelaide Plains area in particular, recovery may take some time. The government will ensure that support continues to be available over the medium to long term.