Code Blue Emergency Code

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (12:13): I move:

That this house—

(a) urges the state government to implement a Code Blue in regional South Australia as already in place in metropolitan Adelaide to assist homeless and rough sleepers in the regions during extreme weather events;

(b) acknowledges the need for agencies to work together during times of extreme weather events to help relocate and assist rough sleepers; and

(c) highlights the immediate need to have a Code Blue implemented in the Riverland to be used in major weather events such as a high river.

I introduced this motion in the house in November 2016. Prior to that, I had been vocal about the need for equity between metropolitan areas of South Australia and the regions when it comes to severe weather responses. It is one of those rare moments when the state government actually listened, and I would like to acknowledge the work undertaken by the minister and her department to implement a Code Blue in the Riverland. I called for it and it happened, and I commend the minister for that.

There is still a lot of work to be done in the state's response to extreme weather events across the entirety of regional and rural South Australia. Some of that work has been done, but there is plenty more to do. I have no doubt that this response to various changing weather conditions will throw up all sorts of challenges. By way of background, Code Blue ensures that there is a shelter available for rough sleepers during extreme weather conditions, such as storms, severe cold and heavy rains, and means that key stakeholders coordinate a response.

As every person in this state remembers, in September last year we had an unprecedented statewide blackout that impacted some 1.6 million people. The storm that lashed the state did not discriminate between metropolitan and regional South Australia. Every part of the state seemed to cop it. At the time, the state government called a Code Blue to put extreme measures in place to assist homeless people in Adelaide. There was no Code Blue called in the Riverland, and there was no Code Blue called for any other regions of South Australia.

The snubbing of regional South Australia and particularly the Riverland at the time, in my eyes was not good enough. Therefore, I was vocal about a Code Blue for the Riverland and for regional South Australia in general. I believed that a Code Blue response program would be important to the Riverland as the footprint for rough sleepers is quite different between the Riverland and Adelaide, particularly with the experience of a high river at that time.

I wanted a fully integrated approach to tackling severe weather events, and a short time later the state government convened a series of meetings in the Riverland about how a response could be formed to manage severe weather events in the region. I was part of that, and it was very productive, and I commend all the groups involved in that process.

The initial meetings focused primarily on responding to the high river situation at the time and how that was impacting upon homeless people sleeping rough along the river. Again, I reiterated the need to put a Code Blue in place that stemmed beyond high river to all severe weather events—be it storms, cold or heat related. I believe there is now a Code Red for severe, heat-related weather events. In October, again I asked the Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion in this place about what measures were implemented to support those homeless people sleeping rough in the Riverland prior to the one in 50 years weather event. Interestingly, she responded by stating:

…as you know, Centacare provides that service for homelessness…I assume they would go out and contact people who they already know and provide them with accommodation, whether it would be in the facilities they already have available or in a hotel/motel accommodation…

At the time, it was symptomatic, I believe, of the lack of state government coordination to support the homeless in the Riverland during that severe weather event.

It was later noted in local media that Centacare does not provide those types of facilities. However, this did start the ball rolling on looking at how the Riverland could be part of an official Code Blue instead of just Adelaide. The minister in fact announced that the state government would investigate the level of help available to homeless people in the country during storms and other extreme weather events.

On radio, the minister said that during the September storm event, there were some additional specialist homeless services delivered to the Riverland and Ceduna, but was quoted as saying that 'there is not an official Code Blue as…in the city…we're happy to look at what that code blue might look like in the country'. I acknowledge her for that because I think it was great work; there should be no divide between metropolitan Adelaide and the regions. The minister went on to say::

What we've established in Adelaide, and it's just been operational since July when we got everyone together, is a detailed trigger for what happens when we have [an extremely bad weather event]…How do we tell people that there are additional services and who are the people that are going to provide it…That's what we're going to look at here…how is it that we can make sure that people are completely aware on those bad weather occasions of how those additional services will play out.

In response to my calls for the Riverland Code Blue, in November Housing SA told the local Murray Pioneer newspaper:

We are also working with the homelessness services sector to determine whether a 'country code blue' is warranted either on a formal or informal basis.

Again, I am pleased that my calls for the regional Code Blue, and particularly an organised response effort for the Riverland, triggered a state government review and we now have a Code Blue response for many regional areas.

I want to touch on the extent of the homelessness and rough sleeping problem in the Riverland. I have been on tours with local service groups and I have witnessed people living rough on the riverbanks, in severe weather events, and it is particularly important that we have full plans in place to ensure that rough sleepers are accounted for and supported. The service groups in the Riverland do a great job with what they have, but their resources are continually diminishing. As I said, those service groups in the Riverland do a great job with what they have, but they are often under pressure with high demand and less than adequate resources. The Riverland also has a long public housing waiting list, which has further exacerbated this issue.

In the electorate of Chaffey, there are many groups that are doing fantastic work around homelessness and some of the issues around people living rough. They include the ac.care, Life Without Barriers, the Salvos, Uniting Communities, Anglican Community Care, Headspace and Centacare and Relationships Australia on the domestic violence support side of things. The list goes on. There are also many volunteer groups and volunteers who do this off their own bat. They are not part of organisations; they are people who care. They are just genuine community volunteers and people who genuinely care about humanity.

It was a real eye-opener for me and the member for Adelaide, who came up to the Riverland. We headed out with Berri-based welfare agency, Life Without Barriers, in a dinghy, patrolling the River Murray and taking water and assistance out to some of South Australia's most vulnerable people. A lot of those homeless people have become socially inept or unable to interact with mainstream society. I know these welfare agencies keep a very good watch on these people and make sure that in the event of an emergency they are located and assisted. A coordinated approach to these people is vital.

On the 2011 census night, roughly 600 people were living homeless in the Riverland alone. One of the main issues is the lack of available emergency housing, particularly in the regional areas of South Australia, which is then also complicated by a number of other factors, such as high unemployment. Obviously, the cost of living pressures currently facing many South Australian families and individuals are placing more pressure on those who are already homeless and those who are facing homelessness. For those who own or rent a home, the costs of water, electricity, gas, as well as the continual increase in our ESL, are contributing to what I consider a concerning number of people in the region being on the verge of becoming homeless.

Sadly, my electorate has also seen the rise of drug use and the increasing presence of crystal methamphetamine. Drug issues are certainly contributing to homelessness and have also put welfare services under the pump. The dire situation of people living rough in the regions is also further complicated by the lack of public transport.

Last month was the first time a statewide Code Blue has been enacted with regional centres including Port Augusta, Port Pirie, Whyalla, Ceduna, Coober Pedy, Port Lincoln and the Riverland. This response, due to very cold conditions, was to assist those sleeping rough. The fact that we now have a Code Blue in place for the Riverland is a win for the community and a win for regional South Australia. I have no doubt that we will have more extreme weather events, as the region currently has some very frosty mornings. Extreme heat is on its way and we have the possibility of a high river event continuing as we approach summer.

I am happy to continue working with the state government and key stakeholders to ensure that there is an adequate response in assisting rough sleepers in the electorate of Chaffey in these times of extreme and severe weather events.

Mr ODENWALDER (Little Para) (12:24): I find myself in the pleasant position of supporting the motion of the member for Chaffey. It might be a first, but let us hope it is not the last. We on this side of the house support this motion about implementing a Code Blue in regional Australia. These things are not simply metropolitan issues: they are universal issues that need to be addressed, so I welcome this motion.

We on this side of the house welcome the member for Chaffey's concern for and interest in the expansion of services to people who are homeless and sleeping rough in regional South Australia during periods of extreme weather, particularly in the Riverland. As the member notes, things have moved on since he first brought this motion to the house. He was very generous in his praise for the minister. I want to join him in that praise. It is nice to see a moment of bipartisanship over such an important issue.

We are proud of our responses to the prevention of homelessness and the positive effects that our efforts have on the wellbeing of individuals, families and communities. The Department for Communities and Social Inclusion has engaged with providers in regional areas of South Australia, particularly the Riverland, to develop localised responses for rough sleepers affected by extreme weather events. These responses have been successfully put in place in the metro region, first of all, and in the Riverland in partnership with local non-government and community agencies.

In response to the extreme weather events in September 2016, and again in June 2017, the Riverland Homelessness Assertive Outreach Program conducted additional outreach visits, delivering water and food and conducting welfare checks. Our non-government and community partners have been instrumental in the success of these responses, with Housing SA undertaking a statewide extreme weather regional engagement process, commencing in December 2016, to put in place a local plan to respond to people sleeping rough in their community. As a result, we have developed localised extreme heat and extreme cold responses statewide. With that very brief contribution, I support the motion, and I congratulate the member on bringing it to the house.

Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (12:26): I rise to speak in support of this motion, and I congratulate the member for Chaffey on bringing this to the house's attention last year. I thank the government for following through and extending Code Blue out to the regions since then. Code Blue is a great initiative of the government. It was first enacted in 2016 in the city. As we have heard, it has now been expanded into the regions, including Port Augusta, Port Pirie, Whyalla, Ceduna, Coober Pedy, Port Lincoln and the Riverland.

It is a joint initiative. The government is funding the initiative, which is great. In the city, the WestCare facility, owned by Baptist Care, alternates with the Hutt St Centre as the location or the venue that will host people who are sleeping rough during Code Blue events. It is good to see a coordinated effort. It is disappointing that it took 14 or 15 years in government and several people actually dying in the Parklands before this was enacted. It is a great initiative, and I am very glad that it exists, but I just question why it took so long, given it is not a new problem.

After speaking to the Hutt St Centre and some of the people who are involved directly with the people who come in on these Code Blue evenings, one of the most surprising and shocking things was that at the first Code Blue that was held in Adelaide 75 per cent of the people who turned up to WestCare were not known by any service provider in Adelaide. It shocked and surprised everybody because there are many services available, but clearly they are not actually getting to the people who need them most.

I also welcome the expansion of the Street Crew, which now includes doctors and different service providers that have a wider scope to go out to find people who are sleeping rough. I was fortunate enough to do a shift with the Street Crew last year. We met a couple—a man and a woman—sleeping near the railway line near the IceArenA. The people I was with spoke to them individually. One caseworker spoke to the gentleman and another caseworker spoke to the lady. They were able to get them housed, so it was a wonderful result.

The Street Crew pretty well know where a lot of people sleep because they are regular, but it was very surprising that on the day of the first Code Blue, 75 per cent of the people who turned up were not known at all. I wonder what the statistics are for the regional areas now that they have also had a Code Blue. It is a great way for service providers to be able to identify who needs help and get the right services to them because ideally we should not have anybody sleeping rough. We should be providing adequate shelter and housing for people.

There are a certain number of people who actually prefer to sleep rough—not many, but there are a couple who do not like the constraints and the restriction of boarding houses, which have rules about lights out and strict rules around alcohol and drugs. Some people choose to have those things in their life. I know that we cannot solve everybody's problem, but we can certainly solve a lot more than we are. This is a great way of getting access to people we were not aware of before and getting the service to them. I commend the member for Chaffey for bringing to the house this motion to extend that service to the regions, and I am very grateful that the government will be supporting it.

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (12:30): I rise to support the motion by the member for Chaffey. He is a very good member for his electorate, which I will have the pleasure of spending some time in over the weekend, which I look forward to. Code Blue has already been activated a number of times this winter throughout South Australia, including in the regional areas of the Riverland, Port Lincoln, Port Pirie, Whyalla, Port Augusta, Ceduna, Coober Pedy and, of course, Mount Gambier, where in fact it has been activated twice. If you have ever spent much time down in Mount Gambier, which I know you have, Deputy Speaker, it is surprising that it has only been activated twice.

Code Blue commenced in metropolitan Adelaide as a result of wild weather during September 2016. It was positively received by community members and has now been extended throughout the regional areas. At night, when we are in our warm homes in front of a roaring fire down in the South-East or when the heater is on—if you can afford the energy bills—over 5,000 people in South Australia are experiencing homelessness. Unfortunately, one in seven people who is facing homelessness will sleep rough. Homelessness is not a choice; it can happen to anyone. I quote Hutt St Centre's definition of homelessness:

…that state in which people have no access to safe and secure shelter of a standard that does not damage their health, threaten their personal safety or further marginalise them through failing to provide either cooking facilities, or facilities that permit adequate personal hygiene.

There are a number of reasons why people find themselves homeless. It can be a result of domestic violence, family breakdowns, financial difficulties or suffering from mental health issues.

The state government activates Code Blue, ensuring that there is shelter and food available for rough sleepers during expected extreme weather. Extreme weather conditions can include very cold temperatures, rain and high winds. In Mount Gambier, ac.care and the South Australian Housing Trust work together collaboratively when a Code Blue is activated to provide additional accommodation during these extreme weather events. In Mount Gambier alone, during June the overnight temperatures have fallen to 5° and below on 13 occasions, with one night reaching minus 2°. Together with rain and howling winds, this can make for very unpleasant and sometimes life-threatening conditions.

Mount Gambier consistently has colder weather than the rest of the state, which I can definitely attest to. During our cold conditions, Mount Gambier has a number of rough sleepers. Should anyone find themselves seeking shelter in Mount Gambier, they need to present to Housing SA, ac.care or contact the South Australian Homelessness Gateway number on 1800 003 308. The other day, when I was volunteering at our Sunset Community Kitchen, a facility that provides warm meals to people in the Mount Gambier region on Monday and Wednesday nights, I was talking to a number of the people who came in, some with young children, who had nowhere to sleep that night. It was mentioned to me that it was a Code Blue night, so they had accommodation for that evening. The Sunset Community Kitchen provides wholesome meals to the disadvantaged in Mount Gambier and has been doing so for eight years.

On the particular night that I worked—and I have done a number of nights now—we served over 70 meals. The volunteers for the night where there was a Code Blue were Maxine Marney, Jacqui Michalski, Cathy Toss and Carolyn Gazzard. Pauline Kenny, who has been awarded the Mount Gambier city council Australia Day Citizen of the Year Award, was and still remains a driving force behind the Sunset Community Kitchen. I commend the actions of the state government with Code Blue and creating statewide awareness of the issues of people sleeping rough. With that, I commend the motion to the house.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON (Newland) (12:36): Very quickly, I would like to commend the member for Chaffey for bringing this motion to the house. I think it is an excellent idea. I think it is an excellent initiative that needs to be spread throughout the state to those areas where it is needed. I am very pleased that the government will be supporting this motion. I will add my own little advertisement as well: last week, St Vincent de Paul held a fundraising event for assistance to the homeless. Many members have already donated and I thank them very much for that; those who would like to do so may still do so.

Mr WINGARD (Mitchell) (12:36): I rise today, too, to speak in support of the motion brought forward by the member for Chaffey, who is a very good member. His motion states:

That this house—

(a) urges the state government to implement a Code Blue in regional South Australia as already in place in metropolitan Adelaide to assist homeless and rough sleepers in the regions during extreme weather events;

(b) acknowledges the need for agencies to work together during times of extreme weather events to help relocate and assist rough sleepers; and

(c) highlights the immediate need to have a Code Blue implemented in the Riverland to be used in major weather events such as a high river.

This motion was put before the house before the government actually did jump on board and do this, so I commend the government for taking heed of the motion put forward by the member for Chaffey. Of course, we now know that we do have Code Blue in regional centres, including Port Augusta, Port Pirie, Whyalla, Ceduna, Coober Pedy, Port Lincoln and the Riverland, as requested by the member for Chaffey. Again, this is a great indication of the wonderful work he does.

We know of the plight of homeless people across this state. I know that collectively everyone in this house wants to do everything they can to eliminate homelessness from our state. There are a number of people who are doing wonderful work with this community. The member for Adelaide has already mentioned the Hutt St Centre for the homeless and the wonderful work they do.

I have a personal association with the Hutt St Centre, in that the CEO, Ian Cox, is a personal friend of mine. In fact, he was my year 8 football coach at Brighton High School. He is a great person and a great mentor. He was in the senior school as I was in the junior school, and he was an outstanding person to have in our school. To see the wonderful work he has gone on to do with the Hutt St Centre is a wonderful testament to his community spirit and community-minded nature, and I really do commend him for it. As a young person, having him as a mentor in our local region was great for our community and he really did lead from the front. He coached a lot of footy, too.

He played footy up in the Northern Territory and some senior football for South Adelaide, and he coached the Brighton Old Scholars with great success. He brought a great spirit to that football club. You could tell it was a very community minded and community focused way of thinking. He does great work through the Hutt St Centre as well as through his football.

I know he is coaching now at Westminster as well. Again, they see the great value in having someone like Ian around their school and their students. They know that he does give back in that space. It is great to have these great people in our city and regions working in this area, making sure that we can do everything to help people who are sleeping rough, especially on those blizzardly cold nights. We know how tough it is.

Speaking of the Hutt St Centre for the homeless, they have the Walk a Mile in My Boots campaign. Through my previous life working at Channel 10, I know they had a very strong association with that campaign. They have always supported that campaign and do the walk at every opportunity. The member for Adelaide is always there doing it as well; she does a lot of other work in the kitchen at the Hutt St Centre. I know they have run the new laundry program through Hutt Street as well, which is a fantastic program. The meals and companionship they provide are absolutely outstanding.

The Walk a Mile in My Boots campaign is great. It is great to see that a lot of high profile people come out for that to make sure we are driving that awareness to everyone out there. A lot of schools get involved in that campaign as well, and that is fantastic. It is great to have young people aware and knowing what is going on in their local community.

A lot of this stuff is often hidden away. People do not see it because on the cold nights that the member for Chaffey is alluding to in his motion people who are more fortunate are cosy and comfy by the heater at home and in their beds, and they do not get to see this. So, this Walk a Mile campaign is a really great way to bring people out and have them experience something of what it is like on those cold nights for the homeless and to have people become more conscious of doing more to help people in need. A lot of the young people I speak to when I do the Walk a Mile event go away from it feeling that they want to do more and that they can do more. They go away and do more in the community.

Another thing the Hutt St Centre does has benefited a friend of mine, Anthony Ashton, who has had an involvement with Hutt Street over a long period of time. Ian, personally, and the whole team at Hutt Street have worked with Anthony. He is a wonderful fellow. I know him from my past life when I was in the media, as Channel 10 is based on Hutt Street. He would often bail me up, have a chat, talk about sport (footy in particular) and give me a big, 'How are you going, Wizza?' any time he would see me. He is just great fellow.

I single him out as an example of someone who has worked in a Hutt Street program and has had great success in that partnership, if you like. I bumped into him a little while ago. He had been working very closely with the crew at Hutt Street. He had an infatuation with a musical artist who was performing overseas and he had made it his goal to get overseas to see this artist perform. So, he sat down with the people at Hutt Street and they mapped out a plan for him. It was very logical and insightful as to how they helped this person set a goal to work towards and achieve.

What he had to do was put away moneys that he had and save his money, set a budget and work out how much it was going to cost to get a plane ticket, to get accommodation and work out where he was going. With this focus, Anthony just locked in and worked incredibly hard to make sure he met all his goals. He raised the money he needed. I bumped into him at one of the walks and he told me he was about to go on his trip and how proud he was. You could see him walking a foot and a half taller because he had got this together and he was off to see his favourite artist perform in Europe.

I follow him on Facebook and I watch with great delight. Anthony has the gift of the gab. I mentioned before how he would always call out to me, walking up the street whenever I was around the Hutt Street area. He would come up and have a chat, and he would do that to just about anyone. He is a lovely fellow. I saw on Facebook when he went on his trip overseas that, lo and behold, not only did he make it to the concert but he had made friends with the artist. He was backstage with the artist and he was in amongst everything that was going on there. He was having an experience money could not buy all because of his wonderful nature and the fact that he worked so hard to get there and achieve this goal he had set for himself.

It was no small thanks to the people at the Hutt St Centre and the work they did to help implement this task for Anthony to achieve his dream, and from there he has kicked on. I see him around the streets every now and then around Hutt Street, and when we do the walk, he is always out there supporting the cause. It is great to see him going so well and to see the Hutt St Centre helping out in that regard.

I mentioned the member for Adelaide before. I know that she does a lot of work and probably does not spruik as loudly as she should the great work she does at the Hutt St Centre, where she is very engaged with their meals program. It is fantastic that people can go in there and get a meal. We talk about people sleeping in the cold, but there is also their ability to be able to get a staple meal, and to know you are going to get a hearty meal is of great comfort to a lot of people out there who are doing it tough, so I commend her for the work she does and also the Hutt St Centre for putting this program together.

I also mention that they are heavily involved in the laundry program. Laundry is something that people probably take for granted, but when someone who is down on their luck and doing it a little bit tough can have their clothes laundered, they feel fresh and refreshed. It really does give them an extra spring in their step and helps them to take another step forward into potentially getting into work and helping themselves out of the tough predicament they are in.

Another program I read about recently, which I thought was absolutely fantastic, was someone who was donating their time giving haircuts to people who were doing it tough and living on the streets. The article outlined how much of an uplift it gave to people who were doing it tough. Again, you take this for granted. You might go an extra week, or in my case you are losing your hair and you think, 'Goodness, I don't want to have a haircut. I want to keep everything I have.' It is amazing what these people set up. Just getting a simple haircut is again something a lot of people take for granted and how much it can help someone who is doing it a little bit tough.

Anywhere we can have these programs in place is absolutely fantastic. To know that we have the Code Blue program in the city, which was helping people on those very, very cold nights, but did not have it in the country was concerning and alarming. To have the member for Chaffey bring that before the house and then to have the government follow on and realise that that is what we need and take it to those regional centres is absolutely fantastic. I thank everyone who works in this space for all the tireless work they do. We need to continue doing more to help out people who are disadvantaged.