SA Housing Authority Property Maintenance

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (15:08): My question is to the Minister for Human Services. What percentage of SA Housing Authority properties that are identified as priority 2, or any other separate category of properties, are having maintenance callouts being attended to with the required timeframe? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr TELFER: Properties that are categorised as priority 2 are required to be attended within 24 hours.

The Hon. N.F. COOK (Hurtle Vale—Minister for Human Services) (15:09): Thank you very much. Again, I will get back to the member with the specific number for priority 2. I think it might be helpful if we talk about what the priorities are, because they are listed quite specifically from 0 through to 4. So I am happy to inform the members what those categories are which might be helpful for the future and, as the question was asked, I am happy to get back to the member with the specific on 2 which has just been asked.

Obviously, maintenance is prioritised on the basis of its urgency, with priority 0 happening where emergency services have attended and requested urgent maintenance. The attendance by the head contractor on that particular priority is required in around 45 minutes to ensure safety. Then there is the priority 1 where maintenance is required as it may affect the health and safety of a person. That may be live electrical parts and, in that case, attendance by the head contractor is required within four hours under the contract. That is to make sure it's safe, and then the expectation is that works are then completed within five business days. So there is that ensuring of safety for the person and then the completion of the work. There are the two time frames that are expected.

Priority 2 is where maintenance causes a severe inconvenience to the tenant. I referred to that in part just before as well, where sometimes it might be no hot water or a blocked toilet. These are sitting in a priority 2: major inconvenience. We ask the head contractor to ensure that there is attendance within 24 hours for those particular priorities. The expectation, according to the contract, is that the work is completed within seven business days.

Priority 3: maintenance work is not that urgent—dripping taps, leaking gutters, downpipes. Those are all priority 3s. We ask our head contractor to attend within 10 business days and complete work within 20 business days. The lowest level of priority is a priority 4. The priority 4 repairs with a specific start or completion date are determined by the authorities, such as programmed maintenance, vacant properties, and that is directed by the authority.

Other maintenance contracts: there are the horticultural services, fire safety services, occupational therapy advice. Other things are done based on negotiations. So there is a different level of category for a whole range of maintenance targets, and we work with our head contractor to ensure that works are done as quickly as they possibly can be for the safety and the comfort of the tenants. The maintenance contact centre stays in close contact with those contractors, and we try to ensure they meet the KPIs, but I will get back with that specific answer.