ABORIGINAL HOUSING AND WELFARE

In reply to the Hon. SANDRA KANCK (5 June 2007).

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Road Safety, Minister Assisting the Minister for Multicultural Affairs): The Minister for Housing has provided the following information:

The premise of the honourable member's questions is incorrect. A number of the matters she asserted as fact in her explanation prefacing the questions, and upon which the questions are based, are not accurate. In particular, the eviction asserted by the honourable member to have occurred, to my understanding, did not take place.

Housing SA considers eviction as a last resort and undertakes a range of steps to ensure that, where possible, the tenancy is sustainable. These include:

regular visits to ascertain issues and refer to appropriate community supports;

referral to the supported tenancy program which enables a worker to work with the family to sustain their housing. In some Housing SA regional locations an Aboriginal specific supported tenancy intensive intervention program is available; and

Housing SA and Families SA have protocols in place to ensure that support is available to families who are at risk of eviction where there are known child protection issues within the household. The focus is on early intervention and prevention and housing sustainability.

Housing SA acknowledges that it is more cost effective to keep people in stable housing and has developed a range of programs and protocols, such as those outlined above, to ensure that, where possible, housing is supported and sustained.

Because the eviction of the family was not contemplated in the case raised by the honourable member, no issue of the comparative cost of maintaining or displacing the family arose.

The Department for Correctional Services does not collect data on post release prisoners who are no longer under the supervision of the department. While in custody, prisoners who have drug and alcohol problems are generally provided with programs to assist with their dependency. During those programs, they are made aware of the dangers of illicit drug and alcohol use.

Prisoners whose case plan identifies that relapse prevention is required, or who want to undertake these programs on their release into the community, can access them in various community corrections centres.

The department does have specifically developed programs for Aboriginal offenders that amongst other things emphasise the dangers of continued drug use.

Housing SA has a number of policies that enable households and families to remain united. For example, the same address transfer policy enables the Housing SA property to be transferred to another family member, usually the partner, to ensure ongoing tenancy. If a situation is outside of policy guidelines, Housing SA will undertake an assessment of housing and social need and, where possible, ensure a case management plan is in place for alternative housing options and support services.

Housing SA will address individual customer circumstances should permission for release of personal information be provided to a member of parliament to act on their behalf.

Housing SA is committed to ensuring that staff are sensitive to the needs and diversity of customers and links staff into cultural awareness training programs in a number of ways, which include:

newly appointed staff undertake an Aboriginal cultural awareness module at induction into the Department for Families and Communities;

an Aboriginal cultural awareness program is run within DFC several times a year and staff are encouraged to attend; and

in September 2006, approximately 500 Housing SA housing services regional staff participated in a two day Aboriginal cultural awareness training program which had a particular focus on cultural and social issues affecting Aboriginal access to housing services. Aboriginal-specific housing programs were also discussed and staff were provided with related reference materials.

Office for Aboriginal Housing is currently considering developing additional resources for use within Housing SA that focus on specific housing and cultural issues faced by Aboriginal households.

Housing SA recruitment and selection processes promote knowledge and experience in working with people of diverse backgrounds, this is a key competency reflected in most job and person specifications.