HOME INSULATION SCHEME

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (14:46): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before directing a question to the Minister for Consumer Affairs about the home insulation scheme.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Members may recall that I have raised questions in this place before about the federal government's home insulation scheme in South Australia, and the minister in response in May last year suggested that South Australia was almost immune from negative repercussions, stating on 11 May:

Here in South Australia we were very fortunate because installers in this state are required to be licensed. We have had greater regulation and control around the industry than occurs in other states.

Further he stated:

OCBA commenced a fairly significant compliance campaign in July 2009. It has monitored and scrutinised installers very carefully.

the Advertiser exposed just three days before Christmas on 22 December that 'a third of the houses in South Australia were insulated by unlicensed installers', that there were greater than 38,000 claims under the federal program and that five house fires were being investigated in this state as a result of inappropriately installed insulation. My questions to the minister are:

1. Does the minister stand by her comments that were made in this place last year?

2. What reports does she have of how many houses and does she agree with The Advertiser report that there were 12,000 cases of unlicensed installations?

3. What is the status of OCBA's compliance campaign, and what further actions will be taken to ensure that South Australian households are kept safe?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Public Sector Management, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises) (14:48): I thank the honourable member for her most important question. We were aware that the Australian government's Home Insulation Program (HIP) was part of an economic stimulus package, resulting in a large number of Australian households being insulated during that program. That particular scheme, the HIP scheme, was suspended in February 2010 to review safety issues associated with some of the installers. Incorrectly installed insulation can pose a fire hazard, increasing the risk of roof space fires if insulation is installed particularly close to things like downlights, ceiling fans or other electrical wiring.

We were very fortunate in this state because a great deal of the problems associated with the insulation were to do with foil insulation, and in this state there is very little foil insulation compared with other states; because of our particular climate we tend to opt for batt, material, fibre and other types of insulation. So, we were very fortunate on that front.

I understand that in South Australia approximately 2,000 inspections have been undertaken as at 23 December, that any insulation-related safety problems have been rectified at no cost to the consumer, and that safety audit program is continuing. Any consumers who have concerns about their insulation, whether it be foil or any other type, can request a safety inspection and should contact the DCCEE hotline, which is 131792. I encourage people to do that.

As I have stated in this place before, we are fortunate in this state because we have a much higher standard of regulation for insulation installers. Our OCBA licensing laws ensure installation contractors must meet requirements in respect to solvency. These include technical skills and experience, supervision of work and fitness and propriety to conduct a business, and a police clearance is required.

The law also helps to ensure that home installations are performed to an appropriate standard and that unfair practices are minimised. Licensed contractors are subject to legal sanctions and can face penalties of up to $20,000 if they are in breach, so that is quite a disincentive for people to breach those provisions. Those prosecutions and disciplinary actions are undertaken by the District Court and presented by the Crown Solicitor's Office, and it obviously requires evidence to be placed before the court for prosecution to proceed.

At the beginning of the compliance campaign in July 2009, aimed at ensuring that only licensed insulation installers operate in South Australia, OCBA had been liaising with our federal counterparts, DEEWR, to ensure that installers listed on that DEEWR installer register who claimed to operate in South Australia were appropriately licensed. Since July 2009, I am advised that OCBA has scrutinised 253 installers involved in that installation scheme. Of these, I am advised that 177 installers have complied with the SA licensing legislation or are complying with those requirements, and 61 installers are in fact under investigation to determine whether any breaches have occurred in South Australia.

The safety inspection information required to properly investigate these has now been provided by the commonwealth government to OCBA and these investigations are ongoing. The remaining 15 installers have been scrutinised for possible enforcement action, including prosecution, insurance and disciplinary action. As I have said in this place before, we were unfortunate that unlicensed operators did provide insulation installation in this state, particularly during that scheme. The officers from Consumer and Business Affairs have done everything they can, I believe, to identify who these operators were and to ensure that inspections have occurred and that, where possible, prosecutions and appropriate action have been taken against those who have been in breach.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Ms Lensink has a supplementary.