APY LANDS

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (15:11): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Government Enterprises a question about the APY lands.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA: On 18 November 2009, the minister spoke about the development and distribution of a new educational resource called Talk About Shopping, which is available in English, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara. The purpose of this resource is to provide information regarding consumer rights to achieve fair outcomes in the marketplace. I understand that this information is being distributed through a number of channels, including Service SA. Minister, will you outline to the council progress to date on the delivery of government services in the APY lands?

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) (15:11): On 29 November last year, Service SA commenced the delivery of additional services to the APY communities at Amata and Mimili. In 2008, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) committed to six Closing the Gap targets to address Indigenous disadvantage across urban, rural and remote areas throughout Australia. As a result of that commitment, the commonwealth and state governments have been working together with the Amata and Mimili communities to raise the standard and range of services delivered to families, to be broadly consistent with those provided to other Australian communities of similar size, location and need.

Service SA spent several months, prior to the service commencing, working with PY Media, which is the delivery agent, training and preparing staff in the PY Ku centres to provide transactions, including driver's licences, motor vehicle registration and firearm licence renewals, fines payments, birth, death and marriage certificates and general information. Service SA also assisted APY communities by installing telephones and EFTPOS machines and signage to enable the delivery of these services.

A new free call system, which includes a 1800 number and free access to phones at the Service SA centre, has also been established, which enables Anangu to obtain advice on state government services. People using this service are connected directly to the Port Augusta Service SA customer service centre, where dedicated staff are on hand to process requests. In addition to Service SA, other agencies provide a number of activities and projects on the APY lands.

The honourable member outlined in his question the release of a brochure by the Office of Consumer and Business Affairs and audio CD called Talk About Shopping, which deals with the issues of consumer and financial literacy for communities on the APY lands. The distribution of this information is undertaken by officers of Service SA, as well as the Department for Families and Communities and various service providers that regularly visit the lands.

The book and CD, Talk About Shopping, discuss consumer issues that face people on the lands in English, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara, in a straightforward and very easy to understand manner. Ensuring convenient and accessible channels to distribute government information and services is of the utmost importance, and Service SA will continue to look at opportunities for further promotion of information and methods of delivery of services to other parts of the APY lands.