COMMON GROUND

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (15:16): My question is to the Minister for Social Housing. Minister, will you advise the council on the recent initiative to provide a free dental clinic to residents of the Common Ground homelessness service?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (15:17): I thank the honourable member for his most important question. I am pleased to advise the chamber that Common Ground, which provides accommodation for homeless people in the CBD, at both Franklin Street and Light Square, has recently partnered with the University of Adelaide to provide an outreach service aimed at improving the oral health of its residents.

The journey for the delivery of this service began back in 2007 when dental and oral health students from the University of Adelaide visited several of the homeless shelters during Dental Health Awareness Week. Students were supervised by senior staff, and their services and treatments were provided free of charge to participants. The visits were again provided in 2008, with students and staff using the opportunity to gather and document information on dental hygiene amongst the homeless. The evidence also showed that the most socially and financially marginalised group was not only a contributor to poor dental outcomes but also a major contributor to overall poorer health issues, with chronic heart disease, diabetes and emotional wellbeing among the most prevalent problems that these people presented with.

I am advised that in 2009 Adelaide University obtained an Australian Dental Research Foundation grant which allowed them to continue the service and collect meaningful data about the dental health of the homeless population in the Adelaide CBD. Having successfully secured a commonwealth grant, in collaboration with the School of Medicine and the School of Population Health and Clinical Practice at the University of Adelaide, a clinic was planned and built that is now providing much needed services and supporting the health needs of disadvantaged groups in our community. Along with the commonwealth grant we have independently achieved both financial support and supply of materials from several dental companies.

The significant challenge now is how to maintain this largely pro bono service provided by the Adelaide dental school through the University of Adelaide. With a $250,000 grant from the commonwealth government, work began to fit out a dental clinic within the walls of the Common Ground building in Light Square. Since then, an average of 16 people per week are booked into the state-of-the-art facilities that have been provided.

I am advised that other day centres which assist homeless people have also become part of the program for the dental students. They visit groups such as Byron Place, Hutt Street Centre and Westcare. Whilst the resources are limited, the bulk of them are directed towards the original plan which is to assist homeless people in the CBD to maintain a better standard of health care. I have to say that, given some of the difficulties in engaging with people in the CBD who are homeless, I really do commend the work this service from the University of Adelaide and the Adelaide dental school provides to these people. I know that it is an incredibly onerous job to engage some of these clients, but they are incredibly grateful when those services are provided to them and, unlike many of us, they go back for the treatment from dentists.

The Hon. G.E. Gago interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: I know that many honourable members avoid going to the dentist when they probably should be going to the dentist. Encouraging our homeless population to take advantage of this service is difficult, but, as I said, I know that they are incredibly grateful when the services are provided, and, oddly enough, they do go back to get the services they need for their dental hygiene. The issue of homelessness is a very complex one, one that is—

The Hon. S.G. Wade interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Well, if you are not interested in the issues of homelessness, the Hon. Mr Wade—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: They are not interested in issues that affect people who are suffering from homelessness. That is the difference between us and them: they don't give a damn about people suffering from homelessness. They don't give a damn about the most vulnerable in our society. The Labor government does and always will.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Honourable members are showing desperate signs of needing a break.