ANTI-POVERTY WEEK

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (15:10): My question is to the Minister for Community and Social Inclusion—

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Kandelaars, I am having difficulty hearing you. Can you start again? Are you seeking leave?

Members interjecting:

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS: No. My question is to the Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, once the rabble over there quietens down. Will the minister inform the chamber of the activities which occurred this week as part of Anti-Poverty Week?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (15:10): Mr President, thank you very much, and I thank the honourable member for his most important question. I think that a number of honourable members were actually at the function I am going to refer to in a moment. For those who were not, I will continue. This morning I was proud to MC a morning tea in what is the 10^th Anti-Poverty Week. I was pleased to see such a large number of members from both chambers of this parliament, and that, I would imagine, is a mark of the recognition by honourable members of the importance of Anti-Poverty Week and how we engage with it.

The occasion also offered members the opportunity to meet with representatives of the community sector. This meeting goes to the heart of the aim of Anti-Poverty Week to bring together people who are committed to reducing the incidence of poverty in South Australia and to recommit to working together to reduce the poverty and the negative impacts of poverty.

Anti-Poverty Week also encourages us to consider what poverty actually means to those who experience it. Generally for those who are living in poverty it means a continual struggle to scrape together enough money and resources to obtain even the essentials for a basic good life. For those of us who may take the essentials of life such as food and shelter, education and healthcare for granted, Anti-Poverty Week is a reminder that there are those out there in the community who struggle to maintain even that basic standard of living that we take for granted.

Those living in poverty not only struggle to afford essential goods and services, they also miss out on the opportunities and the resources, such as dental care, employment and training, tertiary education, sport and recreation and entertainment—the resources that go to making for a decent life. For the past 10 years Anti-Poverty Week has successfully focused this community's attention on people experiencing poverty and hardship. Last year approximately 10,000 people participated in approximately 450 separate activities involving 600 organisations right across Australia. Many non-government organisations right across the state have planned events for this week, including:

a fresh food swap meet at the Robertstown Memorial Community Centre;

learn how to grow and cook affordable local produce at the Murray Bridge Community Centre;

a Red Cross recycle Clothing Day at various Red Cross stores; and

a short course called Controlling Costs—Cooking, Budgeting and Utilities, run by the Salvation Army at Campbelltown.

The messages of Anti-Poverty Week are echoed in particular by two of the government's key priorities: an affordable place to live; and safer communities and healthier neighbourhoods. These priorities demonstrate this government's commitment to ensuring that our quality of life, which is influenced by factors such as the cost of housing, transport and utilities' charges, is maintained and improved. This government has a vision to ensure that our state offers a range of affordable homes for purchase and rental which cater for different types of families and different income levels.

Our vision is for homes and neighbourhoods which are designed to conserve energy and water and which support the environment resulting in lower utilities' costs. We see a state where urban renewal and investment in infrastructure mean that public transport provides easy access from homes to jobs to shops and to services; and we see a state which creates the educational and training opportunities for the jobs and industries of the future.

It is also a state where people receive the support they need in times of hardship. The government continues to listen and to work with the community to provide programs and initiatives to help South Australians with cost of living pressures. The government has already announced a one-off water security rebate to SA Water customers from 1 January 2013 of either $45 or $75, depending on their water usage. In addition, on 1 January 2012 the South Australian government introduced the Medical Heating and Cooling Concession to assist South Australians on fixed and low incomes who have a verified medical condition that requires close control of environmental temperatures.

The concession increased to $165 on 1 July 2012, and it is available to eligible applicants in addition to the current energy concession. The government is also ensuring that those experiencing chronic hardship are given assistance to manage utility costs and become free from utility debt through the allocation of an additional $1 million per annum for two programs. The emergency electricity payment scheme provides a one-off payment of $400 for South Australians experiencing difficulty with energy bills. The eligibility criteria will be revised and additional funds for the scheme will enable up to 300 more grants per year.

The new utilities literacy program will help low income households impacted by the costs of essential services like water and electricity. The design and implementation of these initiatives is already under way, with collaboration between the government, the community services sector and utility providers. These new initiatives are in addition to this government's existing programs, including $1.1 million in low income support programs, which include provisions for financial councillors and recent increases in the rates and eligibility criteria for a range of concessions totalling $70.6 million until June 2013.

As I have said, Anti-Poverty Week provides an important opportunity for organisations and individuals to come together and discuss the issue of poverty. I thank those who have been involved in this year's anti-poverty week for their ongoing commitment to South Australians experiencing hardship. I thank honourable members who came to our morning tea meeting this morning, and I thank honourable members for the very bipartisan approach we all take to reducing poverty in our community.