Disability Housing

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:02): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Minister for Disabilities a question regarding potential housing for people with disabilities.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: Carer Helen Moyle has been campaigning for the conversion of the former Inverbrackie detention centre to be transformed into accommodation for young people with disabilities who either want to or need to move out of their current accommodation. Ms Moyle has campaigned on this long and hard and has pointed out that there is a great need for this type of accommodation in South Australia; accommodation which provides not only a form of independent living for young people with disabilities and in need of ongoing support but also peace of mind to ageing parents, in some cases, that their children will have the best society can offer them in order to help them cope.

Currently, there are extremely limited accommodation options and some of our young people end up in nursing homes. Inverbrackie is going to be sold off and is the perfect location for the type of accommodation that our young people need who are suffering various conditions. The Gillard government upgraded the Inverbrackie centre at a cost of approximately $10 million. It boasts somewhere in the vicinity of 80 houses which could be transformed into on-site carers' quarters, a medical clinic, library, and a community centre.

The residents would even be able to grow their own food and attend courses to aid their learning, as the facilities currently exist for that to occur. Implementing housing support such as this would ease the burden that currently exists within the community. It would also prop up the local economy around Woodside, which is greatly assisted by the operation of the previous centre. My questions to the minister are:

1. Has the government considered a private/public partnership to purchase and develop the site?

2. If so, what work has been conducted?

3. If not, will the state government commit to investigating the options for acquiring the Inverbrackie location and engaging in a private/public partnership, or something of that nature, in order to develop this site for disability accommodation?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (15:04): I thank the honourable member for his important questions and will refer to them to the Minister for Disability Services in the other place and bring back a response.