Coronavirus

The Hon. J.S. LEE (15:06): My question is to the Minister for Human Services about the South Australian food relief sector. Can the minister please provide an update to the council on how the Marshall Liberal government is supporting the food relief sector to help most vulnerable South Australians in response to COVID-19?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (15:06): I thank the honourable member for her question. The state government does provide funding to the food relief sector on an ongoing basis. Indeed, Foodbank, which is well known to many honourable members, has received over $1 million for the last three years, has ongoing funding, as does the Port Pirie FoodHub, which is provided by Uniting Country SA, and as I have mentioned previously today, OzHarvest and SecondBite.

DHS also administers the emergency financial assistance program, which is free, confidential and available to people who are experiencing financial difficulties. It is delivered by multiple agencies across the state and provides people with immediate financial assistance, offered in the form of Foodbank food vouchers or other material assistance. Food security entities also receive funding through a number of other sources, including the commonwealth government, which is investing some $6 million.

Due to the COVID matters that we are dealing with at the moment, the sector is currently facing significant disruption due to market pressures, such as panic buying and the fact that there are a large number of volunteers in the system who are older. The situation is being monitored daily to ensure that we continue to support people who are most in need. Most recently we had Human Services staff who supported Foodbank at a number of sites, including packing and stacking and serving customers, and they will continue to monitor this as well as any shortages which might take place at other agencies, such as Meals on Wheels.

We did provide a significant amount of additional funding to these agencies—half a million dollars for the food relief sector, including $200,000 for Foodbank and $300,000 for other relief charities, including OzHarvest, SecondBite and Meals on Wheels; $800,000 to charities to provide emergency relief to vulnerable South Australians, including supermarket and pharmacy vouchers and help with cost-of-living pressures; and $185,000 to the Salvation Army, which provide the Affordable SA helpline and National Debt Helpline, SA branch.

This is in addition to other strategies, including the $500 boost for people who are receiving JobSeeker payments and bringing forward the 2021 cost-of-living concession for other eligible recipients to assist those who are particularly struggling through this challenging time. As the Minister for Health has referred to, we do need to be very nimble in these circumstances and looking for gaps for people who are living in our community. There is a range of ongoing committees and meetings that take place on a regular basis within various providers in the sector and in communications with the federal government to make sure that we are covering any gaps.