Legislative Council Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2) 54 2 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time Homelessness Services Homelessness Services The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN Legislative Council Homelessness Services The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (14:32): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Human Services regarding homelessness. Leave granted. The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN Legislative Council The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN: In a letter from 10 major homelessness providers, they specifically raise concerns about collusion in the process to award more than $70 million per annum in homelessness funding. Under this process the government is seeking to appoint a head contractor for several geographic regions around the state, with that organisation then subcontracting to smaller groups within their so-called alliance. The letter says: The issue of collusion in forming alliances is confusing, and the first consultation session did not provide adequate explanations. There are significant risks that providers or groups of providers may seek to freeze out competitors or agree to bid or not bid for one of the major geographic regions. My questions to the minister are: 1.	What exactly is collusion in this context? 2.	Does the procurement process designed by the minister encourage, allow or prevent collusion? The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK Legislative Council Minister for Human Services The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:33): I thank the honourable member for her question and direct her to the comments that are publicly available on the Housing Authority website, in which specific matters that were raised through the processes I outlined yesterday, where there were 2½ days of workshops, if you like, for the sector to raise these issues— The Hon. C.M. Scriven Legislative Council The Hon. C.M. Scriven: Yes, they said they don't provide adequate explanations. The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: Order! Members interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: Order! The minister is answering a question. Members interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: Order! There will be an opportunity for supplementaries. The minister can answer the question in silence. The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK Legislative Council The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Mr President, I was trying to answer the question and I just keep getting interrupted, so I am not quite sure whether the honourable members wish to have a response or not. The letter that was sent by the organisations was actually sent prior to the completion of the workshop, so it may well be there were issues that they raise that were addressed at a subsequent workshop. But there is information which is available on the South Australian Housing Authority website, and by interjection the Labor Party invites me to read it in full. Under the page entitled 'Probity', it states under 'How is Collaboration different to Collusion?': Collaboration is where 'two or more organisations work together to achieve something/goal'. Collusion is where 'there is an agreement between parties to act together secretly or illegally in order to deceive'. In an Alliance tendering context, Collaboration is the coming together of sector participants to form Alliances to then bid for Services within a Region, or Statewide in the case of DFV. It is about being open with potential Alliance partners about the Services your organisation can provide, your expertise and sharing ways or strategies to deliver the outcomes being sought. An example is when organisations that previously may have competed or delivered similar services in either the same area or different locations come together in an Alliance (including the Authority) to provide those combined services across a wider area in a more cohesive way. Collusion is an anti-competitive and illegal practice where organisations may look to undermine the tender process in order to gain an unfair advantage or discriminate against other sector participants. Examples of Collusion are where: two or more organisations agree on how or who to bid for a particular Alliance to unfairly influence an outcome an organisation provides an incentive to another organisation not to participate in bidding for one or more Alliances organisations combine to deliberately and unfairly prevent another organisation from competing fairly.