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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-05-21 Daily Xml
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Homeless Funding Arrangements

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:59): My question is to the Minister for Social Housing. Can the minister inform the house of recent changes to funding arrangements that will affect homeless people in South Australia?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (15:00): In 2012-13 alone, an estimated 23,832 people received support from the social housing sector here in South Australia. Housing SA is charged with providing funding assistance to this important sector, which comes in part from the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness. This money contributes to the provision of about 76 specialist homelessness support services across 97 sites throughout South Australia.

Many of these services provide meals, showers, laundry, access to nurses and GPs, access to assisted accommodation and referrals to Housing SA services and boarding house accommodation. For example, the Hutt Street Centre alone provided around 50,000 meals (about 1,000 each week) for approximately 1,500 individual clients in 2012-13. In general, we have had a very positive, bipartisan approach to this social issue, and I make note that I think earlier in the year both the Premier and the leader were there supporting the Hutt Street Centre.

Only a few weeks ago at the Angel for a Day launch, the deputy leader, the member for Kaurna and the federal member for Hindmarsh were there supporting people who need our support the most. I am advised that more than three-quarters of the centre's clients are between 25 and 54 years of age, and about 70 per cent of people presenting as homeless have a mental health issue. These clients are some of the most marginalised and vulnerable people in South Australia. They are real people, real members of our community, who need as much care and assistance as we can provide them.

When the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness was originally signed in December 2008, approximately $82 million in combined funding was agreed for the original three-year term. While I am pleased that the funding of the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness has been confirmed for 2014-15, at the same time I am extremely disheartened that the commitment will only be for one more year. This will have a long-lasting impact on the viability of the social housing sector, particularly in light of the savage welfare cuts flagged in last week's federal budget.

You don't need to be an economics wizard to work out that, by cutting funding to existing services provided by the social housing sector, you will increase demand for these very services. To cut even further, recent proposed changes to the Newstart allowance will prevent jobseekers from receiving government payments within a six-month period. Six months with no government support—this will leave more people under the age of 30 without the option of obtaining secure housing due to not having a stable income.

As the minister and in conjunction and partnership with the sector we will now be required to begin the process of redesigning our existing social housing sector. This has been a very successful sector which has had contributable focus from this Labor government and has seen more than a 40 per cent reduction in the number of homeless people who experience rough sleeping across the state since 2006. I am very disappointed that our federal government would cut services to the most vulnerable members of our society.

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