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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-12-02 Daily Xml
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Disability Home Modifications

112 Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (12 August 2014).

1. How does Disability Services ensure that home modifications undertaken are compliant with building regulations and requirements?

2. How many clients are on the waiting list with Disability Services for disability home modifications and what is the average waiting time?

3. How much money was provided to contractors in 2013-14 and what is the projected amount provided to trade contractors in 2014-15 for disability home modifications?

4. How many trade contractors are in receipt of funding and how much did each trade contractor receive for providing disability home modification services for 2013-14?

5. Do contractors receive payment before or after the home modification is undertaken and what guarantees are in place to ensure subcontractors are paid on time?

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light—Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety): I have been advised:

1. Complex home modifications (including structural work) are undertaken by either domiciliary equipment service staff or contractors in accordance with the Building Code of Australia. A Housing SA project manager will inspect the work at key points.

2. During 2013-14, once the person has been assessed, the equipment program has operated without waiting lists for the supply of equipment and home modification services.

Once the home modification has been prescribed, supply times during 2013-14 averaged 20 days for both minor and major home modifications, and 150 days for major structural modifications.

3. During 2013-14, a total of $1.143 million was paid to contractors undertaking home modifications for the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion's equipment program. The budget for contractors to undertake home modifications in 2014-15 is $1.075 million.

4. Domiciliary equipment service used a total of 47 contractors to undertake home modifications during 2013-14. Payments to contractors ranged according to the number and complexity of modifications.

5. Contractors are paid only after satisfactory completion of the home modification. For minor home modifications and any modifications not involving a project manager, contractors will send the completed service order for the job, signed by the client or home owner, along with an invoice to Shared Services for domiciliary equipment service to approve for payment.

For major home modifications that involve project management, the project manager undertakes a final review of the modifications and arranges a 'Satisfactory Completion Form' to be signed by the client, the home owner, and the prescribing clinician. The contractor invoice is then sent to Shared Services for domiciliary equipment service to approve for payment. As these major structural (and high cost) home modifications are undertaken over an extended period, in some instances contractors may seek part payment for work they have carried out to date. This occurred in three instances during 2013-14 and was supported on each occasion.

Providing the contractor presents their invoice and job details to Shared Services, then those invoices are paid according to normal government time frames.

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