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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-07-31 Daily Xml
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Motions

Homelessness Week

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (11:30): I move:

That this house—

(a) acknowledges the importance of Homelessness Week;

(b) acknowledges the important role that Ruby’s house plays in reunifying young homeless people with their families; and

(c) calls on the state government to provide funding for more supported accommodation options for young people aged between 15 and 18 who cannot be reunified with their families.

Next week is Homelessness Week, an important time to highlight this issue and this year's theme, 'Housing ends homelessness'. Around Australia right now more than 116,000 people are homeless; that is one in 200 people on any given night. Two in five of these are under the age of 25. Any way you look at it, those are incredibly sad statistics.

There can be many reasons for homelessness, including long-term unemployment, mental or chronic illness, disability and discrimination, but the main causes are poverty, family violence and being simply unable to afford rent. There is no simple definition of 'homeless'. Although we tend to assume being homeless means sleeping rough out in the elements, it is a far more hidden problem than that. The 2016 census shows only 7 per cent of those classified as homeless were sleeping rough. The majority are in crisis or transitional accommodation, rooming houses, caravan parks or just sleeping on a friend's couch. Having a home, a stable environment to come home to every night, is something many of us take for granted.

Homelessness can affect every demographic, but those who experience it at a young age are particularly vulnerable. Young people are at particular risk if this cycle begins early in life. In those teenage years, there are already so many pressures—education, family, social relationships, future work—and not having anywhere to live is a major burden.

There are two agencies providing homelessness services for young people in the Limestone Coast—AC Care and Ruby's. It is important to mention that there are no homeless shelters in the Limestone Coast as there are in capital cities, so if you are a young person who suddenly finds themselves without a bed for the night, it is very difficult to know where to turn. By speaking to local agencies, I can see there is a distinct gap for young people who cannot or should not be reunified with their families and cannot afford to go out on their own.

Trish Spark is the manager of homelessness and community services for AC Care in Mount Gambier. I asked her to tell me a story to demonstrate this gap in services and she told me about Jenny. Jenny, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, is a 17 year old studying year 12 and working part-time in a supermarket. She is from a blended family and her relationship with her stepfather has broken down to the point where she can no longer live at home. She is couch surfing out of town in what Trish knows to be an unsafe environment.

Jenny is trying to access Centrelink payments but is struggling to gain approval for the allowance and does not earn enough to pay rent. There are no vacancies in AC Care's transitional properties right now, so the only emergency accommodation available is a motel or caravan park, but neither will accommodate people under the age of 18. Even if AC Care could find accommodation for Jenny, she does not fit the South Australian Housing Authority criteria, which state she must have a long-term outcome post-crisis and be able to self-fund from her next payday.

All Trish can do at the moment is continue to keep an eye on Jenny, give her vouchers and wait for a place in one of her traditional properties to open up, which relies on someone else in need leaving. As Trish says:

Early intervention is required so Jenny can remain engaged in both study and work. If she is forced to disengage, her future prospects are dim.

Jenny is doing everything she can to take advantage of life's opportunities, but it is becoming harder by the day.

Jenny is the face of this gap between services. Because she cannot be reunified with her family, she is not deemed suitable for Ruby's. She does not fit into the criteria for AC Care's traditional housing and is unable to support herself. So what happens to Jenny now? She is living in an unsafe place and could be forced to stay there for months and, although services are aware of her, they cannot do much for her.

AC Care provides independent living arrangements in transitional properties, but it is often full and there are problems with having a vulnerable young person live with people who are much older than them. There are currently four people between 15 and 18 who fit the criteria and are on the waiting list for their transitional accommodation, including a young mother, and it may be many months before a place opens.

Trish told me that supported youth accommodation is desperately needed in the regions, even something as simple as a traditional house solely dedicated towards supporting young people until other options become available. During the last financial year, there were 28 young people aged between 15 and 18 whom AC Care helped find some form of accommodation. I would also like to mention that AC Care's emergency accommodation unit in Mount Gambier has been funded by the local community, not the state government.

AC Care's biannual homelessness lunch, which was begun by the late Barry Maney OAM, has raised $340,000 over the last eight years from generous local contributions. These funds have gone into tackling this issue locally, including financial counselling, tenancy education, employment programs and the emergency unit, so the Limestone Coast community are doing what they can to support local service agencies. There is also the Vulnerable Youth Framework in our region, with agencies such as headspace, Ruby's, AC Care, HYPA and Housing SA meeting fortnightly to discuss who needs urgent accommodation and to help refer them onto more help and support.

In South Australia, we are very fortunate to have an excellent program with Ruby's, which has been running in Mount Gambier for eight years and in Adelaide for more than 25. Ruby's Reunification Program is an important early intervention program that aims to resolve conflict and improve relationships between young people and their parents or caregivers. When a family is struggling and might be on the verge of a breakdown or losing their home, or children may be in danger of being removed by the Department for Child Protection, Ruby's is there to provide supported accommodation for these children. It is a voluntary therapeutic youth service, but referrals come via other services, like CAMHS or headspace, or even the child's own parents who want a safe space for their child.

There is a house in Mount Gambier with five bedrooms available to people between the ages of 12 and 17 who may not be able to live at home full time. Sometimes a young person comes with nothing but the clothes on their back and Ruby's supplies them with personal items, clothes and even groceries. There is always a staff member at the house around the clock providing support and advice and continuing that all-important link to the family, so it is really a home away from home, a safe haven for children going through family issues.

Sharon Gray has been the coordinator at Ruby's in Mount Gambier for two years and has given me some insight into this issue. Sharon says that the hardest thing is knowing that there are beds free and that there are young people out there who need help and support but who are not utilising the service, and that is probably because there is no possibility of reunification with the parents.

There are no locked doors at Ruby's; children are free to leave whenever they like. Instead of going to Ruby's, they are applying for unreasonable to live at home allowance from Centrelink. This allowance is being paid to kids as young as 15 who have no life skills, no concept of how to manage money or how to find a home. Not many people I know are going to rent to a 15 year old, so again that gap and the need for supported accommodation become more apparent. At any given time, Sharon says there might be anywhere from 20 to 30 young people in the Limestone Coast who fit into this category who are slipping between the gaps offered.

I am sure young people may think they can live on their own, but many do not have the ability or capacity to do this. Two stories in The Advertiser have concerned me during the last week; one revealed it is costing $7.2 million a year for emergency accommodation for homeless people and many of these are women and children seeking refuge from family violence situations. The cost is one thing, but of more concern to me was that the number of people seeking emergency accommodation has sharply risen from 4,880 in 2017-18 to 6,573 in 2018-19.

The other article was about statistics that show more than 100 children are spending nights in emergency accommodation in the care of hired staff, and these numbers are not improving. For young people to grow up into happy, healthy, educated, functioning adults who contribute positively to our society, we need to give them the best start we can in life. If that support cannot be provided at home, and cannot be provided at a service, we need to look at other ways we can provide such support.

Of course, there is no easy fix for homelessness; it is an incredibly complex issue. We need a collaborative approach between agencies, all levels of government and the involvement of local communities. It is an issue that is different for each region and each region needs specific approaches. I decided to speak out about this when my electorate office was made aware that tents had been given to young people and families in need of emergency accommodation. This occurred because there was no emergency accommodation available. This was a real shock to me and I felt it my duty to highlight this issue.

Service agencies in our region are doing the best they can with the resources they have, often within strict criteria. I cannot imagine how tough it would be to tell a 15-year-old child in need that you cannot do anything for them. I ask the state government to provide funding for more supported accommodation and look at the conditions around some of the existing supported accommodation so that more young people can be accommodated in the Limestone Coast region.

Mrs POWER (Elder) (11:42): I stand to move that the motion be amended by deleting all words in paragraph (c) and inserting the following words in lieu thereof:

(c) notes the development of a state housing and homelessness strategy which will guide sector reform, including youth supported accommodation and homelessness services, to ensure that all South Australians have access to appropriate and affordable housing and support.

The Marshall Liberal government is supportive of the important work undertaken by Homelessness Australia in coordinating national Homelessness Week, which is coming up very soon from 4 to 10 August. National Homelessness Week not only highlights an issue faced by some in our community but it is also an opportunity to recognise the work being done by some fantastic organisations and individuals to tackle homelessness, as well as highlight the work that still needs to be done. I commend the member for Mount Gambier's acknowledgement of the work of Ruby's houses and its incredible service in terms of delivering a unique, targeted, family reunification and conflict resolution program for young people and their parents or caregivers.

Ruby's houses are places where young people aged between 12 and 17 have a safe place to stay with 24-hour support and supervision while families receive counselling and assistance with a view to reunite, as outlined by the member for Mount Gambier. Uniting Communities delivers the therapeutic youth services, known as Ruby's houses, in Enfield, Thebarton, Edwardstown—which is near my electorate—and of course in the member for Mount Gambier's electorate.

In 2018-19, Uniting Communities received $3.7 million in funding from the SA Housing Authority via the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement to deliver the Ruby's house service in Mount Gambier and across the metropolitan sites in Adelaide. In the same year, Mount Gambier's Ruby's house outlet was able to support 34 young people, and the metropolitan houses supported a total of 201 young people.

Supporting young people and, in fact, people of all ages who face homelessness is absolutely important, making sure that it is about not just a house but also that wraparound support. After all, homelessness is not necessarily solved through just a house. Homelessness is often the result of many social, economic and health-related factors. In Australia, domestic violence is one of the leading causes of homelessness, so we must consider the causes of homelessness and work to address these root causes if we are truly committed to ending homelessness.

It is important, and I commend the SA Housing Authority for their work to fund specialist homelessness services to provide support for people of all ages who are experiencing or are at risk of homelessness and domestic and family violence. In 2018-19, 39 agencies were funded a total of $67 million to provide 81 programs across 99 outlets in South Australia, including $19.7 million for youth-specific services. The sector is funded through the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement, which commenced on 1 July 2018.

When national Homelessness Week begins next week, the theme will be 'Housing ends homelessness'. This is both fitting and somewhat ironic. We move the amendment to this motion because our government is responding to the needs of the housing and homelessness sector in a big way, developing a housing, homelessness and support strategy. Why? Because when we entered government last year, the housing and homelessness system, which we inherited from the Labor government at the time, was found to be broken, with housing stock severely neglected and depleted.

Under the previous government, thousands of properties were sold off to prop up their budget. I find this absolutely outrageous. A review of the South Australian Housing Trust last year by PricewaterhouseCoopers demonstrated that the remaining assets were left to run down. Labor left a maintenance backlog bill in the hundreds of millions of dollars. I have heard the member for King, who has been proactively working on behalf of her community to make sure people in Housing SA homes get maintenance, comment that they are really surprised by how quickly it is happening. Perhaps that is because we are absolutely committed to making sure that maintenance requests are not left unheard.

The need for reform was clear, so we responded. The Marshall Liberal government established the Housing and Homelessness Taskforce in November last year across the social, government and private sectors to lead this reform. The task force set straight to work developing a strategic intent to steer the development of the reform, and it was released on 1 July. For anybody who is interested, it can be viewed on the SA Housing Authority website. We are also undergoing consultation in regard to this matter.

We have a vision that all South Australians will have access to appropriate and affordable housing that contributes to social inclusion and economic participation. With the new housing and homelessness strategy, we are mapping out a 10-year plan to implement that vision. Using the strategic intent as a foundation, the SA Housing Authority is currently undertaking engagement and consultation with the sector, industry and the public to capture the voices of as many South Australians as possible to inform the new strategy. I encourage anybody out there in the community or in this place who wants to feed into this strategy to do so through the consultation opportunities currently available. We anticipate that the final strategy will be released by the end of 2019.

Our government is committed to improving outcomes across housing, from crisis homelessness services—including targeted youth services—to social housing, affordable housing and the general housing market. Targeting support for prevention and early intervention and facilitating housing pathways through the system will be part of the strategy to help address homelessness. We also recognise that strong partnerships across sectors in government are required to support a contemporary, multiprovider housing system. With our strategy, we look forward to building genuine alliances to deliver improved housing outcomes for all South Australians.

Members may be interested to hear more about this strategy at the Don Dunstan Foundation's 2019 Preventing Homelessness conference, which is being held next week at the Convention Centre. The Minister for Human Services from the other place will be delivering the opening address for the conference. The South Australian Housing Authority will also be there, presenting on the development of the strategy. The conference will be attended by a number of representatives from incredible service providers as across the sector people work together to examine ways that those working in the public community and private sectors can collaborate together more effectively to prevent homelessness in South Australia.

I particularly want to take this opportunity to acknowledge all the service providers who are addressing and responding to homelessness. From those individuals working at the front line to the administrators and the managers of those service providers, I say a heartfelt thank you. Your work is complex, it is challenging, and it takes courage, care, commitment and compassion. I know that South Australia is a much better place because of the work of those individuals and those service providers as we work to end homelessness.

Ms COOK (Hurtle Vale) (11:51): I rise to support the original motion as moved by the member for Mount Gambier:

That this house—

(a) acknowledges the importance of Homelessness Week;

(b) acknowledges the important role that Ruby’s house plays in reunifying young homeless people with their families; and

(c) calls on the state government to provide funding for more supported accommodation options for young people aged between 15 and 18 who cannot be reunified with their families—

which is a stark reality.

I will speak on behalf of the opposition in regard to this motion and say up-front that we will not be supporting the government's amendment. It is quite nonsensical to remove the regional member's call for funding, because he knows the reality—that there is not enough money in homelessness services. We all know that because there are young people who every night have no home to go to and no chance for reunification. There are no available beds, and young people, as an option, are being provided tents.

To refuse to acknowledge a regional member's call is pretty outrageous, but they then substitute it with some self-congratulations and backslapping around some strategy that they announced. Having all the answers before coming into government, they took six months to convene a round table to launch a consultation, only to do nothing but send out an email some seven or eight months later to again launch the consultation of the same strategy to a sector. I was swamped by people in the sector saying, 'What on earth are they doing relaunching some roundtable talkfest about housing and homelessness when they actually did that eight months ago?'

What we are seeing at the moment is a government that are trying to make people think that they are doing something different and innovative when in fact that is actually not happening. They stand here and congratulate themselves on some enormous housing strategy and stimulus package of $104 million that contains the build of only some 90 homes.

In government, 1,000 homes were built across the 1,000 days. This project is just being completed now. They came into government with all the answers and then built 90 homes in 730 days—the calculation is quite obvious. They actually congratulate themselves on this, on a package of no new money. The money is actually being pulled out of the reserves from the Housing Authority. Once that money goes, it is gone. They try to stand on some moral high ground and have a crack at the Labor government and allege that it is the only government that sold off housing properties. The whole of government should actually do their research.

I pose this question: who, as Treasurer, has been solely responsible for the sale of the most housing properties from the public housing list? Do your homework. I ask members to research back to the late nineties, when the Treasurer, who is currently in the other place, was overseeing the sale of the said properties. Some of you should probably do that research before you make twits of yourselves by coming in here and alleging that the Labor government was responsible for this—it was Rob Lucas.

Mr PEDERICK: Point of order: it is unparliamentary to reflect on other members in this house.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Dr Harvey): If it would assist the house, I ask that the member for Hurtle Vale please withdraw that reference to other members.

Ms COOK: I am sorry; I do not understand what I am reflecting on. I was pointing out a fact—

Members interjecting:

The ACTING SPEAKER (Dr Harvey): Order!

Ms COOK: What is the problem, sir?

The ACTING SPEAKER (Dr Harvey): You referred to members in this house with a particular term that members find offensive.

Ms COOK: That is the problem? Okay, I withdraw the word 'twit'.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Dr Harvey): Thank you, member for Hurtle Vale. You can continue.

Ms COOK: Thank you, I will continue. The Treasurer, during the late nineties, was responsible for the sale of thousands of public housing properties. Before members go throwing stones regarding any other people selling houses, I would suggest that any government now or any member of the government, if they want to be critical, should do some homework and ask the now Treasurer how many public housing properties are being sold to fund the Housing Authority.

The reality is that for the last six or so years we have also had a federal government that refuses to acknowledge that the current model of funding public housing is completely broken. It does not work, it is not sustainable and it will not bring housing to the front of mind or to the front of the funding cycle. It will not allow for the building, the construction, the maintenance, the support or the provision of adequate, affordable housing.

The cause of homelessness is a lack of housing. We have seen nothing happen from a federal point of view for the last six years. We need to work together, highlight the realities of this and talk about who we now have in public housing: a very vulnerable group of people who are unable to sustain themselves within the private rental market. They are in public housing, paying very low rents, and those rents do not help us to recoup enough money to maintain that public housing. I will save the rest of that for another time.

Needless to say, I do not support the withdrawal of the member for Mount Gambier's third part of the motion and I would support the member for Mount Gambier in seeking its reinstatement. Had the government come in here and negotiated a position where they wished to also talk about moving forward in a positive way around housing and not just some blatant backslapping load of nonsense, then perhaps we could have considered an amendment, but that is not on the table.

Homelessness Week itself is definitely an opportunity for us to focus on the nearly 6,000 South Australians who tonight will not sleep in a warm bed. These South Australians are either sleeping rough on the street or couch surfing in insecure housing. There are many other thousands who are in unstable, insecure rentals. Homelessness is something we must all tackle. We need to stop it from increasing.

We need to focus on long-term solutions. We need to stop focusing just on measures like the emergency housing and emergency support in extreme weather. We cannot take our eyes off the ball, either: housing is the solution. Around one in 10 Australian households across this country sit in the lowest income bracket. They are in the lowest 40 per cent of incomes. These households are also in terrible housing stress. They are paying more than 30 per cent of their income to put a roof over their heads. This is outrageous, and we need to address it. Affordable housing should be a basic human right. Households are facing severe and extremely unaffordable rents in all our cities and regional areas across Australia, with reforms in affordable housing needing to be addressed urgently in order to reduce that stress and prevent many people from becoming homeless.

Another clear issue is that our homelessness services are unable to keep up with the demand. In last week's estimates hearing we asked some questions. There has been a massive cost blowout in the provision of emergency accommodation, for example, night stays in hotels. These things are not budgeted for. They have not been budgeted for, and in order to fund that we are having to pull money from elsewhere. It is concerning, and there is a worry, moving forward, that if that continues to happen without the affordable housing situation being addressed costs will blowout continually and programs will be cut.

These people are housed through programs run by Hutt St. There is a great push through the Zero Project to ensure that there is more sustainable housing provided. These are women and children, families and young people who sometimes seek to remove themselves from the family home for various reasons and cannot return there. The government needs to listen to this, and we are happy to work with them in order to provide strategies and help support that. The Minister for Human Services in the other place is hearing our call, because we are making it regularly and loudly, and hearing the call from the homelessness sector.

We are faced with a piecemeal approach from the commonwealth government at the moment, and we must put pressure on them in order to resolve this. We do not need the strategy to keep being reannounced for consultation. We need to see that it is being pulled together, that commitments are being made and that funding is being provided. There are a lot of bad situations, but one that is not bad is the service being provided by organisations such as Ruby's and all the people who are involved in the Zero Project. We of course thank them for that. I support the member for Mount Gambier's original motion.

The Hon. R. SANDERSON (Adelaide—Minister for Child Protection) (12:02): I also rise to support this motion as amended by the member for Elder. I thank the member for Mount Gambier for bringing to this place the opportunity to talk about homelessness. Across Australia, this is a very significant social problem that is particularly relevant to me, not only as the member for Adelaide but also as the Minister for Child Protection.

In South Australia, 60 per cent of those who are homeless are male, and 32 percent of all homeless people are aged between 25 and 44 years. It is estimated that 644 homeless people are in the Adelaide city council area right now, in the heart of my electorate. This includes those who are living in severely overcrowded conditions and those who are couch surfers. These are the biggest and fastest growing groups. The definition of 'homelessness' was expanded several years ago to include not only rough sleepers, whom most people identify as being homeless, but also those living in overcrowded conditions and couch surfing in temporary accommodation with friends or family.

In May this year, a recent survey of rough sleepers living in the inner city area discovered or identified that there were 226 people. These were registered by name, whereas in years before they were not ever recorded by name, as actual people, so that we could identify when they were helped and what help they were getting. I congratulate the Zero Project group on their wonderful work. They did their first complete study a year ago, in May 2018, with 200 volunteers.

That was the first record, by name, of people sleeping rough, so we could really see what difference was being made. While there are now 226 people sleeping rough in the inner city, I note that, since the identification last May, 180 people have actually been housed as part of the Zero Project. I congratulate them. They are doing such a great job and I wish them all the best for the future.

The Specialist Homelessness Services are funded by the South Australian Housing Authority to provide services to those experiencing or at risk of homelessness and domestic and family violence. In 2018-19, 39 providers received a total of $67 million for funding of 81 programs across 99 locations. Sadly, of the 21,402 who accessed SA's Specialist Homelessness Services in 2017-18, 63 per cent were affected by domestic violence, drugs and alcohol, mental health or a combination of all those. These are also the three most common factors in why children are removed from their families and enter the child protection system.

Last year, in an effort to improve outcomes across the entire housing continuum, a new Housing and Homelessness Taskforce was established. The task force report, released earlier this month, called for reform of the housing and homelessness system in South Australia and is anticipated to shape a new housing and homelessness strategy in South Australia, which will provide a 10-year plan and guide future funding for the sector.

Within my local community, I work to support various service providers who focus on supporting those vulnerable South Australians facing homelessness. Last year, I enjoyed attending the opening of the St Vincent de Paul Society exhibition, which was part of the SALA Festival. There was an exhibition by Andrew Slattery highlighting the diversity of people experiencing homelessness in South Australia, the fact that homelessness does not discriminate and the varying reasons that see people turning to shelters and crisis centres for assistance, while raising money for this important cause.

There are many amazing service providers in the city area. Soon after being first elected in 2010, I made it my business to find out what services were available in my electorate because that is predominantly where a lot of the services are provided. Since then, on multiple occasions I have met and worked with people doing wonderful work, such as Catherine House, the Hutt St Centre and The Big Issue, which is helping people to help themselves. Last Sunday, I attended The Big Lunch, which raised $22,000 to support people to help themselves through working and selling The Big Issue. I note that EFTPOS is now accepted, if you are ever cashless and wish to buy The Big Issue; or you can do as I have done in my electorate office and become a subscriber. You can help people help themselves, which is a wonderful cause.

Next week, I will be joining the Hutt St team to Walk a Mile in My Boots to raise awareness and money for homelessness. I encourage anyone listening to register and join in such a great event, which is very popular. There will no doubt be hundreds of people out in the early morning, when it is freezing cold, to get a glimpse of what it is like to be homeless.

Prior to coming into government, I had read research that showed that 30 per cent of children leaving care were homeless within 12 months. To combat this, one of the policies that the Liberal Party took to the 2018 election was to extend foster and kinship carer payments to age 21. I am proud that this commitment was met within my first 100 days and has been fully budgeted and implemented since 1 January 2019.

Already, 17 young people have accessed the payment, four people yet to turn 18 have been referred to the program and more than 100 are set to become eligible over the next three years. With the growth of family-based care and the additional 50 registered primary carers we have recruited over the last financial year to 31 May 2019, I anticipate that more children in care will benefit from these arrangements in years to come.

The Department for Child Protection also works with the CREATE Foundation and Relationships Australia to support those transitioning from care to independent living and can direct care leavers to apply for the Transition to Independent Living Allowance paid through the commonwealth Department of Social Services.

The Transition to Adult Life Intensive Pilot Program delivers supports to young people aged 15 to 21 in Upper Spencer Gulf who are leaving care. This program involves intensive case management services, peer mentoring and assistance to access education and employment. During the school holidays I was fortunate enough to meet with some of the mentors and mentees and see the wonderful work that they are doing in Whyalla.

It is imperative that the young people in care who are transitioning to independent living have access to these services to support them on their path to adulthood, all key features to equip young people with the life skills necessary to reach their potential and prevent homelessness. I applaud the inroads made by my colleague minister Lensink from the other house in the area of homelessness and commend the amended motion to the house.

Ms LUETHEN (King) (12:10): I thank the member for Mount Gambier for raising this important motion, and I thank the members for Elder and Adelaide for speaking on this topic today. As the member for Adelaide has said, I also applaud our minister in the other house for the work she is doing in this space to address homelessness.

The King community are a caring and compassionate community, and they have told me several times that they do care deeply about this topic, and they have contacted me whenever they have seen people in need of housing in our community. In addition, in meetings I have attended with community service groups, such as such as the Tea Tree Gully VIEW Club and Soroptimists, members have raised their concerns about homelessness in our community, especially in relation to women.

Approximately 6,000 people are estimated to be homeless in South Australia. This includes people who are sleeping rough as well as people who may be staying with friends or family, couch surfing or sleeping in cars or in emergency accommodation. Sometimes there are people in our community who might be only one large electricity bill away from being homeless themselves.

This morning, on a cold winter morning, as I drove through the city I witnessed—and it hurt to see—people sleeping on the streets in North Adelaide, North Terrace and in Hindley Street. More and more I am seeing women on the streets in need. The reasons people experience homelessness vary, but it includes young people, too, leaving difficult family situations; women and children experiencing domestic and family violence; and people with mental health or drug or alcohol problems.

In my efforts to understand the current state of homelessness and services available I have found out that across South Australia there are currently 81 programs funded through 37 service providers. These programs are funded through the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement, which was approximately $104.5 million in 2018-19. Services include crisis services, which operate 24 hours per day, and anyone can contact the Homelessness Gateway at any time on 1800 003 308.

The Street to Home Service engages with people who are sleeping rough in and around the CBD. Referrals can be made to Street to Home by members of the public through the Street Connect website at www.streetconnect.sa.gov.au. The goal of all homelessness services should be to provide pathways out of homelessness, to assist people who are homeless to find stable accommodation, with supports if necessary, and to overcome the factors which have led to their unstable housing. We need this to deliver real, sustainable change.

There has been a lot of discussion in recent times about Code Blue. The reported increase in homelessness via AZP statistics has been linked to calls for the government to call a Code Blue, which is an elevated response for homelessness services during extreme weather events. A Code Blue activation, which is determined by the South Australian Housing Authority and the homelessness sector based on weather forecasts, extends some existing service to provide respite for rough sleepers.

Regardless of weather conditions, the Homelessness Gateway service is available 24/7 for people who are experiencing homelessness. The Street to Home Service in metro Adelaide also offers daily assistance to people sleeping rough. People sleeping rough are vulnerable regardless of weather conditions, so we always encourage people to connect with homelessness service providers. Good governments care for and support those who need help to get back on their feet and live their best life possible. Empathy and acceptance are key to helping people overcome hardship. Our government is committed to identifying opportunities to help vulnerable South Australians make positive changes in their life.

The Marshall Liberal government, in partnership with AZP, has prioritised the housing of rough sleepers on the By-Name List; and 161 people were housed through the By-Name List in the year between the 2018 and 2019 Connections Weeks, with an average monthly housing placement at the rate of 13. Housing stock is provided by the government and community housing providers, and private rental options are considered where possible. The government is committed to continuing this work with the Adelaide Zero Project.

In order to consider the current state and how we help improve the situation we have today for vulnerable South Australians, it is important to note what has been done in the past and what we have inherited as a new government. Let us reflect on Labor's record. The housing and homelessness system that the Marshall Liberal government inherited was broken and the housing stock severely neglected and depleted. At its peak, public housing through the South Australian Housing Trust had over 60,000 properties. Under the previous Labor government thousands of these properties were sold off.

What most South Australians do not know, and what I was shocked to learn, was that Labor systematically used up the assets of the South Australian Housing Trust to prop up its own budget, which enabled the previous government to splash money around on popular projects and activities. Over 15 years, Labor treasurers stripped out $1.5 billion from the trust's assets through selling about 7,500 properties in the most lucrative locations.

I recently read the triennial review into the South Australian Housing Trust by PricewatehouseCoopers, which was tabled in parliament on 4 July 2018 and which demonstrated that the remaining assets had been left to run down under Labor, leaving a maintenance backlog bill in the hundreds of millions of dollars. This makes sense to me now, because so many King SA Housing Trust tenants have come to my office for support and maintenance, and we have been working closely with SA Housing to achieve the desired outcomes of my constituents. Many of these King constituents have told me they have been waiting many years for help.

The triennial review into the South Australian Housing Trust stated that no condition asset report had been undertaken since 2003, which is now being corrected as inspectors examine each property individually. When Labor wanted to raid more cash to prop up pet projects in its latest budget, it would do at least one of the following: it would sell off public housing, it would raid the cash balance of the trust and/or slash the maintenance budget, delaying improved services for tenants.

In addition to issues with public housing stock, over the past 10 years housing stress has increased in South Australia from 22 per cent to 40 per cent of households. It is clear that South Australia faces now a range of complex housing challenges. We know that we cannot continue with business as usual when the current system has resulted in significant numbers of people still unable to access appropriate housing, public housing stock that is run down and unfit for purpose and people cycling in and out of homelessness.

The Marshall Liberal government has responded by establishing a housing and homelessness task force across the social, government and private sectors to lead reform. A report outlining the current state of the system and a strategic intent document defining our shared vision for housing in South Australia have been released. The task force, along with the sector, is calling for reform of the system, and now is the time to hit the reset button on a broken system. We are currently developing a new housing and homelessness strategy to map out a 10-year plan to implement our vision that all South Australians have access to appropriate and affordable housing that contributes to social inclusion and economic participation.

I will be promoting, in my King community, participation in this homelessness strategy. It is now available on the YourSAy website. There are a lot of ways to participate, so on my social media and through letters to people caring about housing I will be communicating how to become involved.

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (12:20): Here in parliament today I also take the opportunity to acknowledge that national Homelessness Week 2019 is being held from 4 to 10 August, with the theme 'Housing ends homelessness'. It is being coordinated by Homelessness Australia. Certainly, the Marshall Liberal government is supportive of the important work undertaken by Homelessness Australia in coordinating national Homelessness Week.

There are a number of key events being held in South Australia, including the Don Dunstan Foundation's 2019 Homelessness Conference and also the Hutt St Centre's Walk a Mile in My Boots fundraising events. The Don Dunstan Foundation's 2019 Homelessness Conference will be held on 7 August, with the theme Preventing Homelessness. It examines how the public and private sectors can collaborate with the community more effectively to prevent homelessness in South Australia.

The Hutt St Centre aims, with care and without judgement, to end homelessness for every person who walks through the doors. Each day, the Hutt St Centre helps hundreds of people who are experiencing homelessness and disadvantage to find shelter, food, care and support. Over 40,000 meals are served by the centre each year, which makes it one of the busiest eateries in the state. The centre itself provides essential services, including showers, toilets, laundry facilities, lockers, legal advice and financial counselling.

The Hutt St Centre's Walk a Mile in My Boots is a way for South Australians to show their support for people facing homelessness by joining other like-minded people to experience what it is like on a cold winter's morning to walk just one mile. The walks will take place in McLaren Vale on Friday 2 August and then also in the Adelaide CBD, as the member for Adelaide noted, on Friday 9 August.

The important work of the Hutt St Centre is acknowledged by many in Morphett, including the students at St Mary's Memorial School in Glenelg. In term 1, I was invited along to the launch of their fundraising campaign by the year 6 students at St Mary's. Along with their teacher, Mr Mark Nelson, the students held a morning tea for parents at the school, with the school principal, Nat Izzo, and the Hutt St Centre's CEO, Ian Cox, attending.

The students had noticed that a number of their parents would walk into the school grounds with coffee in hand, so they set up a small business-inspired project to sell packs of coffee beans and also re-usable cups. At the time, the year 6 students entered a competition to come up with both a name for their enterprise and a logo. I can report that Toby came up with the name 'Green Beans' and that the logo is a small coffee tree with a trunk coming out of a split coffee bean.

On the morning, the students served all the parents who attended a barista-made coffee made from the coffee beans that they were to sell, and they also served that coffee in the Green Beans re-usable cups, complete with the logo branded on the cup; it was a white cup with a green lid. The students made sure that everyone who participated left with an order form to help raise funds. In fact, their fundraising efforts have been ongoing. Recently, the students also sold black-and-white iced doughnuts. These are the Dominican colours of the school and were part of their celebrations for the upcoming Saint Dominic's Day.

I can report that the initiative has been so successful that Mike from the Hutt St Centre visited the school just this month to receive some of the much-needed funds raised by these year 6s that will be put towards programs run by the Hutt St Centre. For example, $350 can help provide meals for a day for up to 200 people experiencing homelessness. The students were able ask Mike questions and got to find out that homelessness can happen to anyone, and the reasons are varied, ranging from mental health, relationship breakdowns to drug and alcohol dependency. I certainly commend the charitable work of all the year 6 students at St Mary's Memorial School. The school itself is on the same grounds as Our Lady of Victories Church, which also helps people by assisting them with food parcels.

In fact, all the churches in the local Glenelg area assist people experiencing homelessness: St Paul's Lutheran, St Andrew's by the Sea, the Uniting Church and St Peter's Anglican Church. The churches work alongside each other and meet together to try to share experiences and also data and information regarding homelessness in the area. They certainly try to maximise the efforts of their valuable volunteers and also their outreach programs. I have had the opportunity to attend some of these meetings, both in my former role as mayor of Holdfast Bay and now as the area's member of parliament.

I would like to touch on one of the valuable programs that is run in Morphett to assist those experiencing homelessness. It is called Mary's Kitchen. Glenelg will always be a popular spot amongst those who are without a bed for the night, as it is perceived as a safer place to be than particularly in the city itself. Mary's Kitchen operates in the St Andrew's by the Sea church hall each Tuesday night between 6 o'clock and 7.30pm. The soup kitchen is a Christian outreach program established in 2002 and named in memory of the late Mary McGrath, who was an integral part of the St Andrew's church community outreach program.

Mary's Kitchen has grown from a small core group to now providing food and support for between 30 and 50 people every Tuesday night. Patrons of Mary's Kitchen on Tuesday evenings will also find the Orange Sky Laundry van parked at the front of the church. That van began as a partnership with Mary's Kitchen back in 2016. It offers a mobile clothes washing service for the homeless. People can drop off their clothes and get free washing and drying facilities in the van. It takes only an hour or so, so they can have dinner and then return to have clean clothes from this service.

On the Tuesday before Easter this year I joined Lisa McGrath, who is the co-convener of Mary's Kitchen at St Andrew's by the Sea, and many volunteers from Mary's Kitchen, to serve soup and dinner to over 50 needy people. The volunteers are very caring. They took the time to chat to all the people being served dinner and gave them a listening and supportive ear. The dinners themselves are prepared with great care and variety. On the night, there were two soups to choose from, tomato or pumpkin, and I can report that the pumpkin soup was certainly the most popular. Dinner was also a choice of chicken or beef patties, chops and sausages. At the end of the night, there was nothing left over, so the food was gratefully received.

I also saw the kitchen in action. When I was mayor of Holdfast Bay one of the grant programs which I was particularly proud of, and which the council supported, was an upgrade of this kitchen to help Mary's Kitchen. It allowed the cooking areas to be upgraded, with some larger fridges to be purchased to store the goods prior to cooking and also a commercial dishwasher which allowed for the dishes to be cleaned quickly after dinner each Tuesday.

Mary's Kitchen relies on the support of many people and it is generously supported by donations from the local Jetty Road traders, including Baker's Delight, Coles, Bendigo Bank and Caruso's Fresh Foods. Mary's Kitchen also has wonderful partnerships with the wider community, including, as I mentioned before, St Mary's Memorial School, the Rotary Club of Holdfast Bay, the Rotary Club of Glenelg and the Lions Club of Edwardstown. The people who receive these dinners from Mary's Kitchen, and similar services provided by other local churches, are immensely grateful, and I would like to take the time here to acknowledge this important work being provided by many volunteers in the local community, and supported by the local traders and service organisations.

One of those service organisations is the Rotary Club of Glenelg. Each year they hold a fundraiser called the Cold Plunge. They put money from that event to organisations to assist with homelessness, including Mary's Kitchen. Last year I was joined by my parliamentary colleague the member for Black, and also some of my federal colleagues, Nicolle Flint, the member for Boothby, and the Hon. Simon Birmingham, Senator for South Australia, to take part in the Cold Plunge.

Over previous years I think we were lulled into a sense of false security because while the water was cold the ocean itself was quite still. On the occasion last year, nothing could be further from the truth; we were faced with one of those winter storms that occasionally pop up in Glenelg where the waves were actually over head height and there was nowhere for people to hide. It was a bit like watching the Titanic: there was a lot of noise in the first minutes but by the time five minutes had elapsed there was not too much movement or noise.

I commend the Rotary Club for their fundraising efforts in supporting homelessness in Morphett.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (12:30): I would like to speak briefly on this motion and also on the original motion and against the amendment. While I do not have any difficulty with government members moving an amendment to a motion that we put up, I do have difficulty in the way this motion is proposed to be amended because the part they are trying to delete is the critical part of the motion.

It is interesting how all the government speakers have tiptoed around this issue and have given a whole range of platitudes about how we deal with homelessness issues. If you talk to the service providers now, the key issue here is basically the need for an investment in housing not only in this state but nationally—if not internationally. We need a huge investment in housing as the major driver to resolve homelessness, not only from a social justice point of view or a humanitarian point of view but also from an economic point of view. The economic benefits of having a fairly strong build program in this nation would obviously help with the issues around skilling our nation, giving jobs to people in our nation, and also addressing this really key issue.

Some of the comments made by those opposite, whether they realise it or not, are quite inconsistent. They are saying that all these current housing service providers are doing a really great job—and I concur with that. There are a number of people in the emergency housing sector who work not only across the state but also in my own community, groups like UCare, Vinnies, Salt Care/Endeavour Care, and the Salvation Army. These are not-for-profit organisations that do really good work in supporting people who for whatever reason find themselves homeless and in need.

There are also a number of other service providers right across the state that do a wonderful service not only providing emergency care but also supporting people to get short-term housing and also, hopefully, long-term housing. I will not go into the reasons people become homeless, because they are quite complex, but is interesting to note that at the national level our Liberal government seem to think—the way I interpret their policies—that if you work and pay taxes you are deserving of government support through tax cuts, etc., but if you do not work, if you are homeless, etc., you are actually not worthy of any expenditure.

They would rather cut tax for multinational companies and the wealthy than spend money on a national housing build program that would support people who are the most disadvantaged in our society. It is also very galling that we have a prime minister who professes to be a very strong Christian who is head of a government whose empathy towards disadvantaged people in our community is less than worthy.

Ms Cook interjecting:

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: Yes; I certainly do not share his view of what the Christian faith believes in. On the one hand we are told, in the words of the member opposite, that the system is broken and we need to reset the button, reset it all. If the system is broken and it needs to be reset, that is a reflection on those providers today who work very hard to support those people in the homelessness sector, people who provide emergency services. They are critical of the people who work very hard—a lot of them volunteers, a lot of them non-government organisations—and on the other hand they talk about how wonderful they are.

The reality is that we do not need platitudes and we do not need another report, a third report, or a committee to be set up. We know what the solution is to this matter, and the solution is that additional funding is required. That is what paragraph (c) of this motion talks about. So this state government's policy is actually shown by their seeking to cut out paragraph (c) from this motion.

This shows this government's lack of empathy for people who are actually homeless, because they could have amended this motion to include their bit as paragraph (d). They deliberately removed paragraph (c) because they do not believe it is worthy of a financial contribution, a financial commitment, to some poor people in our society who are actually homeless. That is the only way you can interpret their amendment.

They are not adding to the motion. They are deleting paragraph (c) and substituting their paragraph (c), which is just a platitude that talks about this fancy new thing they are looking at. They want to engage more, and they want people to have their say. Well, if you talk to people in the street, those who are homeless or the people who care for them, they can tell you what the problem is. They do not need a new fancy report, a new strategy. They can tell you how it can be resolved. So, for members opposite to labour on about what they are going to do in terms of a whole range of processes, etc., is really quite insulting to those people who are doing it tough today.

I will give you another example of this government's actual performance compared to what they talk about. The churches in my community have been working very hard for quite a time now to establish a service to help homeless people in our community, more correctly defined as people who are sleeping rough in our community. I have been working alongside them. It has taken five months to access a bureaucrat to talk to them about this program—five months. It is disgraceful that, when we put in a request, it took over three months to get a response to the original request, and it has then taken two months to see the right public servant to talk to about this program.

We have a group of churches that are prepared to work with the state and local governments to make a practical difference on the ground, and the response from this government has taken five months before we could actually talk to them. It is absolutely disgraceful. For those members opposite to say what they have said today is an insult to these people. It is an insult when their government behaves in this way.

In summary, we do not need this new paragraph (c), which has been moved by the government member. What we need is for the original paragraph (c) to remain. If they want to add their paragraph (c) as a new paragraph (d), that is fine. I do not have a problem with that; I would not object to that. However, removing paragraph (c) is insulting and it undermines people who are already disadvantaged, and it is a shame on them.

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (12:37): I want to thank all members who have made a contribution to this private member's motion by raising the importance not only of homelessness but of a government, a community and a whole-of-society response to it. I also indicate that I do not accept the removal of paragraph (c) and its replacement with an alternative paragraph (c). I ask members to reflect, perhaps even on their own speeches, on the fact that what they were talking about actually talks to paragraph (c) as originally moved.

Beyond that, without playing political games, the reason why paragraph (c) is in the motion—and I do not want this to be lost—is that there is a distinct gap in the system for 15 to 18 year olds. By removing all of paragraph (c), it removes the emphasis that I want to place on 15 to 18 year olds, which suggests that the government has not actually thought about this properly.

I am not going to try to use this as a political wedge; I will leave that for others to do, but I am genuine in moving this motion. People know how hard it is to get a notice of motion before parliament because we only have a limited time. Had the government come to me and said, 'Listen, we have a problem with paragraph (c). We have a Treasurer, as you know, who does not like the word "funding" put into private members' motions,' or anything like that, I would have changed paragraph (c). I would have removed the word 'funding' and replaced it with 'options'. It would have read:

(c) calls on the state government to provide options for more supported accommodation for young people aged between 15 and18 who cannot be reunified with their families.

If you listened to my speech, the point I was trying to make was that we have Ruby's in the Limestone Coast. They have full-time staff there who can take young people in accommodation, but they cannot take 15 to 18 year olds if there is no hope of reunification with their parents or step-parents. So we have a facility but, because of bureaucratic constraints, we are not able to actually provide a service. We have 15 to 18 year olds in the Limestone Coast unable to access that service and they have to sleep rough, couch surf or be in vulnerable places.

I really want to home people in on that. Sometimes people come in here and just dismiss parts of a motion for political reasons. This was not put in there to have a dig at the government: it was put in there for the genuine reason that we have a real issue with the current set-up. I would have changed the word 'funding' to 'options' had I actually been consulted.

This has been on the Notice Paper since the start of this year. For people to then come in one minute beforehand and say, with no consultation and no negotiation, 'We are just going to dismiss whatever you want and the point you are trying to make and put in our own,' is really pretty insulting but also naive as to how we can use private members' motions to actually improve and put a spotlight on some of these very serious issues.

Having 15 to 18 year olds unable to go to a place that is set up with supervisors and sometimes has spare capacity because of a bureaucratic ruling, in my opinion is ridiculous. That is the point I was trying to make. By removing paragraph (c) we are removing the spotlight I am putting on that. I understand how this place works—people will be bound to follow what has been said beforehand—but next time, perhaps, in a joint party room when these things are just being thrown out willy-nilly, and they are not trying to be used as a political wedge, people might think about what this actually means. With that, I commend the original motion to the house.

The house divided on the amendment:

Ayes 22

Noes 20

Majority 2

AYES
Basham, D.K.B. Chapman, V.A. Cregan, D.
Duluk, S. Ellis, F.J. Gardner, J.A.W.
Harvey, R.M. (teller) Knoll, S.K. Luethen, P.
Marshall, S.S. McBride, N. Murray, S.
Patterson, S.J.R. Pederick, A.S. Pisoni, D.G.
Power, C. Sanderson, R. Teague, J.B.
Treloar, P.A. van Holst Pellekaan, D.C. Whetstone, T.J.
Wingard, C.L.
NOES
Bell, T.S. (teller) Bettison, Z.L. Bignell, L.W.K.
Boyer, B.I. Brown, M.E. Close, S.E.
Cook, N.F. Gee, J.P. Hildyard, K.A.
Hughes, E.J. Koutsantonis, A. Malinauskas, P.
Michaels, A. Mullighan, S.C. Odenwalder, L.K.
Piccolo, A. Picton, C.J. Stinson, J.M.
Szakacs, J.K. Wortley, D.
PAIRS
Cowdrey, M.J. Bedford, F.E. Speirs, D.J.
Brock, G.G.

Amendment thus carried; motion as amended carried.

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