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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-09-07 Daily Xml
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Motions

Homelessness Week

Ms HOOD (Adelaide) (11:09): I move:

That this house—

(a) acknowledges that Homelessness Week occurred from 1 to 7 August 2022;

(b) recognises the plight of those facing homelessness and the particular vulnerability of rough sleepers;

(c) congratulates the Malinauskas Labor government on its 2022 election commitment of $6 million to the Hutt St Centre, St Vincent de Paul (Vinnies) and Catherine House to improve homelessness services in South Australia; and

(d) congratulates the Malinauskas Labor government on its election commitment to invest more than $180 million in new funding into the South Australian Housing Trust.

About 18 months ago, as we prepared to head into a very cold and wet winter, the former Marshall Liberal government made devastating cuts to some of our most respected homelessness organisations: the Hutt St Centre, Catherine House and Vinnies. In response the community banded together. We knocked on doors. We encouraged locals to tie orange ribbons on their front fences and gates in solidarity with these organisations. We collected signatures on petitions, calling on the Marshall Liberal government to have a heart and reverse these cruel cuts.

Fast-forward a year and a half later, and this is a clear example of why elections matter. Upon coming into government, the Malinauskas Labor government returned $6 million to the Hutt St Centre, St Vincent de Paul (Vinnies) and Catherine House to improve homelessness services in South Australia.

In April this year I was so incredibly proud to be joined by the Premier and the human services minister at the Hutt St Centre to make this significant and important announcement. We were joined by one very incredible women: her name was Losa. At 19, Losa fled domestic violence. She was battling cancer, trauma and mental health issues. She did not think she would make it, but then she found Catherine House, and now Losa is thriving and inspiring others.

Behind these three organisations are hundreds and hundreds of stories like Losa's, and it is why the Malinauskas Labor government is committed to increasing investment in housing and homelessness to increase housing supply, access and supports for vulnerable South Australians. The state government's public housing improvement program will see more than $177 million invested in public housing, including 400 new public housing properties to be constructed; 50 of these homes will be co-located with support services, which we know is incredibly vital. We will upgrade 350 vacant properties to make them available for families in need, and will improve the supplies and amenities of 3,000 tenanted public housing homes.

Housing SA has also recently partnered with Carrington Cottages and provided a grant of around $1.2 million to purchase a vacant backpacker hostel that closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This new initiative will provide extra accommodation in the city for people facing homelessness. We will also work with a new federal Labor government that is establishing a $10 billion housing futures fund to deliver 30,000 social and affordable homes over five years. For those who cannot access social housing, Housing SA offers financial assistance that can save eligible applicants up to $3,150 on the up-front costs of accessing private rental.

In regard to this motion, I want to thank the human services minister, Nat Cook, for her tireless efforts when it comes to our most vulnerable South Australians and moving people from homelessness to homefulness. She is incredibly tireless in her efforts, and we are so incredibly grateful to have her as part of our team. I commend this motion to the house.

Ms PRATT (Frome) (11:14): I rise to speak to the motion in support and recognition of Homelessness Week in the month of August and seek to amend it. I move to amend the motion as follows:

Delete paragraphs (c) and (d) and insert in lieu:

(c) commends the Marshall Liberal government on creating a better functioning homelessness system in South Australia.

So the motion will read:

That this house—

(a) acknowledges that Homelessness Week occurred from 1 to 7 August 2022;

(b) recognises the plight of those facing homelessness and the particular vulnerability of rough sleepers; and

(c) commends the Marshall Liberal government on creating a better functioning homelessness system in South Australia.

In speaking to this motion, I note that we mark the significance of this social plight in the heart of winter. In fact, during the first week of August, a Code Blue was issued for metro Adelaide and for my region of Clare, as well as for the Riverland, Limestone Coast, Kangaroo Island, Port Lincoln and Kadina.

Any two combined conditions will trigger the calling of a Code Blue, whether that be significant rainfall, gusty damaging winds or prolonged cold conditions, where the average night-time temperature is set to drop below 5° for five or more days. This afternoon, in fact, heavy rain and thunderstorms are expected for the metro area, and if your prized possessions are a backpack and a sleeping bag then finding somewhere dry and undercover to sleep is essential but not at all easy. Sleeping rough, guarding your spot, wondering where a meal is going to come from and getting access to a doctor or a dentist are just a few of the many hardship issues a homeless person faces on an hourly basis.

It is very important that those of us privileged to have guaranteed shelter and housing do not lose sight of our homeless community and bring attention to their situation, with a mind to implementing public policy and investment in services that will ease their limited and temporary living conditions. Homelessness Week aims to raise awareness of the impact of homelessness on Australia via national and local community events, including providing information on the importance of housing as a solution and educating communities on how they can make a difference.

The Hutt St Centre's Walk a Mile in My Boots challenge takes place in Homelessness Week and aims to raise funds that help to provide essentials for people sleeping rough this winter and every winter. We know that South Australians get behind this opportunity to fundraise, participate and be alert to the confronting statistics on those who are homeless and sleep rough. Homelessness SA held its annual memorial service on 5 August to remember those people who have died whilst experiencing homelessness. It is a very sobering aspect to this chronic issue.

When forming government in March 2018, the Marshall Liberal government was determined to create a better functioning homelessness system in South Australia. We unashamedly wanted to ensure that people were safe and able to sustain long-term housing, that they were rapidly rehoused to reduce the length of time they were homeless and that they did not experience repeat homelessness. This led to the establishment of an Australian-first alliance model that more effectively and efficiently delivered targeted and tailored services to people who were experiencing homelessness across the state.

The Marshall Liberal government established a special $20 million fund over 10 years to pilot the homelessness prevention initiatives. The first $2.3 million was awarded to Kids Under Cover to provide 51 fully relocatable studios to young people at risk of homelessness. It is no surprise that the overall number of people needing to access a homelessness service did not increase during our four years of government. The Marshall Liberal government undertook extensive consultation and system redesign to fix the mess that Labor had left behind. We have taken the lead in Australia by being the first to adopt an alliance approach to homelessness that will better deliver services and outcomes for South Australians. Our approach has been recognised by the Institute of Global Homelessness.

Thanks to the Marshall Liberal government, South Australia is set to become the second Vanguard state in the world after we signed the new statewide commitment, which will remain in effect until 31 December 2025. The signing of Vanguard reaffirmed our commitment to combating and ending homelessness. However, we know that there is a current housing crisis in South Australia that we cannot shy away from and that is ever present in my electorate of Frome. I am frequently contacted by families and single parents who are in need of immediate support. In particular, I thank the essential service provided by the Uniting Country SA Clare office.

It is very difficult to capture the true statistics of the number of people who are living in housing uncertainty. They are couch surfing, living with family, in temporary arrangements and possibly vulnerable as a tenant should their lease not be renewed. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people are not living how they would choose to even if they have the means.

With the growing number of South Australians falling victim to the rental crisis, the opposition developed a suite of potential initiatives to keep more families in private rentals and out of homelessness. The Liberal's 10-point plan is a detailed policy framework that, in summary, focuses on reducing rental bond time frames, simplifies application processes, addresses long-term stays in motels, and provides and continues the former Liberal government's extension of the domestic violence crisis accommodation program.

Homelessness is something that can happen to anyone. Often, all it takes is one change in circumstances, be it income or employment, that can trigger it. Together, we must work towards ending homelessness. I commend the amended motion to the house.

The Hon. N.F. COOK (Hurtle Vale—Minister for Human Services) (11:20): I was just going to deliver a nice speech, but I might have to place some corrections on the record. It may be no surprise to you but, in advance, we will not be supporting the amendment to the motion. There is something that comes quickly to mind that is perhaps relevant: the one-way expressway was also a first. That did not make it a good thing. It was poorly implemented, poorly delivered.

I think what history will tell us is that the alliances are a very good idea, and I have no problem at all with encouraging and facilitating homelessness services and housing providers to work together to do good work. But, honestly, the alliance system had only one competitive tender that happened, and that was the alliance that put the southern region in conjunction with the metropolitan area CBD locations.

There was one competitive tender that happened for the alliance model, which saw Catherine House, Vinnies, and the Hutt St Centre knocked out and defunded. What that led to—in conjunction with a rushed, poorly thought-out, not funded crossover plan of six weeks, where one set of services was to leave, exit completely, and then the new alliance model put in place—was six weeks of chaos.

We saw for months and months ineffective and absent outreach services happening. We saw for months and months, during the COVID pandemic, people not knowing where to go for help. We saw hundreds of people left floundering and unsupported. The only reason that homelessness services are actually effective at all at the moment in the CBD is because of the subcontracting of the services that were cut. This new alliance went in place without crisis beds written into it. There was nowhere for people to go. There was nowhere for people to get support, to get a bed for the night and to get those wraparound services provided.

Very quickly that was acknowledged and realised by the service providers—not by the Marshall government at the time, but by the service providers who have had to get together and cobble together a system where people can exit homelessness into temporary homefulness, and then homefulness in the end. None of that was happening under the Marshall Liberal government plan.

It might surprise you to know that this service was put in place with a complete absence of any outcomes framework—a complete absence. How do you measure the effectiveness of a service without an outcomes framework? Since coming into government we have made sure that is being developed: an outcomes framework to measure what is happening and to help build on the strength that is already in place. It is mind-blowing that this was not happening.

We see a range of things come into this chamber—with, I believe, all good intention from the member for Frome—but with this, the words that are coming out of her mouth in relation to this speech and also grievances in the past, talking about things that are actually not the case, she is being completely misled and 'puppeted' by somebody in another chamber. They are completely inaccurate, and the member for Frome deserves better than that.

I think she is decent, and she has shown over decades that she has a commitment to social justice through her work before here as well as the political roles she has undertaken, but I would warn her and caution her that she is being fed a load of rubbish by somebody who is trying to use her as a political puppet in this chamber. She should double-check the facts before she brings them in here. It would be a real shame to see her continually trip over like this. Get the facts right.

What we can talk about now is what we have done since coming into government, a range of things. I thank the member for Adelaide for her advocacy and campaigning around the defunding of Vinnies, Catherine House and Hutt St, absolutely intrinsically linked organisations with the respect of pretty much the entire South Australian community; everybody has heard of these organisations. Thank you so much to the member for Adelaide for the really great work that has led to these commitments being put in place.

Knowing the problem with the transition of homelessness services, and with the very deep connections I have continued to maintain for many years with homelessness providers, listening to them through opposition and now, I made sure that as soon as I was able I went out with the outreach teams. I visited the great team at the Millers Court Westcare Centre, met with people there, and popped into the site where people access Fred's Van. I talked to people about how they find out about Code Blue, and went out with the outreach team now in place going through the parklands and moving around the CBD, making sure they connect deeply with people and understand their journey to where they are now so that they can try to do something to help people in the future.

I visited the Hutt St Centre more than once to actually watch the process when someone turns up there looking for assistance in what is often a very desperate situation, and also look to see what they can now provide, more long term, in terms of their Aspire program, because we have reinvested that $2 million for them over the next four years.

The Foundry is an SYC-operated centre for young people where they are not only able to get a hot meal but also where they can go to a quiet room to help moderate themselves, have a sleep there when The Foundry is open for them. They can have the use of a PC and can get some support to get their CVs together. The Foundry really is an excellent opportunity for young people to engage with expert providers.

I have also been out and visited the Anglicare Kurralta Park supported accommodation tenancy, where a number of young people live in a 16 one-bedroom apartment block at Kurralta Park. It has been beautifully renovated and began as a pilot program about a year ago to assist young care leavers. I spoke to a young woman there who is expecting her first child and, given the wraparound support she has received by Believe Housing and Anglicare, she is now very confident that, as she moves out into something more suitable, she will be able to start life with her new family and do a great job as a mum. This is breaking generational cycles, which is so, so important.

The annual homelessness memorial service in August was a time to reflect on people who have died lonely and cold on the streets. It is a shocking indictment on civilised society that this still happens, so we will do all we can to bring those numbers down.

It was fantastic to participate again in the Walk a Mile in My Boots challenge. We did that separately. The member for Adelaide and I—who else came with us? There were a few people with us that day. We went to Adelaide High.

Ms Hood: Emily.

The Hon. N.F. COOK: Yes, Emily Bourke, that's right, the MLC from the other place. We participated with Botanic High on their Walk a Mile. I do not know whether these kids do geography or maths, but that was not a mile. That was about 1.8, you are welcome.

Apart from that, there have been many visits to some fantastic providers of food: the Adelaide Day Centre and the Hutt St Centre. We participated in the soup kitchen fundraiser for Hutt St and Catherine House at the East End Cellars with other people. It was just fantastic. I thank so much the people involved in the homelessness services and doing the best they can to give people a place to call home.

I think there was one comment as well by the member for Frome, where she said that the numbers did not increase under the then Marshall Liberal government. Yes, they have blown out of the water on the Zero Project numbers for the By Name List in the CBD, but nationally the homelessness numbers have not come out since 2016, so unless she has some sort of jingly belt and a crystal ball I have no idea how she knows that the homelessness figures have not gone up, because all I see are datasets showing an increased presentation to homelessness services across the state.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (11:31): I rise to speak in support of the motion and make it very clear that I oppose the amendment. I will speak to the amendment first before I get to the area where I want to support the motion, but I also raise an example of where some really bad practice by a local council is impeding our efforts to improve housing in this country, particularly in my community.

As indicated, I will be supporting the motion because I think the motion itself outlines what this government is trying to do to address the homelessness issue and housing generally. The amendment talks about the wonderful things the Liberal government did. I will speak for my electorate, on the basis of my electorate. I do not know what happens elsewhere, but I can certainly talk about what happened in my electorate.

I remember attending a meeting, a consultation in the Barossa, where there were discussions about how the former minister wanted to introduce a new housing strategy. I got a glossy publication after that process, all these wonderful words, and the only thing missing from the strategy was actually saying, 'This is what we are going to do to make this thing better.' There was a whole range of parenthood statements and it all looked very glossy, but it did not commit to one additional house—not one additional house. That was the Liberal Party's housing strategy to address homelessness.

As the current minister said, yes, the new alliance system appears to be working okay, but they can only hand out or help to put people in homes that exist, and the Marshall Liberal government did nothing to improve or address that issue in terms of additional housing. In fact, if the presentations to my office are an indication, it got much worse during that period. Still, sadly, probably the number one issue in my electorate is people coming to my office who are homeless for a whole range of reasons and in some really dire circumstances.

One thing the Liberal Marshall government did do in my electorate to help the homelessness service was close the local Housing SA office. That was quite an achievement, to actually close down a service to help people who are homeless or seeking a home. That is one thing the Liberal government did do. They closed it, and they closed it at a time when we did not have train services either, so the people who are the most vulnerable in our community have to find some way to get to Elizabeth, which is the closest office. In fact, on one occasion I happened to be outside the Housing SA office which had closed and a mother was there with her children. They had walked right across the town to come to this office for service and it did not exist—it did not exist.

When you made inquiries about it, they said, 'Well, it's about COVID.' There was a whole period when everything could be blamed on COVID. Then COVID ended, but the office has not reopened under their time. So we did something practical and gave an opportunity to one of the homelessness services to provide an outreach service through my electorate office; they come there regularly. People can stay in Gawler and access homelessness services through my electorate office—and, sadly, they are very busy.

Why is homelessness and rough sleeping important? Having a home is core to who we are as human beings. It is in addition to the issues around safety, etc. We all define ourselves, if you like, by where we live, the home we live in, etc. It is a place central to our being. It is a place where we obviously spend time with our families and our friends, and it is a place where we feel safe. It is a place where we belong and interact with our communities. When you do not have a home, you do not have place to spend time with family, you do not have a place to spend time with friends and you do not have a place that you call safe.

What I do know about the rough sleepers in Gawler—and, sadly, it is the worst I have ever seen it. Ten years ago we had none and we now have about 45 to 50 people in Gawler alone who are rough sleepers. Some of them come from outside the Town of Gawler because it is safer to sleep rough in Gawler than in other communities near us where they do not feel safe. It is interesting to note that they sleep during the daytime because that is when it is safer to sleep because they can be seen; at night-time, when you are sleeping rough, your safety is compromised.

And you do not belong: you cannot access services or the simple things. You cannot have showers, you cannot wash your clothing—all those basic things we take for granted homeless people do not have. So, when I hear comments like those from one of the former speakers about what a wonderful job they did, that was not the reality in my electorate. That was not the reality in my electorate. The other reality was that during COVID we were able to find and resolve the homelessness issue for the City of Adelaide, but not in the suburbs or country areas. The government of the day forgot about the suburbs and forgot about the country areas.

It is very important that, as some of the speakers have said, we need to work together to resolve the housing crisis in this nation. I would have thought that every government agency, planning authority and instrumentality would be doing their bit to make sure there are no barriers to getting people into a home. Sadly, that is not the case with my council, the Gawler council. I will give an example. I had to appear before them twice recently to argue on behalf of seven homebuyers who had their titles held up for over 18 months by the council's dispute with the developer—18 months.

It is actually quite disgraceful. I will explain why it is disgraceful. It has added almost half a million dollars to the cost for these homebuyers in terms of contract renewals and additional rent, and also some of them lost their first HomeBuilder grant as well—almost half a million dollars. Even if you do not take into account the additional money they had to borrow to pay off their loans, it is quite a disgraceful amount.

They had a dispute with the developer, and I must confess that developers do not have a good name, generally speaking, but on this occasion the homebuyers sided with the developer. They could see what the council was doing. The council was trying to extract or renegotiate unilaterally an agreement about contributions which had been signed by the parties. They thought they would hold these seven homebuyers to ransom, hoping that they would turn onto the homebuyers to fork out more money to the council.

Last week, the council accepted an offer from the developer. That offer was the same, financially, as was put to them 12 months ago—the same offer. The only thing that changed the council's mind was political pressure placed by the homebuyers, myself and other people who advocated on their behalf. It is absolutely appalling behaviour that a council could do such a thing. Not only has it had an impact on these seven homebuyers (and I explained how) but it means that there are seven people who are renting when they do not have to rent who could have made space for another seven people who could be renting.

There is, if you like, a whole chain of damage and pain caused by this council decision to not do that. We all make mistakes. The previous government made mistakes, I make mistakes; I probably make one every day, the reality is, but the worst thing is that the council had the hide to say they had done nothing wrong. They could not understand why, on the one hand, they had accepted an offer just last week, which was the same financial offer as 12 months ago, and caused pain to the seven homebuyers to the tune of over half a million dollars. They saw nothing wrong with it.

What has this dispute done? It is not a victimless decision made by council. It has not privatised the hardship for these things; it is in fact cost shifting. It has also robbed these people of the joy and excitement of building their first home. Building a home is a pretty tough gig at the best of times. When you get a council that holds up your project by 12 to 18 months and costs you tens of thousands of dollars more, it does take off the gloss of moving into a new home. There are a whole range of direct and indirect costs.

These are real people who have experienced real pain from this council's inability to resolve an issue with a developer who was a willing party. It is interesting to note that when the lawyers for the council went to the developer recently and asked, 'Is the previous offer from some time ago still on the table?' the developer said yes and the matter was resolved. We should all be doing our bit to make sure we get people into homes as quickly as we can, and, for this reason alone, come these elections, I think the people of Gawler deserve a better council.

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (11:41): I rise to support the motion on homelessness moved by the member for Adelaide. It is a motion that highlights some of the Malinauskas government's commitment towards addressing homelessness here in South Australia. Today, we know that a Code Blue has been declared across parts of South Australia. This means thunderstorms, heavy rain and strong winds. Most of us only experience this firsthand running between a car and the workplace or picking up children from child care or school. A Code Blue is triggered when the weather bureau forecasts such bad weather, and we know people sleeping rough will need support from today until this front passes, which is expected to be Friday morning.

We do see the homeless on our streets. We know that they are sleeping rough. Sometimes we see a blanket shoved into the corner crevices of buildings and doorways as we rush about on our business. We know that women are far more likely to be sleeping on someone's couch, sleeping in their car, scared and frightened about their safety, or are in an unsafe relationship because they have nowhere to go.

Over the years, I have had women parked out the front of my office, sleeping that way, with nowhere to go. We do not see as many women experiencing homelessness publicly; therefore, it is not always out there as a problem. While more needs to be done to address homelessness generally, we need to stop forgetting about women's homelessness just because it cannot be seen. We need a plan. What can we do to address this important issue?

The Malinauskas government is addressing this issue in a number of ways. The first is a commitment of $6 million in this is budget allocated to the Hutt St Centre, St Vincent de Paul (Vinnies) and Catherine House to improve their services for those who need it. The commitment to invest $180 million in new funding to the South Australian Housing Trust can only mean better outcomes for its clients, for the people in South Australia who have no other option. It is something that we need to do to secure their future.

Homelessness is not something South Australia is dealing with alone. A major report, presented by Homelessness Australia on 1 August, showed that since 2021 rents in Australia have increased by 13.2 per cent, with rents in some locations increasing more that 25 per cent in a year. Simply, more than 100,000 people came to homelessness services last financial year needing long-term housing and only 3.4 per cent of them were able to be found a home.

Seventy-five thousand people across the nation who were homeless and needing help were turned away by services, which did not have the staff or resources needed to respond. When income support was increased under COVID relief in June 2020, homelessness numbers dropped and rent stress among households receiving rent assistance fell.

First Nations Australians are nearly 10 times more likely to be without a home than other Australians. Last financial year, our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population represented only 3 per cent of the entire Australian populace but 28 per cent of specialist homelessness services users. Those numbers just do not add up.

While most of us are concerned about the increase in cost of living or interest rate rises, we need to think of those who simply do not have a place to call home, people who do not have anywhere to go at the end of the day. In closing, I would like to acknowledge the Code Blue volunteers who will be away from their homes today helping the most vulnerable in our community over the next 72 hours.

The SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Torrens. I share your sentiments and concerns.

Amendment negatived; motion carried.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: Mr Speaker, I draw your attention to the state of the house.

A quorum having been formed:

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