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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-11-29 Daily Xml
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HOUSING SA SOLAR CREDITS SCHEME

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (15:05): My questions is to the Minister for Social Housing. Minister, will you explain how Housing SA is helping tenants to address climate change through recent changes to policy?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (15:05): I thank the honourable member for his question, and I congratulate him for his incessant agitation on these issues to deal with climate change.

The Hon. D.G.E. Hood interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Well, longstanding, of course. The South Australian Housing Institute awards are held biennially, and Housing SA enjoyed great success, based on its dedication, innovation and a good deal of hard work. Housing SA staff won individual awards in the areas of outstanding achievement and the inspirational colleague, as well as awards for leading housing solutions and leading practice, but probably, in relation to the honourable member's question, its most significant award was one for leading innovation. The award was made to Housing SA's quality and technical services project team for its work on putting protective arrangements in place to support tenants who wanted to place solar panels on their roof.

In the past six months, Housing SA has come under increasing pressure from some tenants who want to protect themselves from future rising energy costs, just like those South Australians who own their own home. The opportunity to reduce energy bills by placing solar panels on their roof was, for a long time, in the too hard basket until Housing SA staff were able to formulate an innovative deed. This deed ensures that the state, the tenants and installation companies are all fully aware of their rights and responsibilities in relation to the installation and that the ongoing operation of solar systems is fully spelt out in the deed they all sign.

At present, no other state has the same process in place to allow solar panels to be placed on public housing properties and, as such, Housing SA is leading the way in providing innovative solutions for the future of social housing tenants. Housing SA has reported that, since May 2011, when the then minister for housing signed the approval for the deed, there have been 25 applications approved for Housing SA tenants to install solar panels at their property.

One of the first tenants to install the solar panels on his roof was Mr Bierczynski of Morphett Vale, who had his 1.65 kilowatt system installed on 1 September 2011. Mr Bierczynski has expressed his gratitude for the chance to reduce his energy bills through the installation of these solar panels. He and his wife have lived at the property for more than 25 years, and they say that they treat their home 'like it is their own', as indeed it is. They love the area and get on well with their neighbours and have no intentions of moving anywhere in the future.

Whilst they are yet to receive their first electricity bill since the solar panel installation, this couple, who are pensioners, are expecting that they are already making savings through the provision of energy from the sun. Additionally, they have signed up to the government's Solar Credits Scheme, and they are expecting that this will deliver them further savings well into the future. They are just one case in a small but increasing number of Housing SA tenants who will have the opportunity to reduce their energy bills and their carbon footprint through Housing SA's innovations.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Parnell has a supplementary.

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