Lady Kintore Cottages (Trust Property) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (16:03): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading explanation inserted in Hansard without my reading it.

Leave granted.

The Lady Kintore Cottages Act 1920 (the Act) was enacted to enable the transfer of certain real property and moneys held by the Lady Kintore Cottages Incorporated to the Adelaide Benevolent Strangers' Friend Society Inc ('the Society').

Up until that time, Lady Kintore Cottages Inc had been the subject of a Declaration of Trust dated 20 December 1894. At the time, the trust provided for an elected committee which was empowered to determine the application of trust property for the purposes of providing accommodation to 'indigent widows and deserted wives and their families'.

For various technical reasons it became impracticable for this to continue, and so the Act was passed in 1920. The effect of the Act was to transfer all trust funds and real property to the Society. Section 3(1) of the Act provided that these were to be held by the Society upon the same charitable purposes as the terms of the original trust and for no other purposes.

The original Lady Kintore properties which vested in the Society at the commencement of the Act were sold in 1990 to the SA Housing Trust. The Society has since purchased and developed other properties with the sale proceeds. Currently, six properties are held on trust under the Lady Kintore Cottages Act. This represents a fairly small proportion of the Society's overall property portfolio, which is comprised of around 130 properties in total.

The Society is a not for profit incorporated association, whose objects and purpose are to receive gifts of cash and kind and to administer relief to the sick or disadvantaged within South Australia. A further object is to provide affordable housing and other assistance in necessitous and deserving cases to people in South Australia including new immigrants.

The objects and purpose of the Society are broader than those under the Lady Kintore Trust. The Bill aims to recognise these wider objects purposes. The Society's objects are 'to receive gifts of cash and kind and to administer relief to the sick and/or disadvantaged within South Australia'. The aim of the trust was to hold such real property and moneys on trust for the purpose of providing homes for indigent widows and deserted wives and their families in the State. The Society states that it has been determining applications for accommodation for the trust properties on the basis of the necessity in accordance with its objects, namely 'relief to the sick or disadvantaged within South Australia'. It considers that it would be more appropriate that the property and moneys held on trust under the Act be used in accordance with the broader objectives of the Society, rather than restricting this to 'indigent widows and deserted wives and their families'. This is what clause 4 of the Bill intends to do.

The Society base their policy on providing affordable accommodation to people on lower incomes. In 90 per cent of cases this means people who are receiving Centrelink benefits such as the aged pension, disability pension, family assistance or Newstart. Some applicants participate in part time work. The income limit is around $40,000 per annum. This allows for tenants to move into one of the Society's properties on Newstart, gain employment and then start earning a wage.

The tenants are generally referred to the Society by agencies including, Adelaide Day Centre, Catherine House, Hutt St Centre, Towards Independence (Salvation Army) and the Southern and Western Domestic Violence Services.

To administer the terms of the Lady Kintore trust has given rise to practical difficulties. For example, even if prospective tenants for a house or unit were screened, so that tenancies were only offered to a woman who met the description of 'deserted wife with children', it would be difficult in practical terms for the trustee to monitor that person's ongoing relationship status.

Further, in order to monitor the relationship status, the tenant would be required to volunteer such information as circumstances changed, with the potential for a tenancy to be terminated upon the happening of a defined event, such as commencing cohabitation with another adult, or if her children left home. As well as being administratively cumbersome, the Government's view is that this would be unreasonable and oppressive. Also, in order to provide for such contingency the lease would have to contain a term which allowed the trustee to terminate the lease should such a defined event occur.

It is considered appropriate to amend the Lady Kintore Cottages Act, so as to bring its objects into line with those of the Society more generally. Further, the current situation effectively requires the Society to quarantine properties from its much larger pool, in order to give effect to a narrower purpose as currently set out in the original Act. This would appear to be difficult from an administrative perspective.

Although there may well be a number of women in society who may in a technical sense fit the description of 'indigent widow' or 'deserted wife', these are undoubtedly antiquated terms. The original objects of the trust need to be considered against the background of the social norms and stigmas as well as a paucity of Government social services available to assist such persons at that time. Notably, since the trust was founded, there have been significant developments in the area of government welfare payments, as well as a cultural shift in attitudes towards women who are without male partners.

The Bill also introduces a new clause to recognise that the Adelaide Benevolent and Strangers' Friend Society may wish to transfer its undertaking to a company limited by guarantee structure sometime in the future.

I commend the Bill to Members.

Explanation of Clauses

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

2—Commencement

3—Amendment provisions

These clauses are formal.

Part 2—Amendment of Lady Kintore Cottages Act 1920

4—Amendment of section 3—Trusts of property

Currently, the Act provides that the assets held by the Society on trust are to be used for the purpose of 'providing homes for indigent widows and deserted wives and their families in this State, and for no other purpose.' The amendment expands that purpose to 'administering relief and providing affordable housing and other assistance to sick or disadvantaged people in the State' (and things or activities necessary, incidental or conducive to the advancement of such a purpose).

5—Insertion of section 7

This clause proposes the insertion of new section 7

7—Change in corporate structure of Society—references

Proposed section 7 is an interpretive provision dealing with references to the Society in the Act and subordinate instruments in the event that the Society becomes registered as a company limited by guarantee under the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth, or transfers the whole of its assets and undertaking to such a company.

Schedule 1—Transitional provisions

Schedule 1 validates certain acts of the Society done prior to the commencement of the Lady Kintore Cottages (Trust Property) Amendment Act 2014 and provides for immunity from liability for the Society in relation to such acts.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (16:04): On 7 May the Attorney-General in the other place introduced the Lady Kintore Cottages (Trust Property) Amendment Bill 2014 to amend the Lady Kintore Cottages Act 1920. The Lady Kintore Cottages Act 1920 was enacted to enable the transfer of certain property and money held by Lady Kintore Cottages Incorporated to the Adelaide Benevolent and Strangers' Friend Society Incorporated. Prior to that act, Lady Kintore Cottages was subject to a declaration of trust that provided for an elected committee empowered to determine the application of trust property for the purpose of providing accommodation to 'indigent widows and deserted wives and their families'.

The effect of implementing the 1920 act was to transfer all trust funds and real property to the Adelaide Benevolent and Strangers' Friend Society Incorporated. The society was to hold all funds and property for the same charitable purpose as the original terms of the trust. The society now considers that it is more appropriate that property and money held on trust under the act be used in accordance with the broader objects and purpose of the society, rather than restricting use of the assets to the original purpose of the trust, namely, as I said, to assist indigent widows, deserted wives and their families.

The trust is named after Lady Kintore, the wife of South Australia's governor from 1889 to 1895. She was a well-known charitable women with a passion for providing poor but industrious women with cheap lodgings. Her scheme eventually resulted in the establishment of the Lady Kintore Cottages in Hackney. In this context I was interested to have my attention drawn to an article from The Advertiser of 1902 that talked about the shift of the cottages from Hackney to the city, and I quote from the article of 18 September 1902, as follows:

South Australians will long remember the name of Lady Kintore in memory of her many charitable acts. It was she who, after close attention to the problem of providing poor, but industrious women, with cheap lodgings, formulated the scheme which eventually resulted in the establishment of the Lady Kintore Cottage Homes. The committee succeeded in 1892 in raising £700, with which they purchased seven cottages in Hackney, and for the last 10 years these dwellings have provided lodgings for poor women at a few shillings rental per week. It was found, however, that Hackney was not a suitable locality for the homes on account of the distance from the city, where most of the widows obtained their work. By disposing of the property the committee was then able to purchase a piece of ground in the city, situated at the corner of Gilbert Street west and O'Brien Street, and here they are now erecting three cottages.

What struck me about that quote was that in 1902, a good 70 years after the establishment of the colony, Hackney was regarded as being too far out of the city for working women. I would be intrigued to do some more research and find out whether there was significant urbanisation in the St Peters area, or whether it was the safety and security of the women crossing the Parklands. Certainly the Parklands and other public spaces were areas where often citizens did not feel comfortable.

I found another quaint comment from Mr Bullock, who apparently was one of the foundation members of the committee. He talked about the work he did with Lady Kintore, but he reflects what I call a paternalistic attitude in the provision of charity because, at the laying of the foundation stone in 1902, he emphasised to potential donors how vigilant he and other committee members were in testing the bona fides, the worthiness, of the indigent women.

The asset which this act is dealing with is the tree that has grown from the acorn of £700 in 1892. The amendments contained in the bill will therefore enable that £700, that trust property and the assets, the resources that have accrued since, to be used for the purpose of administering relief and providing affordable housing and other assistance to sick or disadvantaged people in the state. No longer are we focused on indigent widows, deserted wives and their families. Because it is dealing with a private bill and private resources, it needed to go to a select committee in the other place, and I thank them on behalf of the council for taking on that task because, if they did not do it, we would have to do it.

The select committee recommended unanimously that the Lady Kintore Cottages (Trust Property) Amendment Bill be passed by the House of Assembly without amendment as soon as possible and that it be sent to the Legislative Council for its consideration. As I said, the act's focus on indigent women is to be broadened to generally people who need assistance in relation to their sickness or their disadvantage.

The proposed amendments reflect the wider purpose of the society and the modern developments in community attitudes. The provision of safe and affordable housing for vulnerable members of our community is of course, just as it was in 1892, a very important part of being a civilised society. It plays a very important part in ensuring that each member of our community has the opportunity to pursue their life objectives with equity and fairness. The Liberal Party supports the bill.

The Hon. A.L. McLACHLAN (16:11): I rise to speak to the Lady Kintore Cottages (Trust Property) Amendment Bill 2013. The bill seeks to amend the Lady Kintore Cottages Act 1920 and bring the administrative objectives of the legislation into line with the current objectives of the Adelaide Benevolent and Strangers' Friend Society Incorporated, which holds six properties on trust under the act.

This is a hybrid or semi-public bill, and I note that it has gone to a select committee in the other place, which has reported. The select committee held its meeting on 17 June 2014 and tabled its report on 3 July 2014. Significantly, an advertisement was placed in the Adelaide Advertiser on 23 June 2014 seeking submissions; however, no submissions or other communications were received from interested persons.

As no submissions were received, and noting that consultation had already been undertaken with interested parties prior to the legislation being presented to parliament, the committee found that the bill was uncontroversial and appropriate to provide the Adelaide Benevolent and Strangers' Friend Society with the flexibility and authority to better utilise the assets derived from the Lady Kintore Cottages.

The select committee recommended that the Lady Kintore Cottages (Trust Property) Amendment Bill be passed by the House of Assembly without amendment as soon as possible and that it be sent to this council for its consideration. The committee has expressed a hope that the bill will have a speedy passage through this council.

When considering this bill, it is important to return to the parliamentary debate in 1920, concerning the passage of the Lady Kintore Cottages Act 1920. The principal legislation was enacted to enable the transfer of certain real property and moneys held by the Lady Kintore Cottages Trust to the Adelaide Benevolent and Strangers' Friend Society. At the time, the Attorney-General, speaking in the other place, set out the need for the 1920 act.

The property was held in trust and under the management of a committee that had the power to determine what indigent widows and deserted wives were, for the time being, to have the use of the cottages. The committee was elected annually in general meeting by the original subscribers and future subscribers. However, at the time of the passing of the 1920 act, all subscriptions had ceased. This meant that there were no members capable of electing a committee of management. Under the deed, the trustees had no power to rent the cottages without the consent of the committee, and therefore they were powerless to deal with the land in any other way.

The view was formed that it would be difficult to awaken public interest in the institution or obtain subscriptions and therefore the property should be transferred to another association having similar objects. It was decided that the Adelaide Benevolent and Strangers' Friend Society was a suitable institution to take over the cottages, as it had similar objects. Interestingly, the Attorney-General of the day referred in his second reading speech to a letter from Lady Kintore herself, indicating that she would certainly vote for the amalgamation of the cottages with a similar association.

The aim of the original 1920 act was to transfer all trust funds and real property to the society and that these funds were to be held by the society upon the same charitable purpose as the terms of the original trust and for no other purpose. However, the original properties held at the commencement of the act were sold in 1990 to the South Australian Housing Trust, and the society has since purchased and developed other properties, 130 in total. At present only six properties are held on trust under the act.

The bill before us today amends the 1920 act to provide for greater flexibility for the Adelaide Benevolent and Strangers' Friend Society when administering the assets derived from the sale of the Lady Kintore Cottages. The government submits that it is difficult for the society to undertake some of the original administrative requirements set out in the original act and that it is more appropriate that the properties and moneys held on trust under the act be used in accordance with the broader objectives of the society.

The society is a not-for-profit incorporated organisation whose objects and purpose are to receive gifts of cash and kind in order to administer relief to the sick or disadvantaged within South Australia. A further object of the society is to provide affordable housing and other assistance in necessitous and deserving cases to people in South Australia, including new immigrants.

The objects and purpose of the society are broader than those under the Lady Kintore Trust. The bill aims to recognise these wider objects and purposes. I have sympathy for this approach. The proposed amendments are intended to reflect changes both in community attitudes and terminology.

We must be mindful that the bill before us amends the terms of the original trust as envisaged by its original proponent, Lady Kintore. We should never be casual in our approach to break the terms of a trust. We should at all times endeavour to keep faith with those who have settled moneys in the past for the benefit of others in the future. This, in turn, instils confidence in benefactors today to settle trusts that will live into the future.

However, time marches on and the needs of our society are inevitably subject to change. I think we can draw some comfort from Lady Kintore's letter penned in 1920 when she wrote of being amenable to an amalgamation. In other words, she was accepting that the operation of the trust needed to change in order to remain relevant.

Further, I gained some experience in the administration of trusts of a similar nature prior to entering this chamber and, therefore, it is no surprise to me that the extant terms of the trust give rise to some administrative and practical difficulties in applying the same. I note that the trust property is such a small holding and I also draw comfort that no submissions were received resisting the approach as set out in the bill. I therefore indicate my support for the passing of the bill.

I also wish to pay tribute to Lady Kintore and her vision. My research has indicated that she was particularly concerned with keeping families together in tough and trying times. This is a worthy and noble aspiration. Although of high birth, she was a Scot and her actions demonstrate that she was inculcated with the spirit of the enlightenment which took hold in Scotland and has never left it.

Today all of us should pause to reflect that our society, whilst it has undergone much change from the days when the trust was established, unfortunately still has many disadvantaged people in need of affordable accommodation. Perhaps it could be said that we have not, in fact, journeyed that far and that we should be redoubling our efforts to fight disadvantage in this nation state. I commend the bill to the council.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (16:18): I thank honourable members for their second reading contributions and look forward to this being dealt with expeditiously through the committee stage.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

Bill taken through committee without amendment.

Third Reading

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Member of the Executive Council, Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (16:19): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.

At 16:20 the council adjourned until Tuesday 5 August 2014 at 14:15.