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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-09-08 Daily Xml
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Human Services Department

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (16:47): How can the minister and the government implement long-term stable plans for the department when almost every executive position in DHS is in an acting role?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (16:47): The honourable member makes a number of assumptions. I am very proud of the team within the Department of Human Services and the extraordinary work that they do. During the height of COVID-related restrictions, the Department of Human Services was a very important partner in terms of assisting, particularly through our non-government sector partners, and one of the things that they managed to put together in a very short space of time was a framework of support to ensure that all South Australians were able to eat, quite frankly.

People would be familiar with a number of the programs that we fund through Foodbank, and a range of people who are in financial difficulty who need particular support. COVID has presented challenges for a lot of South Australians and for lots of people who weren't necessarily considered vulnerable previously.

For instance, I received a letter from the member for MacKillop, who had a constituent who wasn't able to access any of the home delivery programs that were available through the supermarkets, so we moved very quickly during that time to ensure that there were partners across the state for anybody who was needing to self-isolate and did not have family members to assist them. That is just one example of the amazing work that the department does.

We have also been undertaking significant reforms in the child and family services area, another important—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: —policy area that we are involved—

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. I.K. Hunter interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. Mr Hunter, I would like to listen to the minister, and I cannot hear her at the moment. If you wish to ask a supplementary then I will consider that, but until that time, be silent. The minister.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Another very important role that we continue work in is in the family and domestic violence space. So these are just some of the examples of the fantastic work of the Department of Human Services. We continue to be quite reformist in terms of ensuring that the services are being provided to those who most need them.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Wortley, this will be a final supplementary.

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