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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-05-05 Daily Xml
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Homelessness Alliances

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:19): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: My ministerial statement is in relation to the South Australian homelessness alliances. South Australia's homelessness system is broken. That is what people with lived experience, who have struggled to get the help they need, have told us over and over. That is why I am delighted to report to the council today the outcome of the future directions for homelessness competitive tender, which will be delivering the most significant reform of South Australia's homelessness and domestic and family violence system in more than a decade.

Better services are on the way for South Australia's most vulnerable. On Friday 30 April, I announced the successful five alliances selected to deliver new high-quality services from 1 July. The alliance approach is based on innovative best practice models from international leaders in addressing homelessness and this government is proud to be introducing this approach in an Australian first.

The new alliances, Adelaide South, Adelaide North, Country South, Country North and Domestic and Family Violence, will deliver better services that intervene early to prevent people falling into homelessness and support people into safe, stable and long-term housing so they do not cycle in and out of homelessness.

Our existing homelessness system is comprised of individual program-based contracts in a system that is confusing for clients to navigate. As part of our consultation, people with lived experience of homelessness told us that the system was broken. One participant told us and I quote, 'It feels like the system is designed to make you crack. It is a full-time job accessing services and support.' Others told us that they currently 'felt trapped in a cycle of short-term accommodation, [and] homelessness'.

Responding to this feedback, the new system of five alliances will ensure providers work together at a system and geographical level to deliver integrated services. It will be easier for people to access the services they need and prevent them from having to retell their story to multiple providers or from being turned away completely, resulting in better outcomes for vulnerable South Australians.

Through the consultation, we were told we need a system that 'really listens and is able to shape services around individual needs and goals, rather than providing a narrow service response'. Our reforms will deliver just that. Contracts will be more flexible to allow alliances to tailor services to meet individual client needs, including supporting them to remain connected to their communities in safe and appropriate accommodation.

Alliances are also able to make changes to their service model over time to respond to client feedback rather than having a fixed and limited service offering prescribed in their contract. Most importantly, the reforms will deliver a system that is focused on long-term outcomes rather than short-term outputs. The alliances will shift the focus to outcomes, breaking the cycle of homelessness for good. While reform can be challenging, we unashamedly want the best services for vulnerable South Australians.

Let me be clear, there will be no reduction in funding to homelessness services. In fact, the funding for homelessness and domestic and family violence services has increased from $65.5 million in 2017-18, under the last term of the former Labor government, to $72.4 million in 2021-22.

However, we need to spend this funding more effectively. We spend almost $200,000 a day and yet people are still cycling in and out of the system. We can do better for our vulnerable South Australians and for taxpayers and we will. Our reforms will shift the focus toward more prevention and early intervention services, making the system more efficient and effective.

We are working with all providers to ensure a smooth transition and, most importantly, that clients receive high-quality support throughout the transition and beyond. At-risk South Australians, including women experiencing domestic violence, will continue to receive support and access to emergency and crisis accommodation.

As a government, we could have kept the status quo, continuing to spend $200,000 a day on homelessness services, being complicit, as previous Labor governments were, and not truly addressing homelessness in this state. Instead, we have chosen to undertake transformational reform that will ensure greater long-term outcomes for vulnerable South Australians.

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