Parliamentary question without notice | Access 2 Place Scheme
18/11/2014
The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking questions of the minister representing the Minister for Social Housing regarding the Access 2 Place scheme.
The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: It has come to my attention via a number of constituents and disability service providers that there may be some challenges and problems with the tendering process as it relates to the Access 2 Place social housing program now administered by the state government.
While Dignity for Disability is aware that this scheme seeks to provide accessible and appropriate housing for South Australians with disabilities, it is important that the scheme does so in a way that recognises the individual needs and rights of each person with a disability. It is also essential that the tendering process is conducted in a fair, transparent and accountable manner. My questions to the minister are:
1.Is the minister aware that some disability service providers were given only three working days to prepare complex tendering documents for the most recent Access 2 Place funding round?
2.Is the minister aware that large, interstate-based disability providers are moving into the South Australian Access 2 Place service market, tendering at a price that undercuts local DSPs by up to 40 per cent?
3.Is the minister aware that, despite her government’s policy of encouraging individualised, self-managed funding, some disability clients are being told that their accommodation will be block funded through a disability service provider, so they cannot make a personal choice about their preferred provider?
4.Is the minister concerned that the current method her department is using for tendering will create less choice and less individual planning and decrease independence in housing for people with disabilities?
5.Is the minister concerned that local, specialised disability service providers that deliver cost-effective, personalised services which empower people with disabilities may be squeezed out of the market?
The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) ( 15:13 :44 ): I thank the honourable member for her most important questions to the Minister for Social Housing in the other place about the tendering process related to the Access 2 Place social housing program. I undertake to take those questions to the minister and seek a response on her behalf.
