The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (14:49): The minister mentioned the appointment of Mr Ian Cox as a specialist homelessness director. Can the minister advise the chamber of the credentials of Mr Ian Cox and why he won the appointment?
The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:49): I thank the honourable member for his supplementary. I think he has quite a keen interest in the appointment of Mr Ian Cox, having asked me supplementaries about his appointment previously, and I trust—
The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Well, I provided you with an answer on Tuesday in response to a question on notice. There were eight applications for that position; three were shortlisted, and he was the successful applicant. Mr Cox of course would be known through his role at Hutt Street, where I understand he has worked for 16 years, and he has worked in the homelessness sector for some 25 years. He is very well known. He went through the process of the application—that's not something that I was part of, so I can't speak to his specific qualifications, but I think he is well recognised in the sector as somebody who has a great deal of experience.
In terms of the Hutt St Centre, he established the Aspire Adelaide program, which is South Australia's first social impact bond. That is monitored by Treasury and Finance. It has had some very effective outcomes in terms of assisting people who would otherwise be sleeping rough into employment. The data that they also collect through that program relates to, I think, hospital avoidance and some health measures that are tracked.
Mr Cox was also instrumental in Adelaide becoming one of the vanguard cities with the Institute of Global Homelessness. He's been quite innovative in terms of pushing Adelaide to be part of some new ways of looking at homelessness, and we certainly look forward to benefiting from his wisdom when he starts next week.
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