QUESTION: REMOTE ABORIGINAL HOUSING - AUDITS

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:22): Supplementary arising from the answer: is the minister aware of any audits that have already been undertaken in relation to what the needs are in South Australia for remote Aboriginal housing?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:22): There have certainly been examinations of what assets are there and what needs to be done. Certainly, the report that I referred to is an assessment, Australia-wide, of the previous program and its success and otherwise. From my memory of reading that report, South Australia had been relatively successful in producing new builds and had relatively good value for money. What that report also stated was that a change in program priorities throughout the administration of the program had led to problems. So there is that report, which I understand is publicly available.

In terms of the Housing Authority itself, when I met with officials this week they were certainly trying to ensure that we at least have an asset register. I think it's fair to say—and I have said this in relation to housing, the community and public housing sector generally in South Australia—that we did inherit a complete mess in terms of housing. We didn't have audits of our other stock, of the South Australian Housing Trust stock. There had been no condition asset report done since 2003. That is something that the Auditor-General has picked up on in the past, and it is something that we have been working towards.

My understanding is that the Housing Authority has been working towards ensuring that we know what assets we have and what condition they are in because that gives us some baseline information. Clearly, the community consultation will be vitally important going forward.