The Hon. SANDRA KANCK: 

The issue of Aboriginal housing has recently been in the spotlight because of the hardline stance of the Adelaide City Council. A fortnight ago the council threatened to evict homeless people-a significant number of whom are Aboriginal-from the parklands. This approach, just days before the beginning of Reconciliation Week, is a turn-around from a recently existing more enlightened one. A few years ago, along with other MPs, I took up the offer of a guided tour of the Adelaide parklands. For me the most impressive part of that whole tour was being shown what a then forward-thinking council was doing in the west parklands.

Recognising the reality of the existence of homeless people, the council had deliberately planted groves of casuarinas so that the needles that gradually fell to the ground from the trees formed a soft under-bed, which would provide a place of retreat, and especially somewhere to sleep, for homeless people. I remember being just a little bit proud that South Australia's principal metropolitan council was acting in such a humane way-how things change! A few months ago, in the company of Aboriginal woman Amelia Campbell and the Reverend Bruce Stocks of the Anglican parish of West Adelaide, I visited the Uniting Church's Byron Place Community Centre, the Baptist Church's Westcare and homeless people in the west parklands in order to get a clearer picture of the problem.

I note that, while I visited only these two centres, all of the mainstream churches in our city centre are involved in helping these people, and I have profound admiration for those who work so tirelessly to give back some sense of humanity to these homeless people. The reasons that people become homeless are complex and the stories I heard were almost overwhelming. Amongst homeless Aboriginal women there is a cycle of child abuse leading to drug and alcohol addiction, leading to prostitution to fund the habit, leading to rapes and domestic violence and, unfortunately, teenage pregnancies, and the cycle continues.

Early death is common amongst these people and accepted like a background pattern on wallpaper. In the course of speaking with Amelia, she referred to the deaths of many of her friends and relatives, including the recent death of her 28 year old niece and a nephew who had hung himself in prison just before Christmas. At Byron Place she showed me cupboard doors covered with photos of people who used the centre. She pointed out one person after another, all of whom had died in recent times.

517 Amelia's courage in continuing to obtain help for her people is extraordinary. When the Deputy Lord Mayor recently attempted to remove homeless people from the parklands, he found that the promised housing was not forthcoming. This was no surprise given that my office has regular correspondence with the minister and his department in an attempt, often unsuccessful, to find adequate housing for Aboriginal people.

One such case was that of an Aboriginal woman from the bush, a softly spoken, gentle woman from Ernabella for whom English was her second language. I met her at West Care, having taken up her case last year with the Aboriginal Housing Authority. Because she suffered from a variety of problems (including hepatitis B) she had been advised to stay in Adelaide so that she could access medical treatment, but she had been kicked out of a hostel when other people became aware of her health status.

Obviously, sleeping rough did nothing to assist her condition, but my letter to the Aboriginal Housing Authority bore no fruit. The Aboriginal Housing Authority said that it could not justify priority treatment ahead of others `many of whom have waited long for assistance and are experiencing similar difficulties.' We should be horrified that this is the case. Of great concern to me in its refusal to assist was the observation that appropriate ongoing committed support needed to be arranged for the family before the authority would be willing to reassess its decision. If the Department of Human Services could not arrange this, who else could?

This woman ultimately found hostel accommodation with one of the inner-city church agencies, but she died in hospital of a massive infection last month-another Aboriginal death which should not have occurred. What will now happen to her teenage grand-daughter whom she had in her care on the day I met her is anyone's guess. Will the cycle be broken? Sadly, probably not, but the current out-of-sight, out-of-mind attitude of the Adelaide City Council will in no way assist in alleviating the long-term problems for homeless Aboriginal people.

Further information Sandra Kanck 08 8237 9278

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