The agency's performance

The Premier’s Women’s Directory was re-launched on International Women’s Day on 8 March 2023. The Directory links to the existing Boarding Call register and provides an additional avenue for South Australian women to participate on State Government boards and committees.

The reinvigorated premier’s Women’s Directory supports the Government’s commitment to achieving 50 per cent representation of women on each State Government board and committee.

A statewide, multi-stakeholder Gender Pay Gap Taskforce was established with its inaugural meeting held on 26 October 2022, and attended by the Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence. The Taskforce will consider the factors that contribute to the gender pay gap and provide informed, evidence-based recommendations on the systemic and related approaches the public and private sectors can undertake to reduce and ultimately eliminate the gender pay gap.

On 21 February 2023, the Taskforce held a planning day to determine the key areas of focus in line with the South Australian evidence base. The Taskforce will continue to meet quarterly and will provide preliminary recommendations to the Government in October 2023.

It is anticipated that Taskforce recommendations will result in an action plan for the South Australian Government that will drive a reduced pay gap across sectors.

The Government has committed to the development of an Equality Bill to encourage public and private sector organisations to achieve equality and to adjust procurement and grants processes to influence equity.

The Office for Women commenced preliminary research and consultation with other jurisdictions and other areas of government to inform the scope and focus of this legislation. Work on the Equality Bill is ongoing, with the expectation that public consultation on a draft Bill will be undertaken before the Bill is introduced into Parliament in 2024.

Through the Office for Women, the department is working to raise community awareness of coercive control and has contributed to the development of legislation to criminalise coercive control in collaboration with the Attorney-General’s Department. To inform drafting of the legislation, DHS completed a range of consultation sessions with community groups and organisations to understand the nuances of coercive control and how it can present in various ways for different communities.

It is anticipated that the draft Bill will be released for public consultation before it is introduced into Parliament. DHS will work with the Attorney-General’s Department to undertake consultation on the draft Bill.

Three Minister’s Advisory Councils have been established, which met for the first time at an informal joint meeting on 13 December 2022, and formally as individual Councils in March and June 2023. These are the:

• Youth Minister’s Advisory Council to provide a direct voice to government on the issues that matter most to young people. This includes the development of South Australia’s Youth Action Plan 2023–2026.
• LGBTIQA+ Minister’s Advisory Council, which will provide its members with a direct voice to government about issues affecting LGBTIQA+ South Australians and will allow the State Government to more easily seek the views of LGBTIQA+ people.
• Disability Minister’s Advisory Council to provide a direct voice to government on issues that matter most to people with disability, their families and carers and will inform the development of the new State Disability Inclusion Plan.

The State Government has committed $60,000 per year over four years to support the three Councils, which will meet quarterly.

The State Autism Strategy and Charter are being co-designed with the autistic and autism communities, with the first phase of consultation involving the release of South Australia’s First Autism Strategy Discussion Paper on YourSAy for a 12-week period, which closed on 20 February 2023. DHS analysed the responses received throughout the consultation period and finalised a Consultation Report which collated all feedback. The Report was reviewed and endorsed by the State Autism Strategy Advisory Committee. The Consultation Report (including Easy Read version) was formally launched on 4 July 2023.

The State Autism Strategy Advisory Committee is chaired by the Assistant Minister for Autism and currently consists of 13 autistic people and parents/carers of autistic people. The Committee is responsible for supporting the department in the development of the State Autism Strategy and the Autism Inclusion Charter, and providing advice on other autism-related matters to the Government more broadly, by drawing on their lived experience.

The Autism Inclusion Charter, led by the Office for Autism in partnership with DHS, will build knowledge and understanding of autism, support improvements to the way government services interact with the autistic and autism communities and improve workplace inclusion. The Charter will be developed alongside the State Autism Strategy, with both DHS and the Department for Education piloting the Charter before statewide implementation commencing in 2024.

Through the Office for Women, the department created a media campaign to strengthen community awareness of coercive control, reinforce the services available to victims of family and domestic violence, and to change attitudes and behaviour around men’s violence against women, focusing on education and awareness of non-physical forms of violence.

The See the Signs media campaign initially targeted young people aged 15 to 24 in recognition of the importance of early intervention and changing attitudes before problematic behaviours become entrenched. The campaign was subsequently extended to be delivered during the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The new campaign is broadly aimed at respect for women with reference to coercive controlling behaviours, and will be complemented by an in-club education campaign to be delivered in a number of local football clubs in collaboration with Football SA.

The campaign has also been strengthened by campaigns delivered by the Legal Services Commission under the DHS’ See the Signs messaging.

The department has continued to lead the implementation of strategies of the Safety and Wellbeing Taskforce to support the cultural safety and wellbeing of remote Aboriginal visitors and reduce anti-social behaviour in Adelaide and regional South Australia. This includes:

• Continued development of the Remote Visitor Outreach Response for vulnerable remote Aboriginal people in the Adelaide CBD, parklands and tenancies, including establishment of strong referral pathways with a range of health, housing/homelessness and alcohol and other drugs service providers.
• Redesigning and significantly expanding a statewide assertive Return to Country program.
• Supporting the multi-agency City of Adelaide Summer Response for remote visitors sleeping rough in the parklands.
• Presenting to the new City of Adelaide Council and receiving unanimous support for all Taskforce strategies.
• Establishing the Port Augusta Community Outreach Response to address anti-social behaviour, including supporting local outreach teams and developing an intensive youth strategy for young people engaging in anti-social behaviour.
• Facilitating community consultation in Port Augusta throughout May and June to develop a four year safety and wellbeing plan for the community.
• Meeting with stakeholders in Coober Pedy on behalf of the Taskforce to understand issues associated with alcohol management and remote visitors.

Between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023, 1,553 people have been safely returned to community from Adelaide and Port Augusta, with 475 of these being minors.

Officially launched by the Minister for Human Services on 22 February 2023, the concessions review will examine more than 20 concessions delivered by the State Government to assist people with their household bills, education, health, and transport costs. The review is exploring concessions delivery, barriers to access, inconsistencies in eligibility and effectiveness of concessions targeting, plus comparing South Australian Government concessions to those on offer around the country.

A cross-government Steering Committee led by the major concessions’ administrators, and a Project Reference Group of non-government organisations that represent low-income groups, have been established and are reviewing issues and potential solutions identified during the mapping of the in-scope concessions. The concessions review will deliver a public report in the summer of 2023–24, which will outline improvement options for State Government concessions.

The department administers a range of concessions and financial assistance for eligible South Australians on low and fixed incomes, including the Cost of Living Concession. To address the rising cost of living, DHS implemented the Government’s election commitment of a once-off doubling of the 2022–23 Cost of Living Concession for all new and existing eligible households, and commenced paying tenant and homeowner customers at the same time.

Cost of Living Concession payments were made to over 212,000 households over the year starting in August 2022.

The recommissioning of the Community and Neighbourhood Development Program was boosted by an additional $2.4 million in funding per annum for community centres, building on the previous funding pool of $3.6 million per annum and bringing the total annual commitment to $6 million.

More than 60 community centres, including 23 newly funded centres, have been engaged across South Australia to combat social isolation, promote a stronger sense of belonging among disadvantaged individuals, and foster inclusive, equitable, and resilient local communities.

The new program incorporates comprehensive research and service development improvements to ensure that community centre funding and services in South Australia are evidence-based, are better aligned with the unique needs of each community, and are more transparent and equitable across the sector.

The department has continued to lead the implementation of the Child and Family Support System (CFSS) to support families with multiple and complex needs to safely care for their children at home and in the community. This includes:

• Implementing several out-of-home care prevention and intergenerational impact programs. All pilot programs that were due to finish in 2022–23 have moved from pilot phase to program status.
• Finalising the recommissioning of the Strong Families, Strong Communities program, designed to better support families with low to medium-level risk factors before their challenges escalate. The recommissioning of this program provides an earlier intervention response within CFSS.
• Progressing the development of a self-learning system to collect data on referral demand and decisions, families’ presenting needs and service placements, and service impact on risk and protective factors associated with children’s safety. This work will enable capability to increase understanding and identification of the most at-risk families, the further targeting of service provision, and understanding what works for which families.

During the past year, the department has worked with the Principal Community Visitor and the Attorney-General’s Department on proposed options to expand the Community Visitor Scheme (CVS) in line with the State Government’s election commitment.

DHS has completed a jurisdictional scan to inform potential future models and continues to engage with the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission regarding a preferred approach. In expanding the CVS, the department will consider the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Violence, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability and the outcomes of the NDIS Review.

The Royal Commission has recommended exploration of a national CVS and may make further recommendations in their final report. The NDIS Review will also provide an understanding of whether there will be development of a national CVS, and the interaction this will have with state-based schemes and the subsequent impact on visits in South Australia.

Regional safety hubs provide a safe place where women can speak confidentially to trained workers or volunteers who provide information, support and referrals to appropriate services. Safety hubs have been established in ten towns across nine South Australian government regions.

In the past year we have continued to embed these hubs in their local communities through the addition of a paid Community Partner position attached to each hub, providing more support for the volunteers and building better partnerships with other services and groups that directly assist women experiencing violence. Safety hubs offer a free service that is open to anyone.

The department commenced an evaluation of initiatives funded under the National Partnership on Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Responses 2021–2027 to build an evidence base for future, informed decision-making on family, domestic and sexual violence responses. Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) has been commissioned to build the South Australian evidence base and align data collection to the National Plan Outcomes Framework. This will occur through formally evaluating current partnership programs that are funded to expand the capacity of the family, domestic and sexual violence sector to deliver integrated early intervention, recovery, and perpetrator responses.

This evaluation will be important in generating an evidence base for the Commonwealth and State Governments to consider next steps. It will also capture learnings through engaging user-friendly and ethical forms of feedback from staff and clients as well as traditional quantitative data measures.

The Aboriginal Practice and Services Team was established within the Communities and Justice directorate by bringing together Aboriginal identified roles with a dedicated focus on Aboriginal children, young people, and their families. The team’s key functions include:

• developing culturally responsive policies and services
• establishing strong partnerships with Aboriginal people, communities, and organisations
• identifying, designing, and delivering innovative solutions that improve outcomes for Aboriginal families and communities.

Since being established, the team has:

• provided direct cultural support to Aboriginal children and young people at Kurlana Tapa
• delivered programs aimed at diverting Aboriginal children and young people from custodial environments
• provided cultural advice to community-based and custodial youth justice staff.

The team has also commenced development of an Aboriginal Cultural Framework, in consultation with DHS staff, Aboriginal people and other relevant stakeholders. The Framework will have a dedicated focus on bi-cultural practices, intertwining cultural and clinical approaches to preference positive cultural identity and recognise the strengths of culture when working with Aboriginal children and young people, their families and community.

The Child Diversion Program has been expanded to accept referrals to work with Aboriginal children and young people aged 10 to 13 years from across South Australia. The program can now also be activated on any day of the week.

The service model uses Aboriginal methodologies and culturally centred approaches to engagement. These include Aboriginal Family-Led Decision Making, Relationship-Based Practice, and Kinship and Family Mapping, which are complemented by culturally responsive programs and services provided by the department’s Communities and Justice directorate.

The Transition to Home (T2H) program supports NDIS participants to move into transitional accommodation when they no longer need acute care, but are waiting for home modifications or access to longer term accommodation and appropriate supports. In April 2022, DHS commissioned an independent review of T2H, which made recommendations to improve service delivery to ensure that care and supports are delivered to NDIS standards. The external review was released in August 2022, which identified 27 actions for DHS to take relating to governance, quality management and clinical operations.

In response to the review, a Project Director was appointed to lead the department’s response to the 27 recommendations of which 15 have been completed, three are near completion and nine have been progressed past initial stages of implementation. DHS is committed to implementing the reforms to ensure T2H can continue to provide quality services and support the timely discharge of patients with disability from hospital.

During the year, the department continued to work with the Department for Health and Wellbeing (DHW) and the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) to support timely discharge of people with disability from hospital into appropriate accommodation. DHS and DHW delivered a 12-month Coordination and Assessment Team (CAT) pilot from December 2021 to December 2022, which worked with NDIS participants in hospital to provide Specialist Support Coordination, complete assessments required for NDIS plans and transitional accommodation, write support letters and recommendations to the NDIA, and provide housing assistance.

In April 2023, DHS commenced a one-year direct referral joint pilot program in collaboration with the NDIA to continue CAT, now the South Australian Coordination Assessment Team (SA CAT). The new pilot will deliver Specialist Support Coordination to NDIS participants awaiting hospital discharge, with 38 referrals received by SA CAT as at 30 June 2023.

As at 30 June 2023, 68 NDIS participants were experiencing discharge delays, compared to 125 at the same time in 2022.

Released in November 2022, the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework ensures that the implementation and impact of the six key projects under the Minimising Gambling Harm in South Australia Investment Plan 2021–2026 can be measured. Developed by the University of Adelaide, the Framework identifies data sources and collection methods needed to answer key evaluation questions regarding outcomes achieved under the Investment Plan.

The University of Adelaide delivered a Monitoring and Evaluation Report on 30 March 2023, which demonstrates the value of the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and describes progress during 2021–22, the first year of the Investment Plan.

The department administers a wide range of grants programs as well as individual grants. The largest program is Grants SA, which provides funding for not-for-profit community organisations, including Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, to improve community participation, social and emotional wellbeing, and quality of life for people living and working in South Australia.

In the past year, the Grants SA guidelines have been revised to align with the department’s Social Impact Framework, which was developed with the community sector to provide a blueprint for assessing and optimising our investment in the non-government sector. The guidelines were also revised to reflect the Government’s commitments under Closing the Gap, particularly Priority Reform Two: Building the Aboriginal-Community Controlled Sector to deliver services.

The new guidelines were released for the 2022–23 Grants SA Governance and Sustainability round in March 2023.

The State Government has committed to the establishment of two family and domestic violence prevention and recovery hubs in northern and southern Adelaide. The hubs will support and empower women and improve community capacity to respond to family and domestic violence through community engagement, awareness raising, and sharing of information. This commitment is supported by $1 million in funding allocated in the 2022–23 State Budget.

During the year, the department consulted with key stakeholders in both regions to better understand service gaps, demand and opportunities, and to consider potential locations for the hubs. DHS also worked to identify potential partners across government, business and not-for-profit sectors to contribute to the establishment of the northern and southern hubs.

Both hubs will draw on existing expertise and connections to embed the hubs in their respective regions. The southern hub is expected to be operational by the end of 2023. Negotiations to finalise a site and model for the northern hub are still in progress.

The new Financial Wellbeing Program, valued at $4.8 million in 2023–24, offers a range of services including financial counselling, debt management and renegotiation, support to access no-interest loans, and emergency financial assistance. The program consolidates and replaces four previous financial wellbeing and resilience programs and was designed in partnership between DHS, Flinders University’s Centre for Social Impact and South Australia’s community services sector.

A Financial Wellbeing Program provider has been appointed in each of the 12 State Government regions.

The statewide implementation of the Family Safety Portal to transfer the functions of the Family Safety Framework to an online environment has been finalised. Launched on 14 June 2022, the Portal enables all agencies (government and non-government) to undertake risk assessments and submit referral for high-risk victims of family, domestic and sexual violence.

The Family Safety Framework has now been fully digitised with the Family Safety Portal supporting the coordinated risk assessment, referral and case management processes of the Family Safety Framework. All Family Safety Meetings and functions are now online.

The full operationalisation of the Family Safety Portal has enabled the State Government to meet its commitment to improve data mechanisms to share data to help prevent family and domestic violence.

During 2022–23, the Government allocated $1 million for a grant program for Men’s and Women’s Sheds to provide safe spaces to promote mental health and wellbeing in the community, and for men and women to build social connections and learn new skills.

This funding was distributed in line with the Government’s election commitment to invest in Men’s and Women’s Sheds across South Australia. $129,000 in unspent funds from this commitment was subsequently allocated to Men’s and Women’s Sheds through a special 2022–23 Grants SA Community Sheds round which, together with funding from the Charitable and Social Welfare Fund, brought the total amount disbursed on grants to $1.47 million.

The 2022-23 Grants SA Community Sheds round provided funding to 42 successful applicants for initiatives such as creating community gardens, purchasing tools and equipment, activities to help expand sheds or build new sheds, and resources to introduce new activities that will attract a diverse membership.

The Enhanced Support Team (EST) has been funded as an ongoing service delivery team to support the care of children and young people exhibiting significant behaviours at Kurlana Tapa.

EST is small team of allied health professionals including social workers and a psychologist. The team supports improved responses for children and young people with complex needs through direct interventions, behaviour support planning and clinical advice to operational staff.

The $21.75 million upgrade to permanently consolidate youth custodial services to one campus is well underway at Kurlana Tapa. Phase 1 of the construction works has been completed, which largely focused on the installation of high security fencing to establish a secure zone to allow construction to take place in a fully operational custodial facility.

Phase 2 works are well underway with the construction of the new buildings expected to be finalised in late 2023. This includes the construction of a new 12-bed accommodation unit that will be established as an Enhanced Support Unit to provide intensive individualised care to children and young people with more complex and/or disability related needs.

The project has been impacted by delays due to issues with steel supply, limited specialist market options and labour shortages across multiple trades.

DHS Disability Services has continued to reform services, systems and processes to operate as a registered NDIS provider. This includes:

• Aligning audit modules to the NDIS Quality Indicators and updating all policies and procedures to align with the NDIS Operational Guidelines.
• Progressing stage one of the NDIS registration process, which includes updating policies and procedures. Preliminary planning has commenced for stage two, which will involve site visits by auditors.
• Successfully implementing a new rostering system in September 2022. A new client management system is currently in the testing and training phase as the department prepares for implementation.

An important part of the reform process to operate as a registered NDIS provider is the transition of DHS Disability Services clients from in-kind to full cash NDIS plans. Most clients already had a cash component in their NDIS plan for service types such as community participation, transport, and community nursing. As at 30 June 2023, DHS had reviewed all 404 NDIS plans requiring review.

DHS Disability Services also successfully implemented the new Client Fees Schedule for the majority of clients in September 2022. It is working with a small number of clients and families to accommodate a longer transition to the new client fees arrangements.

Three Aboriginal trainees were recruited with two completing the full traineeship program during the 2022–23 financial year.

Under the DHS Aboriginal Workforce Strategy 2021–2023, two ASO6 Aboriginal employees, supported and funded by the department, commenced an across government Aboriginal Leadership Program through the Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment. Three employees also completed the Taoundi Aboriginal College Indigenous Mentoring course.

The department has partnered with CareerTrackers to provide an internship program for Aboriginal university students. In the past year, one Aboriginal intern was supported with a placement within DHS. In addition to the placement, the department funded a scholarship for the intern through the Dr Tracy Westerman Indigenous Psychology scholarship program.

Six ASO2 employees were recruited through the department’s Graduate Program. Two employees secured higher classification roles within the department prior to the completion of the program.

DHS Disability Services has continued to increase and maintain Disability Support Officers with eight intakes per year. During 2022–23, 188 new ongoing disability support workers were recruited.

The DHS Stanton Institute trained 44 new Disability Services Officers in the Certificate III in Individual Support to commence work in Disability Services.

The department maintains a responsive safety management system to reduce the likelihood of serious harm or injury to its workforce. Wellbeing and safety risks are regularly identified, assessed, controlled and reviewed, to improve how we manage risks.

During 2022–23, 160 new workplace injury claims were received, which represents a 7% reduction from the 172 claims received in 2021–22.

All incidents are triaged within one business day, with a view to identifying the wellbeing and safety intervention and/or further investigation/action that may be required to mitigate risks.

The DHS Safety Management System (SMS) provides a series of frameworks, procedures, tools and guidance material that assists divisions to minimise the risk of injury or illness from workplace operations. This includes the:

• DHS Wellbeing and Safety Policy
• Wellbeing and Safety Management Plan 2023–2026
• Safety Management System Implementation Guide.

The SMS Audit Plan for the period July 2021 to December 2023 provides the basis for a structured, planned and risk-based approach to independent assurance and compliance assessment activities.

Divisions are required to develop and maintain a Wellbeing and Safety Risk Profile Register to record operational wellbeing and safety risks. The registers provide divisions with a mechanism for ongoing monitoring and review of the suitability of implemented controls.

• All DHS staff and their immediate family members have access to free, confidential counselling and advice via the DHS Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Delivered by the Corporate Health Group, this program provides support to employees with personal and/or work-related concerns that may impact their job performance, health, mental and emotional wellbeing.
• An EAP counsellor is on site at Kurlana Tapa one day per month and attends the new employee induction program to raise awareness of the psychosocial risks and strategies to mitigate those risks. These include early contact with the EAP, an understanding of what the program could offer, personal resilience strategies, and early self-management following a critical incident. EAP sessions are held for staff following a critical incident with staff required to opt out, rather than opt in.
• DHS is proactive about staff wellbeing given that they can deal with very distressing content in the workplace. As such, the department facilitated workshops, hosted by the EAP, on Dealing with Clients in Distress and Vicarious Trauma for staff in Concessions and Support Services, the Screening Unit, and the Restrictive Practices Unit.
• The DHS Influenza Vaccination Program is supported and funded as part of the department’s health and wellbeing initiative. The voluntary program contributes to infection control strategies and the prevention of seasonal pandemic influenza.
• Fitness Passport is a discounted workplace health and fitness program available to employees and their families. The program provides access to a wide range of gyms, pools and fitness centres across Australia.
• A Psychological First Aid and Self Care Forum was held to support the wellbeing and safety of staff in the Safer Family Services directorate.

The Introduction to Psychological Wellbeing and Safety in the Workplace online learning module was introduced to assist managers identify features in work design or management that may increase risks of work-related stress and psychological or physical harm.

Under the Work Health and Safety Act 2012, DHS executives and senior leaders (Officers under the Act) are required to exercise due diligence to ensure that the department complies with its work health and safety duties or obligations. Mandated ‘Officer’ training was delivered to DHS executives and senior leaders to ensure they are aware of their obligations and responsibilities.

A Wellbeing and Safety Award has been included as a category for the 2023 DHS Awards. The category recognises an individual or team who developed and implemented a solution to positively impact the safety and wellbeing of our workforce.

6

22