Addressing the cost of living

Affordable Living SA

Affordable SA is a website and app with practical tips and tools to help your household manage the cost of living.

Affordable Living SA website (includes links to the app)

Created by the Department of Human Services and the Salvation Army SA.

Concessions and Support Services

You may be eligible for concessions and other supports.

Support during Covid-19

Supports provided by the department during Covid-19.

Research Projects

Food security project: Improving individual and household food security outcomes in South Australia

The South Australian Department of Human Services and the Department for Health and Ageing have undertaken a project in collaboration with partners in the charitable food relief and community sectors to co-design an optimal charitable food system to address food insecurity in South Australia and improve client outcomes.

Improving individual and household food security outcomes in South Australia (PDF 993.9 KB)

The project was shaped by extensive engagement with the charitable food relief and community sectors, clients of charitable food relief and academic experts in food security through a number of activities, including:

• a food security literature review (PDF 1.1 MB) undertaken by academics from Curtin University and Flinders University (October 2016)
• two roundtable workshops with key funded partners: Roundtable 1 overview / Roundtable 2 overview
• a survey of food relief providers (DOC 811.5 KB) (September 2017)
• a research project - South Australian Food Relief Recipients’ Perspectives on Services (PDF 1.8 MB) -  undertaken by Flinders University and Curtin University to gain insight into the lived experience of food relief clients (October–December 2017)
• Improving individual and household food security outcomes in South Australia discussion paper (PDF 1.6 MB) for public consultation (October–November 2017).

Charter of Affordability

The Charter of Affordability (PDF 62.8 KB) is a partnership between government and key organisations that many people deal with on a regular basis.

Banks, energy companies, local government as well as state government organisations such as SA Water all impact on the household budget.

Through the Charter, each organisation has agreed to six guiding principles that ensure people in financial hardship are treated with respect and compassion, and can access information to help them make important decisions.