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SA State Election Report Card

Want to know how various policies are measuring up to deliver on the basics?

SACOSS has been promoting our "Cover the Basics" policy platform to all parties contesting the election - the aim being to get broad cross-party support for all the policies and initiatives we are proposing.

This report card is based on the formal responses to SACOSS from the current parliamentary parties, their published policies and track record on issues. It is scored in two parts, based on:

  • their responses to SACOSS' specific policy proposals; and
  • their other policies to cover the basics in the areas of concern highlighted by SACOSS.

In relation to the responses to SACOSS policies, the major parties who have a chance of forming government are scored on all policies specifically put forward by SACOSS. The cross-bench parties however are scored only on the SACOSS policies requiring legislative change that they could be voting on.

All parliamentary parties are additionally scored on their general policies that cover the basics.

For reasons of resourcing and focus, the analysis is limited to those parties currently in parliament, and does not include independents, or other parties contesting the election. SACOSS would of course welcome support for our policy proposals from all those candidates, and we note a number have indicated this support publicly.

The scores are star-ratings out of 5, with 5-stars being the best (clear plan to implement best policy), and zero stars being outright rejection of the proposed policy. Numbers in between reflect degrees of support or commitment, or possibly alternative policies addressing the same issues in some way. 

For a complete guide to the scoring system, and an explanation of the scores for each party and each particular policy response, download our Report Card Spreadsheet.

For a quick summary by party, see below.

You can also read our media release for a quick overview.

Liberal Labor Greens SA-BEST Advance SA

Liberal Party

 

Response to SACOSS

Other Policies

Overall Score

 Rental Affordability

1.1

2

1.55

 Digital Inclusion

3.5

3

3.25

 Concessions

2

3

2.5

 Public Health

1.8

4

2.9

  Water

3.5

3.5

3.5

  Protection and Support

2.4

3

2.7

 

SACOSS commends the Liberal Party on progress made in government in the last year in relation to both digital inclusion and access to safe, secure drinking water in remote communities. The government's direction has been broadly in line with SACOSS recommendations, and we look forward to the completion of both the State Digital Inclusion Strategy and the water security reviews that are underway (although we again emphasise that interim water security measures may also be necessary). It was difficult to assess the Liberal Party policies on rental affordability because they have made no commitment to invest to increase the stock of social housing or to mandate energy standards for rental properties (their response only addresses new-builds). However, in government they have stopped the long-term decline in numbers of public housing properties and have recently invested in a rent-to-build initiative which, if combined with more public housing, has considerable promise to assist low-income renters. We are also pleased to see the review of concessions in response to our State of Concessions Report, but the review appears limited to the Department of Human Services and there is no commitment to the fairness outcomes SACOSS put forward.

There is a significant difference in scoring of the responses to SACOSS on public and preventive health, and the score for their other policies. The latter score is in large part a recognition of a generally good performance in COVID management, plus the establishment of Wellbeing SA to further the public health agenda. The policy response under the broad protection support heading is mixed, but SACOSS is particularly pleased to see a commitment to investigating portable long service leave for workers in our sector (even if there is no commitment to implement such a scheme).

The Liberal Party response to SACOSS can be viewed here.

 

Labor Party

 

Response to SACOSS

Other Policies

Overall Score

 Rental Affordability

1.7

1.8

1.75

 Digital Inclusion

1.5

2

1.75

 Concessions

2.4

3

2.7

 Public Health

2.9

4

3.45

 Water

2.1

3

2.55

 Protection and Support

2.5

2.6

2.55

 

The strongest part of the Labor Party's approach to covering the basics in is the area of public health where SACOSS welcomes their work in preventing the abolition of the Health Performance Council as a key body for monitoring and improving the health system, and their commitment to strengthening its role. We particularly welcome the focus on the social determinants of health implicit in the return to a "health in all policies" framework, and also their funding of a voice for users of the health system. In housing SACOSS welcomes the promised new investment of $180m for social housing, but believes that much more is needed to meet demand and have an impact on the current rental market. We are also disappointed Labor is not supporting mandatory minimum energy efficiency standards for rental housing. Labor was weakest on digital inclusion and water security for remote areas, although we acknowledge that these areas are more difficult to tackle from opposition because what is needed is long-term strategic engagement, not a simple policy change.

SACOSS welcomes Labor's commitment to review our broken state concessions system, and its promise to increase the Cost of Living Concession. Labor's commitment to advancing portable long service leave and some commitment to workforce planning is also very welcome.

The Labor Party response to SACOSS can be found here.

 

The Greens

The Greens committed to supporting all 10 of SACOSS proposals which would require legislative change, including portable long service leave and minimum energy efficiency standards for renters which are part of their policy platform. The Greens have a comprehensive platform in areas relevant to "covering the basics", including energy, health, housing, and water, and were the first party to pick up our call for concessions reform. SACOSS has worked co-operatively with Greens MLCs on a range of issues before the last parliament, including fairer land taxes, social housing, and raising the age of criminality.

We gave the Greens' general policies an average of 3.7 stars for covering the basics.

The Greens response to SACOSS' policy platform can be viewed here.

 

SA-BEST

SA-BEST committed to supporting 7.5 of SACOSS proposals which would require legislative change (6 complete commitments, 3 subject to consultation or further advice). Their commitments included support for a floor price for alcohol (which is part of their platform), an insurance concession scheme and removing Victims of Crime levies on fines for Centrelink recipients. The SA-BEST website contains a range of policies on areas like support for children and young people, health and mental health. SACOSS has worked co-operatively with SA-BEST MLCs on a range of issues before the last parliament including electoral reform and health issues. However, we were disappointed that SA-BEST campaigned to maintain loopholes in land tax laws that the government sought to close. Their election policies on concessions will provide a welcome increase in support for age pensioners, but the policies effectively repeat and amplify the problems of the current concession system by not extending that support to all those on lower incomes.

We gave the SA-BEST's general policies an average of 2.8 stars for covering the basics.

The SA-BEST response to SACOSS' policy platform can be found here.

 

Advance SA

Advance Australia did not provide a response to SACOSS' policy platform, and few of the policies outlined in their website address the legislative changes SACOSS is seeking. However, Advance SA does support free ambulance cover for all Centrelink recipients, and the website points to some social justice areas where John Darley has had an interest - although there are few clear policy proposals.

We gave the Advance SA policies an average of 0.8 stars for covering the basics.

You can view a report card snapshot summary below, and our media release here.