Justice, Opportunity and Shared Wealth for all South Australians
Basic Level of Service report on water security in remote SA highlights the value of a human rights approach to water security
SACOSS has long been calling for a basic level of service to be established and implemented across SA, and welcomed the State Government’s 2021 commitment for self-supplied remote communities.
Annual SACOSS Briefing to the Minister for Energy (2021/2022)
The Annual SACOSS Briefing to the Minister for Energy focuses on wholesale electricity prices in South Australia, the Default Market Offer in SA and the Victorian Default Offer, the AER's retailer performance reporting data for SA, and energy concession reform analysis.
This report provides results of a survey conducted by SACOSS and Mint Research to understand how people living in rental properties on low incomes can access incentives under the Retailer Energy Productivity Scheme to improve the thermal comfort of their homes. The survey also sought to understand the ability of people to respond to time of use tariffs introduced in SA from 1 July 2021.
The Annual SACOSS Briefing to the Minister for Energy focuses on tariffs in SA, in particular the introduction of time of use tariffs and energy debt for households, which increased for South Australian households throughout 2020.
Annual SACOSS Briefing to the Minister for Energy (2020/2021)
The Falling through the gaps report casts a light on the issue of access to safe, secure and reliable drinking water services in regional and remote South Australia. It also provides practical steps that can help bring real change, to ensure that communities in these areas can have this fundamental need met.
The National Consumer Roundtable on Energy (Roundtable) is an informal coalition of national and jurisdictional energy consumer advocates primarily focussed on policy dialogue and strategic collaboration. Established in 2004 with funding through Energy Consumers Australia (ECA), it is currently convened and coordinated by SACOSS and governed by a steering committee. This impact statement reports on the Roundtable's activities, outcomes and impacts over the period from September 2019 to August 2020.
Access to clean water and sanitation is a fundamental human right, with Australia a signatory to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. In a state with low and variable rainfall, South Australia faces particular challenges around managing a reliable and secure water supply. This discussion paper attempts to map existing water-related polices, monitoring frameworks and activities in South Australia to identify gaps and opportunities to deliver on SDG 6.
SACOSS engaged The Energy Project to understand under what economic and governance models community scale batteries may assist low income households to reduce electricity expenditure in rental or social housing settings, as well as assistance for communities rebuilding post bushfires.
The Annual SACOSS Briefing to the Minister for Human Services 2020 discusses water pricing issues affecting South Australian consumers and discusses the outcome of the SA Water Regulatory Determination 2020-24, changes to the Water Retail Code - Major Retailers, water issues in remote Aboriginal communities, the impact of COVID-19, and cost of living issues.
The Annual SACOSS Briefing to the Minister for Energy 2020 discusses historical and current issues related to wholesale costs on the National Electricity Market (NEM), as these are a significant contribution to electricity prices in SA. Between 2017 and 2019 the majority of tariff increases in SA were attributed to wholesale electricity costs. This briefing also discusses some of the changes and impacts COVID-19 has had for energy demand and affordability.
