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Aboriginal residents in outback SA are having to choose between food and electricity
Skyrocketing bills. A cash-strapped local council. Unpaid debts. As Coober Pedy's electricity affordability crisis continues, governments have been urged to step in and help fix it.
Published 16 November 2021 4:42pm
By Peta Doherty, Douglas Smith
Source: SBS News
Image: Yankunytjatjara Pitjantjatjara Elder Sammy Brown (SBS News/Peta Doherty)
This article contains references to suicide.
When David Carroll, a Yankunytjatjara man and resident of the outback South Australian town of Coober Pedy, doesn’t go out on Country to hunt for kangaroo, "it’s bad".
"You can’t have nothing in the house if you don’t go out," he told SBS News.
Mr Carroll, a disability pensioner, said he has been having to choose between food or electricity after being put on a payment plan by the District Council of Coober Pedy - the town’s electricity distributor and retailer - of close to half his income in order to pay off a $14,000 power bill.
“Sometimes I go and ask family for food, because of how much I’m paying. I don’t have breakfast or lunch I just have dinner, paying that there,” he said, pointing to his huge power bill, now with $9,000 outstanding.
In August, a South Australian Ombudsman report found the Council's management of financial debts for the supply of power and water to members of the Aboriginal community was "unreasonable", "unjust", "wrong" and "contrary to law".
Yankunytjatjara man David Carroll Source: SBS News
The Ombudsman found the Council, placed into administration in 2019, failed to provide hardship options, required “oppressively high” payment plans, and switched off customers’ electricity without appropriate notice.
The Ombudsman noted the current Council "inherited a legacy" of issues, that the current administration had taken "many encouraging steps" to try and remedy things, and there was "no quick fix" to the situation.
It also recommended some or all overdue amounts dating back to 2014 be waived.
Mr Carroll has been seeking help from the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement (ALRM) for his account.
Ralph Coulthard is a financial counsellor with the ALRM who alerted the Ombudsman to the power issues three years ago.
Mr Coulthard recently visited the outback town - 850 kilometres north of Adelaide - from Port Augusta to see if the situation has improved for his clients there, and if the Council had implemented the report’s recommendations.
“There does not seem to be much change, as yet,” the Adnyamathanha Yankyuntjatjara man said.
Mr Coulthard said a resident, who did not want to be named, showed him a recent bill for more than $20,000 - a $4,000 increase on the previous quarter.
“There are unimaginable consequences that could come from a bill like that,” Mr Coulthard said.
“Relationship problems, family problems, domestic violence, substance abuse. There’re so many things that could come from the shock of seeing a $20,000 bill and you don’t know how you got it.”
Mr Coulthard said he has seen more than 50 clients with electricity debts they can’t pay, and been informed about another Coober Pedy resident facing a power bill of more than $30,000.
“I’m concerned about that because there are still people coming with these large debts which will need to be investigated,” he said.
Yankunytjatjara woman Lesa Taylor is bewildered by skyrocketing electricity bills in the town.
Lesa Taylore at home in Coober Pedy Source: SBS News/Peta Doherty
“The bill starts out small, then all of a sudden before you know it, it’s right up in the $19 or $20,000,” she said.
“You just can’t get control of it .... and you can’t do anything, you just try and try. It just makes you feel helpless.”
Ms Taylor and her husband Russell owe more than $19,000 on an outstanding electricity bill accumulated despite regular fortnightly payments.
It just makes you feel helpless - Lesa Taylor, Yankunytjatjara woman
In an effort to convince the Council to keep their electricity on, they’ve agreed to increase their payment to $140 a fortnight.
But now they struggle to pay for other basic essentials.
Ms Taylor says most of her husband’s income goes to rent.
“I’m only on [JobSeeker] myself … and that’s to do my shopping and fuel and all that,” she said.
“A lot of times we run out and then we’ve got to ask family members or do what we can to get, you know, help to get food.”
Why are electricity bills so high?
Coober Pedy’s energy supply is three-quarters renewable and is subsidised by the state government to keep unit prices on par with Adelaide.
Sixty per cent of residents live underground to beat the heat in the arid environment.
“If you live above ground, it’s a different ball game,” Coucil administrator Tim Jackson said. “They’re not built for the climate so as a consequence people have quite large bills.”
Essential Services Commission of South Australia (ESCOSA) CEO Adam Wilson said low-quality housing stock that lacks insulation contributes to the high costs.
“In some cases, there are a lot of people in the house, which is understandable, but that does create pressures,” he said.
“In the lesser quality stock, the appliances being used are not particularly efficient either, so you have these compounding problems.”
Mr Wilson also sees a need to educate people about how to use energy more efficiently.
A general view of the town and surrounds of Coober Pedy Source: Getty Images AsiaPac
The Council said it is distributing smart meters to help residents gauge energy use and costs within the home.
And as a temporary measure, ESCOSA has placed a moratorium on disconnections until the Council has implemented an ongoing hardship policy.
“In the circumstances, it’s better to have people with access to power to keep safe,” Mr Wilson says.
Residents of Coober Pedy are facing huge electricity bills Source: SBS News
'Feel no good'
But with days getting longer and hotter, more solutions can’t come fast enough for residents.
SBS News has spoken to multiple women struggling under the weight of their massive utility bills and who are afraid their children or grandchildren could overheat in the harsh conditions.
There are limited opportunities for Aboriginal women to find work in Coober Pedy, adding to the stress of keeping their households cool in summer when temperatures regularly soar above 40 degrees Celcius.
“The times when I really felt worried was if it got switched off and you know then my grandkids would be crying around hot [because] they couldn’t get cool,” Ms Taylor said.
Yankunytjatjara Pitjantjatjara Elder Sammy Brown was behind a complaint to the ALRM three years ago.
Yankunytjatjara Pitjantjatjara Elder Sammy Brown Source: SBS News/Peta Doherty
He was caring for his two primary school-aged grandchildren when his power was cut off and owed $12,000.
“The [grandchildren] didn’t like it, so I had to get family to look after them, wash their clothes, and get them to school,” Mr Brown said.
“We had no electricity for the washing machine or baths or to stay warm.”
It took more than five months to get reconnected, during which time the grandchildren had to live with other relatives while he relied on a backyard campfire to stay warm at night and cook his food.
“They cut it off and I said, ‘I’ll have to make a fire just to cook in the morning, dinner and supper," he said.
“Feel no good,” Mr Brown said. touching his chest. “I was going to move away.”
'Much bigger than Council'
Residents struggling with their bills have told SBS News it was suggested they apply to the local Native Title group for hardship funding - designed to help with one-off costs such as sorry business, a medical emergency or household goods - to pay their electricity bills.
Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara Aboriginal Corporation (AMYAC) board members say they’ve contributed $65,000 to help 65 families with utility debts since 2016.
The board has recently stopped allowing grants to be used to pay power bills and is instead calling on state and federal governments to find a solution “because we know the issue is much bigger than the Council itself”.
“In our view, it is unconscionable that AMYAC members and Native Title holders should have to access Native Title compensation to prevent their essential services being disconnected,” an open letter addressed to parliamentarians reads.
“If these services cannot be sustained without significant contributions from Native Title funds, government and industry on all levels need to explore longer-term, more equitable solutions to ensure essential services are available to community members at a sustainable price.”
It is unconscionable that ... Native Title holders should have to access Native Title compensation to prevent their essential services being disconnected - Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara Aboriginal Corporation board
AMYAC lawyer Michael Pagsanjan said the practice of asking clients to go “cap in hand” to Native Title compensation has caused high levels of shame and embarrassment in the community.
“When you’re dealing with a community that is vulnerable, with high impacts of unemployment, with alarming rates of poor mental and physical health, this added pressure can be what brings a family to breaking point,” he said.
Mr Pagsanjan said members of the community faced many pressures, including large power bills, and he was aware of one person in these circumstances who had recently died by suicide.
Mr Jackson, the Council administrator, said staff are working with consumers individually to help them meet costs.
The Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara Aboriginal Corporation board Source: Supplied
“They all have payment plans and those repayment plans are signed in conjunction with the consumer.”
“If we write that money off, someone has got to pay for it, either other electricity consumers or it’s the ratepayers.”
Mr Jackson said the Council is owed $900,000 in power bills, $700,000 of which is more than 90 days overdue.
“I think some of these bad debts should be dealt with by the state government, or Commonwealth. I just can’t see how ratepayers can pay for this.”
The ALRM is also calling for the Council to urgently wipe the bills, as recommended by the Ombudsman.
“What I’d like to see is they wipe all of these debts, start again,” Mr Coulthard said. “We as a financial counselling service can come in and work with the community, closely to teach them the financial literacy side of things, and work with the Council to be able to keep things at a low level for people.”
After the ALRM helped with his own bill Mr Brown is determined to help his community.
“I’ve got to go help all these people too. We’re all getting robbed by the District Council.
“They should be fair with blackfellas' electricity bills.”
An investigation by ESCOSA in 2018 into the Council’s electricity services did not find any evidence of errors in billing amounts or control mechanisms.
Mr Jackson said all tariffs are set by the state government and are in line with what residents in Adelaide pay.
"We treat all consumers the same," he said.
The Council said in August it was committed to implementing all the Ombudsman’s recommendations.
"Council acknowledges, and is sorry for, the harm and mistrust caused by its past billing practices, is committed to implementing all of the recommendations in the report, and welcomes all community input as to how we can move forward together," it said.
“Council has undertaken a major review of its debt management policies and written off a significant amount of electricity debt in the 2020-21 financial year. However, there is still much more to do, including cultural awareness training for all employees, the provision of more information to customers particularly in relation to hardship, and the creation of an Aboriginal engagement plan."
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