Communities and Social Inclusion Department Screening Unit

Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (15:29): My question is to the Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion. Why has it taken more than two months for Mr Warwick Piper to finally receive a police clearance that will enable him to drive cabs?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (15:30): The DCSI screening unit is an important service which protects the most vulnerable members of our society from harm, including children, people with a disability and older South Australians.

As I have spoken about before in the house, we have had a significant increase in the number of screenings, and we have received approximately 112,000 applications for clearance in the past year—a 66 per cent increase. I understand that the process of and the time involved in obtaining employment screening clearance can be frustrating to applicants; however, our government makes no apology for ensuring that every effort is taken to protect some of our most vulnerable members of society from harm.

Where no relevant information is identified for an applicant, the turnaround time for processing an application is around 20 business days. I am advised that around 80 per cent of applicants are cleared within this time frame.

Mr Knoll interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert is warned for the first time.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Where any relevant information is identified requiring further assessment, an application may take more than eight weeks to process. These time frames are clearly disclosed on the DCSI website. The number of applicants requiring further assessment represents about 20 per cent of the total number of applications.

In 2013, the screening unit received an additional $1 million for an extra 11 full-time equivalent employees to assist in increases in demand for services, and in the state budget in 2014-15 we will invest an extra $500,000 to enable service improvement initiatives, such as online application processes, that will benefit all applicants. This investment is to encourage efficiencies.

One of the key issues we have is when people fill out forms incorrectly and we have to send them back. So, one of the key aspects as we move towards an online system is to reduce that time back to others.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley has been warned twice.

Mr Gardner: Kick him out for the rest of question time, sir.

The SPEAKER: I am considering levying just that penalty. Minister for Social Housing.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: We understand through discussion with DPTI that drivers of all passenger transport facilities are required to undergo child-related employment screening, and if this person was seeking to be a taxi driver that is the process they would have gone through. They need to attain the accreditation through the DPTI's Accreditation and Licensing Centre.

I make no apology for the deep process that we go through. We have a very robust screening process and, without going into further detail about this specific inquiry, I think that we have been clear about the processing times that this may take.