Aged-

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:54): My question is to the Attorney-General. Can the Attorney inform the house when he was first asked for a meeting with Noleen Hausler, who had footage of her father being abused in an Adelaide aged-care facility, and why he denied this request?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for Consumer and Business Services, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (14:55): I thank the honourable member for her question. I have been checking the records in my office, and I am able to provide the following advice. There was an email forwarded to the Attorney-General's Department on 8 June this year from the lady concerned. She says that she 'would appreciate' (I am partially quoting here from the document) 'the opportunity to meet with you to discuss the current regulations of installing CCTV in resident's private room in Aged Care Facilities.'

The letter then goes on to say that she has sought private legal advice and names her lawyers. It also contains a statement about the nature of her legal advice. It goes on to talk about her concerns, generally, about the safety of her father, which are entirely understandable. I formed the view that, in essence, I was dealing with an individual who was seeking a legal opinion from me in the context of her having her own private lawyers engaged regarding the use of, in this case, as it turns out, covert CCTV. I subsequently became aware of the fact that there had been criminal charges and the matter dealt with in respect of that matter.

Ultimately, after taking advice from the Attorney-General's Department, I then wrote back to her by a letter of 8 July, first of all explaining how I sympathised and shared her concerns about the welfare and safety of her father, as outlined in her email, and making the point that as Attorney-General I am not in a position to be able to offer private individuals legal advice, particularly in circumstances where they have retained their own legal counsel.

I then provided her with information about the appropriate methods by which complaints regarding the behaviour of aged-care providers should be managed and in particular gave her details of the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner, with their telephone number and email address, and the Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner, inasmuch as it might have been a retirement village question, which of course I understand this not to be.

I think I should add also, Mr Speaker, that it is the case that nursing homes are completely regulated and governed by federal legislation. Obviously, there would be policy considerations to do with the industry, which the federal people should be intimately involved in. Can I say that, so far as the state is concerned, we stand ready to be of assistance if indeed the commonwealth requires any assistance but, of course, the commonwealth could simply regulate the prescription of CCTV within their own regulatory regime governing these establishments should they choose to do so.

Can I say that in light of this matter, which only came first of all to my attention late in the afternoon yesterday, I am in the process of preparing a letter to the relevant federal minister to invite them to study the circumstances of this case with a view to consideration as to whether or not regulatory changes should be made across the board to deal with matters of this kind.