Ministerial Statement

Oakden Mental Health Facility

The Hon. L.A. VLAHOS (Taylor—Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse) (14:12): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. L.A. VLAHOS: I rise to update the house on the ongoing government response to the Chief Psychiatrist's report into the Oakden older persons mental health facility. The Chief Psychiatrist's report uncovered shocking examples of systemic elder abuse at Oakden dating back to 2001. Underpinning the abuse was the entrenched culture of cover-up identified in the Oakden report which the government is determined to end. We have a zero tolerance approach to further elder abuse, and underpinning the abuse was the entrenched culture.

I wish to update the house on steps that have been recently undertaken to enforce these standards. I wish to inform the house that a staff member working at the Oakden facility has been suspended. The matter was immediately referred to SAPOL following an allegation of abuse reported to the new clinical head of unit on Saturday 13 May. The removal of the staff member related to an alleged incident witnessed by a family member of another patient on Tuesday 9 May that was not reported until Saturday 13 May.

This takes the current number of people suspended from the workplace to 10, pending further investigation. In addition, one person has resigned and one person has been terminated. These figures will likely continue to change in accordance with the status of investigations by SA Health, AHPRA, SAPOL and the commonwealth Australian Aged Care Quality Agency. Given the number of staff issues uncovered subsequent to the Oakden report, outside legal counsel has been engaged to assist, and we need to act swiftly and effectively to deal with the safety concerns.

I have written to AHPRA to request that they expedite their investigations and, as I have said previously, I expect any worker with allegations of violence or abuse against them to be stood down immediately until matters are properly dealt with. Further, I have asked the SA Health chief executive, Vickie Kaminski, to thoroughly investigate claims by family in the media yesterday that an Oakden staff member previously accused of assault remains employed. Whilst I am advised that this matter had been investigated previously, I have instructed a review of any previous investigations so that I can be satisfied that they were conducted properly. I will report to the families affected and the house when information becomes available.

I completely understand the anger and despair of the families, and a number of measures have been put in place to support them. The Premier and I have met with a number of family members of residents of the Oakden facility. There is an existing hotline for families to contact regarding any concerns they have about their loved ones. To date, 21 calls have been received on this line. I reiterate to the families my offer and the Premier's offer to continue to discuss their family's concerns and situation with me.

A new team of senior clinicians has been installed at Oakden to oversee the closure of the Makk and McLeay wards and the transfer of residents to the Northgate site and other appropriate facilities. These senior clinicians, led by the new Clinical Head of Unit, Dr Duncan McKellar, are working closely with residents and their families to ensure the move to the new facilities is as smooth as possible. I have been advised that the service has contacted 20 families to date in relation to the transition, with more meetings to follow.

Along with the implementation of the six recommendations contained in the Chief Psychiatrist's report, a number of other measures have been put in place to review what went wrong at Oakden. The state government has given notice to expand the terms of reference for the elder abuse joint committee to consider the Oakden review. This will include addressing issues raised by the Hon. Kelly Vincent MLC in relation to the selection and screening of staff in the aged-care sector. I intend to appoint an external expert to oversee the implementation of the government's response to the Oakden report.

The South Australian government also welcomes the commonwealth Senate inquiry into the Australian Aged Care Quality Agency and the accreditation process. This comes on top of the review by the commonwealth agency, announced by the federal aged-care minister, the Hon. Ken Wyatt MP. Clearly, the accreditation system is failing the people it is designed to protect, given that Oakden received full accreditation from the commonwealth agency as recently as March 2016 through to 2019.

What occurred at Oakden over a protracted period of time is completely unacceptable, and its discovery has provoked a national debate on the state of aged-care standards across our country. I reiterate my apology and the government's apology to the residents and families of the Oakden site, past and present. What occurred should not have happened, and the South Australian government is dedicated to ensuring this cannot occur again.

In closing, I want to reassure the South Australian public that I will disclose all important information regarding Oakden. From the outset, I have been transparent in releasing relevant documentation, including the Chief Psychiatrist's disturbing report, as I am determined to ensure that this will never happen again.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I call to order the members for Schubert and Stuart for interjecting during that ministerial statement. I warn the members for Hammond, Schubert and the deputy leader for continuing to interject, and I warn for the second and final time the deputy leader for interjecting.