Renal Dialysis Services

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:56): My question is to the Premier in his capacity as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. How many South Australian Indigenous people suffer from chronic kidney disease, expressed in both a metro and non-metro figure, and how many regional and remote patients are required to travel significant distances to access regular dialysis treatment? With your leave and that of the house, sir, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Ms BEDFORD: The federal government has recently announced a welcome $35 million for Indigenous health projects. Almost $2 million of that will go to Victoria's Monash University to look at reducing the burden of chronic kidney disease in the Indigenous population. Unfortunately, it is a three-year project, but it does actually underline how important the situation is with renal disease.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:56): I thank the member for her interest and I acknowledge her longstanding interest in matters to do with Aboriginal affairs and also with reconciliation. In recent times, the member has also had a very keen interest in terms of renal dialysis on the APY lands and we certainly commend her interest in that.

We are very proud as a government to have supported the establishment of a permanent dialysis capability in conjunction with Purple House at Pukatja (Ernabella). That service has been very well received, although I do note and inform the house that that service has been suspended for this current period during the Biosecurity Act restrictions onto the APY lands.

I don't have a detailed answer for the member today, but I am very happy to go and take a look at this. It is a very important issue. One of the very important pieces of work that was done probably less than a decade ago was the Central Australia Renal Study, which looked at how we were dealing with patients with kidney failure in central Australia, whether they be in Western Australia, the Northern Territory or in South Australia.

The previous government did fund a mobile renal dialysis unit that would go community to community, although, as the member would be aware, this didn't satisfy people who wanted to be based and domiciled on the APY lands, which really forced people into having to relocate, mainly to Alice Springs or down to Port Augusta and, of course, some people to Adelaide.

There is a very important set of issues that we need to look at with regard to renal failure within Indigenous communities across the country. Part of it is what is our immediate response to providing the appropriate level of services to those people who are living with this disease. The other issue is how we prevent more people being afflicted with this condition. I will take the question that the member has asked and come back to the house with an answer.

I will also note that later this week we will be receiving the draft of the refreshed Closing the Gap framework. The member would also note that the Closing the Gap arrangement was originally put in place by the former Labor federal government when prime minister Rudd was in place. This ran its course, and at the time of refresh instead of the bureaucrats and the government of the day coming up with a framework and essentially providing that to Aboriginal communities across Australia, Prime Minister Morrison flipped that equation and actually worked with Aboriginal communities right across the country to come up with a new framework for the refreshed Closing the Gap.

We received that draft report this week, and it is my understanding that the Prime Minister's intention is to have the Coalition of Peaks come together in early July and ultimately for all states and territories to work together in funding the next phase of that Closing the Gap. I don't have specific information as to whether kidney disease and renal failure is part of that, but I certainly will be inquiring as soon as I get that draft.