Automated External Defibrillators (Public Access) (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 28 August 2024.)

Mr BATTY (Bragg) (21:52): I rise to speak on the Automated External Defibrillators (Public Access) (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill 2024. This is a bill that amends the Automated External Defibrillators (Public Access) Act 2022, which was of course introduced by the Hon. Frank Pangallo in the other place, back in 2022. At that time it was the opposition that raised a number of questions in relation to the practical operation of the legislation. I understand the opposition at that time tried to move a number of amendments that might have better operationalised the legislation, but they did not have any success.

This bill seeks to make a number of amendments to the act, including the installation of AEDs in buildings or facilities that are publicly accessible. It also makes some operational changes, including the removal of annual testing requirements and the exclusion of certain buildings and facilities.

There are a number of key provisions in this bill that are worth reflecting on. It includes a definition in clause 3 for an 'owner' in the act, and this is in there to ensure a distinction is drawn between the obligations imposed by the legislation on a building owner versus obligations that might be imposed on a building tenant, which we see in clause 3(5) where the definition of 'owner' is better outlined.

The bill also makes AEDs mandatory in public buildings such as schools, universities, libraries, sporting facilities, local council offices, theatres and swimming pools. We see that in various clauses of this bill and, importantly, certain exceptions for other facilities as well in clause 6, with the insertion of section 6A, which seeks to ensure the act does not apply to various other buildings and facilities. These include a hospital or other medical facility, a correctional facility, a licensed children's residential facility and a building or facility where the entire building or facility is not accessible to the public. These are excluded from the act that was originally introduced a couple of years ago.

We also see in this bill the removal of the requirement for the minister to establish a training scheme under the act as well as the provision of a power for the minister to appoint a suitable person to be an authorised officer under the act. We see that through the insertion of part 3A in clause 14. Finally, we see this bill removing vehicles from the AED register requirement, as it is unable to capture non-static locations.

The opposition, I can indicate, will be supporting this bill today. In particular, the opposition supports the amendment to section 9 of the act which removes the requirement for mandatory testing of AEDs. That was a requirement that was in there requiring mandatory testings of these devices at least once every 12 months, and it substitutes it with a different requirement now, simply to:

…ensure that the Automated External Defibrillator is maintained in accordance with any instructions of the manufacturer of the Automated External Defibrillator.

We say that in particular is a good and sensible amendment to this act. We understand also that it is in accordance with advice from the department's biomedical experts. It is supported by that advice. Importantly, it is also supported by various peak bodies, including, importantly, the South Australian Business Chamber.

I want to take this opportunity to echo the concerns of the South Australian Business Chamber, who have asked the government to ensure that business representatives are included on the across-government AED steering committee. In this current cost-of-living crisis that we are all experiencing, we know businesses right across the state are doing it really tough, with costs continuing to rise on the one hand and no relief ever being provided by this government on the other hand. The penalties in this bill for non-compliance I do note are really high, indeed up to $20,000 in fines. As we legislate in this space, we need to always make sure that government is doing all it can to remove red tape and to allow businesses to operate with as little administrative burden as possible.

So we note our support for those sections in particular. I should note that while we will be supporting this bill tonight, we remain concerned that a couple of years ago the government pushed this initial legislation through fairly quickly, I think, without any due regard at that time to how it was actually going to operate. It is only now, some time after, that we are trying to fix this mess and some of the issues that the opposition probably identified at that time. I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.

At 22:00 the house adjourned until Wednesday 11 September 2024 at 10:30.