Victims of Crime Fund

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (15:12): I rise today to talk about a Mount Gambier resident who, through no fault of her own, has been left significantly out of pocket, highlighting the shortcomings in our current compensation system when it comes to supporting innocent bystanders impacted by criminal or emergency incidents. This resident is a nurse who works at our Mount Gambier hospital, someone who has dedicated her career to caring for others.

On the day in question, she was simply doing her job, attending her usual shift at the Mount Gambier hospital. Unbeknown to her, an incident had occurred in the hospital car park involving a patient in the midst of a mental health crisis. Police were called to the scene, and during the process of apprehension her car was significantly damaged. The total cost for repairs was over $2,000. While her insurance covered the majority of the cost, she was left to pay $700 in excess, money that came straight out of her own pocket. Obviously, on top of that, she now faces increased insurance premiums through no fault of her own.

This nurse has accepted the need to lodge an insurance claim, but what she cannot accept and should not accept is the financial penalty she now bears for simply going to work. Personally, I am not sure I would be so forgiving. A frontline health worker walks into her work at the beginning of a shift and walks out to a damaged vehicle—$2,000 damage in total—$700 poorer and a higher insurance premium. This is not just unfair; I think it is wrong.

I fully respect the role of SAPOL and the need for rapid response to ensure public safety. Sometimes incidental damage is an unfortunate consequence of those operations. But what I do find hard to understand is how this nurse, who had absolutely nothing to do with the incident, has been left to deal with the consequences alone. Neither SAPOL nor SA Health have offered any support. Instead, she has been left to navigate the system on her own.

It is obviously not a once-off problem. It raises a broader question of how we support people who are caught in the crossfire of public incidents through no fault of their own. I have written to the Treasurer seeking his intervention and I sincerely hope a resolution can be found. This was, of course, after writing to SA Police, who basically say that it is not their problem and they will not be supporting this nurse with any funds.

Of course, the opportunity to consider a broader policy also exists. South Australia has a Victims of Crime Fund, a substantially significant pool of money, reportedly sitting at around $200 million, established to support those who suffer harm or loss due to criminal acts. I do support the fund. Traditionally the fund is focused on direct victims, but perhaps it is time to broaden that definition. People like this nurse, who was an innocent bystander affected by criminal activity, or the response to it, may also be—or, in my opinion, should be—eligible for support.

It would be a relatively small financial gesture, one with a significant message, that we value our frontline workers and everyday South Australians, to make sure that they are not left to wear the cost of events that they had no control over and are, in fact, just innocent bystanders. We ask a lot of our nurses, and our police, our paramedics and our essential workers. The least we can do is ensure that, when they are inadvertently harmed, or even in the proximity to it, they are treated with fairness, dignity and support.

I call on the government to urgently review this case to see ways of reimbursing the $700. The nurse is quite accepting of the fact that she has to go through insurance. She has done that and all she is asking is that the gap be paid, knowing that her premiums will be increased over the forthcoming years. It is something that she had no direct involvement in and it is one of those unfortunate situations that can occur from time to time. We must stand up for those who stand for us.