Regional Hospital Helipads

Ms PRATT (Frome) (14:52): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. What advice, if any, has the minister received about risk to public safety from helicopter downwash at South Australian country hospital helipads? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Ms PRATT: A report from September 2023 by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau states:

Of the 18 helicopter downwash incidents reported in the last 5 years, 9 were reported to have occurred at hospital [helipad landing sites] HLSs.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:52): I don't have particular advice in terms of issues that are helipads. I think what the member is referring to would have been across all of Australia, but this is obviously an issue that CASA has been concerned about and that's why they have strengthened the regulations in terms of the downwash issue, in terms of helicopter operation, and that is an issue we have to deal with for these helipad sites whether they were upgraded or not.

Obviously, helicopters have been landing at them for some time but with the triggering of upgrades to the helipads we need to go through a process of making sure that our helicopter operator, which is currently Babcock but will soon be Toll, is confident in terms of making sure that they can safely meet those new requirements, including the downwash at those sites.

For each of those sites obviously helicopters have been landing there for many, many years and that has been an issue forever, but we are navigating the strengthened standards that have been put in place to make sure that ultimately people are safe.