Blackout Emergency Procedures

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (15:12): I seek leave to make an explanation before asking questions of the Minister for Emergency Services regarding emergency procedures during blackouts in South Australia.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: As members of this chamber are acutely aware, there have been a number of power failures and blackouts throughout South Australia in the past four months. In some households, streets and suburbs it has taken up to five or more days to restore power. I raise this issue because there are three main issues that many of my constituents face surrounding the need for power to stay alive and functioning.

The first is power for life sustaining equipment. For example, people might be on a ventilator and may die without power if the backup battery fails or goes flat. The second is a need for power to operate disability and health related equipment. For example a person may use an electric bed or an electric hoist to get on and off the toilet and for other personal care or need to recharge an electric wheelchair.

Finally, there is a need for electricity to maintain the environment at a specific temperature to prevent health from getting worse or prevent hospitalisation. On 6 December I wrote to the Premier, and copied in the emergency services minister, regarding the events of 28 September and the impact on the disability community in particular, the concerns the Dignity Party has as a consequence of procedures that did not happen on the evening. On 14 December, the Premier acknowledged my letter, but as yet no response to my questions has been received. So, my questions to the minister are:

1. Does the minister understand the specific needs of people with disability and health conditions during power failures and what is he doing to meet them as a particular priority?

2. Who is responsible for the Vulnerable Persons Register and how does a person get on this register so that supports may be put in place during a blackout?

3. What processes have been put in place so that there will be an Auslan interpreter and captions present at all relevant media conferences during emergency situations, including where there are traffic jams, limitedmobile phone reception and other exceptional circumstances as we saw in the events of 28 September?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:14): I thank the Hon. Ms Vincent for her questions, and let me acknowledge her ongoing advocacy for an important constituency and, I think, one that is always worthy of attention, particularly in light of any significant event, including like the one that occurred on 28 September last year.

Let me start at a higher level and refer to the fact that, post the 28 September event last year, the government did initiate the Burns review. The purpose of the Burns review was fundamentally to do an analysis of the way that emergency services conducted themselves generally on the front line, but also at a strategic level, in handling all the complex responses that are necessary whenever you have a significant weather event like the one that occurred on 28 September. The Hon. Ms Vincent has rightly pointed out that vulnerable members of our community are particularly at risk whenever we have an event of that nature. It might not just be like the one that occurred on 28 September, but also in instances, for example, like bushfire.

The Burns review came back with 62 recommendations and the government is now thoroughly going through the process of responding to each of those 62 recommendations. I hope that in due course the government will be able to announce its response to those recommendations. I have been clear from the outset that a number of those recommendations do necessitate a budgetary response, and that will be dealt with through the framework within the state budget this year.

In terms of some of the specific questions that the Hon. Ms Vincent asked, the second question is around who is responsible for the Vulnerable Persons Register. I am happy to take that on notice. I will seek advice from the Minister for Disabilities in relation to that particular question, because I suspect that it is her responsibility. Nevertheless, I will take that on notice and get information back to her.

Regarding the Auslan interpreter, I know this is a subject that is of understandable concern to the Hon. Ms Vincent, and one I have spoken to a number of times in this chamber. On 25 June last year, a meeting of the State Emergency Management Committee discussed an amendment to the State Emergency Management Plan for the use of Auslan interpreters for declared emergencies, and it was endorsed.

The specific provision is 7.8, and it states that in addition to other matters of disseminating public information and warnings, the control agency is responsible to ensure that all live televised warnings, or major public information press conferences (e.g. attended by the Premier, state coordinator and/or the state controller), issues for declared emergencies are supported with the use of an accredited Auslan interpreter. In the event that securing an accredited Auslan interpreter would cause critical delay in the broadcasting of an urgent message to the community, the control agency will determine if the message should be broadcast without that support.

The government has established processes in place to provide contractual arrangements for the provision of Auslan translation services for emergency incidents relevant to the CFS, the SES and, of course, the MFS. While the agreed trigger for the use of Auslan interpreters is when a declaration is made by the control agency, emergency services organisers may also use them proactively if they deem it appropriate to do so. Of course, there have been examples of that taking place last year, being one of the busiest years on record, particularly for our State Emergency Services.

This government remains committed, as it reasonably should be—and I hope all parties would be supportive of this—to making sure that vulnerable people get access to the information they need in a timely way. As always, if there is room for improvement with a system, or if the Hon. Ms Vincent or a member of her constituency or anyone from the community thinks there is a failing, then, of course, I am happy to hear what those are and contemplate a response in due course. As it stands, I think the arrangements are appropriate and we are adhering to them.