International Guide Dog Day

The Hon. J.S. LEE (14:40): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Human Services a question on guide dogs.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S. LEE: Recently, my brother adopted a guide dog called Daphne. Daphne is gorgeous but, in addition to her good looks and good nature, guide dogs provide a critical service to people with impaired vision as well as special needs. Will the Minister for Human Services inform the chamber about the activities surrounding International Guide Dog Day?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:41): I thank the honourable member for her important question and commend her family for its important role in assisting people with disabilities with the training of guide dogs. The last Wednesday in April is International Guide Dog Day. This year it fell on ANZAC Day, so the events were scheduled on two separate days. I had the honour of attending two events as the Minister for Human Services. On 26 April, Assistance Dogs Australia had an event in the Rundle Mall, which was their first event ever to be held in South Australia, and five assistance dogs, which had been trained, were presented to their new owners—people with physical disabilities, dementia and PTSD.

Tim McCallum, who many honourable members would know from his appearance on The Voice, is an assistance dogs ambassador and was the MC for the event. Other guests included His Worship the Mayor, Martin Haese, and the executive officer of the Dog and Cat Management Board, Mr Andrew Lamb. Mr Lamb has an important role with the Dog and Cat Management Board because they have additional responsibilities under the act. Honourable members may recall the debate in the Legislative Council on the dog and cat management changes, which have made puppy farming and those sorts of practices illegal, and the Hon. Kelly Vincent actually achieved an expansion of the definition of 'assistance dogs', which means that a range of animals can be accredited.

Mr Lamb and I discussed the importance of the accreditation process, maintaining the professional standards and giving confidence in the public domain to the whole community in terms of assistance dogs. A lot of effort goes into the training of assistance dogs, obviously with the volunteers through to the breeders. We are all encouraged not to pat dogs, because it is not in their best interest, although we often have to restrain ourselves.

There was also an event held within the grounds of Government House the following day, which the Hon. Emily Bourke attended, for Guide Dogs SA/NT, and there again was a range of wonderful creatures who are providing greater independence to the people who look after them.

I pay tribute to the volunteers, to the breeders and to the organisations that are involved in the training, because they are providing a great deal of independence to the people they serve, as well as being the great companions that we are used to. We hear some wonderful stories at these sorts of events about how people's lives are transformed when they receive their assistance dogs. Dogs are trained to perform a range of tasks, which may include opening and closing doors, picking up dropped items, pressing buttons at traffic lights, taking the washing out of the machine, paying cashiers and alerting their owner if there is a particular danger. They certainly provide a great deal of independence to the people they work with, and long may this continue.