Gayle's Law

The Hon. C. BONAROS (15:09): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Health and Wellbeing a question about Gayle's Law.

Leave granted.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: About three months ago, SA-Best and our Centre Alliance Senate candidate, Skye Kakoschke-Moore, revealed that the government was almost 12 months behind schedule in introducing and implementing a new law in honour of murdered nurse Gayle Woodford—an unacceptable delay that angered Gayle's family. Because the legislation had not been proclaimed by the state government, it has not been operationally enforced.

When we first asked about this issue in this place, the minister said he was 'keen to hear the feedback from the consultation that is currently underway'. My question to the minister is: can the minister advise whether Gayle's Law has now finally become operational? If so, when did it become operational, and what sort of feedback are we receiving from nurses working in remote areas of the state, if indeed the law is operational? If it hasn't become operational, then why not?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:10): I thank the honourable member for her question. Gayle's Law was always intended to have regulations to support it. In fact, the issues are so complex. I can remember, in the debate in this parliament, that we found it very difficult to assess the merits or likely effectiveness of the law because so much was intended to be in the regulations. In my previous answer, I expressed my disappointment that the Woodford family hadn't been kept informed, and I have asked my department to ensure that the Woodford family continues to be updated on the progress.

The aspiration of this parliament in passing the legislation was that we would provide health practitioners working in remote areas of South Australia greater protection, requiring them to be accompanied by a second responder when responding to an out of hours or unscheduled emergency call-out for treatment. Since the legislation passed through this place, a number of information sessions were held with stakeholders about the legislation's intent and operation, which led to the distribution of a discussion paper in November 2018, seeking views on matters to be prescribed by regulation, as well as issues that might impact on the legislation's implementation.

In response to the discussion paper, 10 submissions were received. The submissions have been used to inform the drafting of the regulations. The regulations will be sent out for further targeted consultation with stakeholders. This process will include meetings with stakeholders to address the issues that they raised in their submissions and also outline the responsibilities under the legislation. Certainly, my request to the department is that the consultation and the regulations be finalised within the first half of this year. The stakeholders consulted are many and diverse—obviously, our local health networks, our health organisations and also Aboriginal-controlled health organisations.

I think the parliament needs to appreciate that the legislation we drafted is actually quite inclusive; for example, it has been identified that it would pick up a general practitioner working in a large country town. Under the regulations, 'remote' is defined quite broadly, so that is something that we need to consult on. We will be engaging doctors' groups as well as nurses and other health professionals. One of the issues that will be discussed in the consultation—and members of this house are welcome to contribute to the discussion on the regulations—is how broad the range of health professionals should be.

For example, there is public debate at the moment whether social workers should be covered by the health professional regulation. The same question arises here: should social workers be regarded as health professionals when they work in the remote context? I am pleased that the submissions on the discussion paper have led to draft regulations, which will be going out for consultation with stakeholders. My understanding is that it is in the next week or two. I have certainly seen a draft, and I am looking forward to the response.

A number of organisations have made it clear that it will have resource implications. A number of the commitments that the commonwealth has made to supporting second responders and supporting the safety and security of remote health professionals is time limited, so we will have to work through the impact of the law. In relation to one side at least, it has been indicated that the full implementation of a second responder may make that health service unviable. We need to work through the issues to make sure that we support sustainable health services but fundamentally ensure that health professionals working in remote areas have the protection and support they need.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Ms Bonaros, a supplementary.