Gayle's Law

The Hon. C. BONAROS (15:15): Just to ensure that I understood correctly, if there are any shortfalls in that funding, is that something that the state government is going to ensure is covered?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:15): Yes; it's a good question. In fact, it draws me back to the point I made earlier in my answers, which is the diversity of health professionals that are involved. For example, funding for GPs in country towns is the responsibility of the commonwealth government. Aboriginal community-controlled health organisations are often the recipient of state and federal money, usually more commonwealth money than state money. It is an interesting interface because, often, we can't regulate something that is regulated or funded by the commonwealth, for example, residential aged care. But, apparently, in terms of work health and safety, we can put on state laws that will impact on the staffing requirements of commonwealth organisations.

Let's put it this way: we need to tease out those issues. I would expect the organisations we consult with to give us some insight as to what commitments they have had from the commonwealth. We will certainly be urging the commonwealth, in the spirit of partnership, to support our efforts to improve safety. It's been raised in the federal parliament by your colleagues and others. Considering that we have shared responsibility for the delivery of a range of health services in remote areas, I think we also have joint responsibility to support the second responders network.

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