Return to Work (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) Amendment Bill

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (17:01): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Return to Work Act 2014. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (17:02): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I am proud to introduce this bill today, which is first-of-its-kind legislation in South Australia, designed to reduce the stigma surrounding post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suffered by so many of our first responders as they face extreme conditions on the front line protecting our community every day. I wish to thank those responders from SA Ambulance Service to the CFS, the SES, SAPOL and other emergency services for their outstanding service and dedication during the recent bushfire crisis in South Australia.

I went to Kangaroo Island twice after the bushfires there and I can only imagine the trauma that responders and locals experienced during and after the fires. This bill could not be more timely considering the devastation and trauma that confronted so many families, emergency workers, animal rescue personnel, clinicians and medical staff during the recent summer of hell. An image ingrained in my mind is of the RFS volunteer Paul Parker in Nelligen in New South Wales who attacked the Prime Minister whilst seated in his vehicle as fires raged around the town. This firefighter was quite clearly affected physically and mentally from the experience and will no doubt carry the scars with him for years to come, if not the rest of his life.

Of course, police, Army personnel and other volunteers came across distressing incidents and crisis situations. As we know, many died protecting life and property, including three American airmen who died when their aerial bomber crashed in the Blue Mountains. Three people died in South Australia while trying to fight the flames.

Soon after I introduced the bill last year, I was approached by a former policeman who had suffered PTSD after the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires. He was forced to leave SAPOL and the job he loved, and to this day remains affected by what he saw on that horrific day.

As each day passes, we hear and see incidents where our first responders are called upon to deal with situations that the rest of us would find totally distressing to deal with. I will just make a point here of the shocking tragedy that occurred in Brisbane the other day—a murder-suicide where an entire family of five died in the most horrific circumstances. I can only imagine the trauma that neighbours and the first responders had to deal with in that situation.

PTSD is a mental health condition triggered by a traumatic event or cumulative exposure to traumatic incidents, and is symptomatically manifested through flashbacks, insomnia, hypervigilance and sometimes suicide. The bill provides the rebuttable presumption of a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by first responders and volunteer first responders is work related for the purposes of workers compensation legislation.

The insertion of the word 'presumption' will, for the first time in South Australia, shift the onus of proof from worker to employer—a groundbreaking advancement in workers compensation legislation in this state. Where the presumption applies, where a diagnosis of PTSD has been made, it will be assumed in the first instance that the PTSD injury is work related unless there is evidence presented by the employer to establish that the cause of injury is not work related.

The bill is aimed at, and focused on, first responders and those who fall within the ambit of the legislation, including paramedics, police officers, firefighters, nurses, doctors, and SES and CFS volunteers. In addition, there are transitional provisions, which extend the components in the bill to claims initiated before the commencement of the amendments unless the claim has been determined and all rights of review and appeal in relation to determination have been exhausted. Finally, there is a regulation giving power to add a person or class of persons.

This bill follows similar legislation passed last year by the Hodgman Liberal government in Tasmania and hailed as nation-leading legislation. I applaud the Tasmanian Liberal government for being the first in the nation to take affirmative action to better support public sector workers who suffer with the debilitating effects of PTSD. I was extremely disappointed to read that the Treasurer has already indicated the government's opposition to something like this, particularly when you consider that his own Liberal colleagues in Tasmania thought it was a great initiative.

We have consulted widely on the bill and have met several times with Professor Alexander 'Sandy' McFarlane AO of the Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies at the University of Adelaide, the Police Association of South Australia, the Ambulance Employees Association, the South Australian branch of the Nursing and Midwifery Federation, the CFS Volunteer Association, the SA SES Volunteers' Association and the United Fire Fighters Union of South Australia. I thank all of those organisations and their representatives for their valuable input into the bill. Following these lengthy and comprehensive consultations, I have chosen to focus this bill on our first responders and volunteer responders.

I also look forward to soon hosting a forum on the bill and inviting members to a screening of Dark Blue, a telemovie specially commissioned by the Police Federation of Australia. It was screened in Adelaide last year and features a compelling depiction of the true cost of PTSD on our police officers and, by extension, other first responders, as well as the personal cost it can have on families, relationships and carers.

I was deeply moved by watching Dark Blue and look forward to sharing it with other members of this place. The movie was accompanied by the visceral anthem Graduation Day, written by South Australia's own John Schumann. Mr Schumann wrote the song after speaking to 25 police officers battling with PTSD about the dangers police face every day. He hopes to shine a powerful spotlight on the crippling scourge of PTSD affecting Australia's police officers in the same way his well-known anthem I Was Only 19 changed the country's attitude to Vietnam veterans.

Graduation Day deals with the kinds of incidents that can cause psychological damage to police, from attending car crash scenes and shootings to the heartbreaking task of telling family members that a loved one has died, as well as situations such as the one we saw unfold so horrifically on the streets of Brisbane just the other day, as I mentioned. I will also be inviting John to come along and sing the song at the movie screening. I want to read an email from Mark Carroll APM, President of the Police Association of South Australia. I quote:

Dear member,

The Police Association supports SA Best MLC Frank Pangallo's introduction of the Return to Work (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) Amendment Bill [2020] into the Legislative Council…

The bill, which applies to police officers and other first-responders, shifts the onus of proof of PTSD from the worker to the employer for the purposes of workers compensation.

This means that where a presumption applies (where a diagnosis of PTSD has been made), it will be assumed in the first instance that the PTSD is work-related, unless the employer provides evidence to the contrary.

The association has previously urged politicians to consider these changes. This is very significant legislation which, if passed, will greatly assist members recovering from PTSD.

The bill has our full backing and I will be writing to all politicians urging them to support it…

The very nature of the work our first responders do each and every day to keep us safe requires them to deny their own fears and walk towards danger. SA Police has stated that 26 per cent of its workers compensation claims in 2017-18 were due to psychological injuries.

I note a 2018 landmark study into the mental and physical health of firefighters of the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service, in conjunction with the University of Adelaide. The MFS commissioned the study to gain an accurate picture of workforce health to help it better support and manage the risks to firefighters' health from the time they are recruited through to their retirement years. The study was funded by a National Health and Medical Research Council partnership grant. Professor Sandy McFarlane, whom I mentioned earlier, led the groundbreaking study, the results of which will assist other Australian emergency response agencies.

It is clear our first responders are twice as likely to suffer from suicidal thoughts than civilians. We expect them to keep us safe, but we also have a responsibility to ensure their own safety and wellbeing. We must break down barriers that prevent first responders from getting the assistance they need to deal with the stress and trauma they face day in, day out and to make the claims process easier in the event of a diagnosis of PTSD.

The prejudice implicit in our workers compensation system tends to harbour and encourage stigma and prejudice around our first responders and those who struggle, often after ignoring their health concerns, coupled with a work culture of toughing it out. The bill aims to address and overcome this. With those words, I commend the bill to the chamber.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. R.P. Wortley.

At 17:15 the council adjourned until Tuesday 3 March 2020 at 14:15.