Domiciliary Care

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:36): Supplementary arising from the original answer: is any single one of those approximately 30 workers still providing services to people in South Australia living with a disability, minister?

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Leader of the Opposition, is that not exactly what you just asked in the question before? Minister, I do not see it as a supplementary question.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:36): I think this is another one of these slur-type questions.

The PRESIDENT: Minister for Human Services, if you wish to answer.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: This is one of these questions where—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: —the Labor Party is trying to make all sorts of inferences.

The Hon. K.J. Maher: No, this is information that has been provided to you. We are not making inferences. This is your own confidential briefing—

The PRESIDENT: Order! The Leader of the Opposition, you have asked your question, it was listened to in silence; the minister will be heard in silence by the opposition.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: The advice I have received is that all the names on that list were appropriately followed up by the DHS screening unit, and that is the response. They have full powers to investigate matters on a range of things, to check criminal history records and to follow up investigations and allegations that have been made. Some of those allegations have been untested, and that is something the screening unit has to grapple with on a daily basis—that allegations may be made against certain people. If it is a single allegation, then that is something that is probably unlikely to revoke someone's screening.

If a worker has a number of allegations made against them, then they will need to do a more detailed assessment, but a single allegation against a worker is probably not likely enough to prevent them from having a screening. If the people on that list were not able to be properly identified, then clearly the screening unit isn't able to follow up those either.