Legislative Council Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2) 54 2 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Question Time Screening Checks Screening Checks The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN Legislative Council Screening Checks The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (14:34): Given that the support worker of Annie Smith was not screened until after Annie Smith's death, can the minister be sure there are not people currently working with vulnerable people who do not have a screening? Apart from the case of the support worker of Ms Annie Smith, how many people have been prosecuted for not having a screening? The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK Legislative Council Minister for Human Services Screening Checks The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:34): I thank the honourable member for her question. I think it bears repeating that of course the support worker who has now been charged with the manslaughter of Ann Marie Smith didn't have a screening for many, many years, which went back some time. That was something that was not picked up under the previous government. The obligation rests on the organisations— Members interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: Order, on both sides! The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK Legislative Council The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: There are penalties for organisations not to have their workers screened— Members interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: Order! The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK Legislative Council The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: —and those penalties are very serious. The Hon. K.J. Maher interjecting: The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: The honourable Leader of the Opposition is not helping the situation. An honourable member Legislative Council An honourable member: Chuck him out. The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: And neither are members on my right. The minister has the call. The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK Legislative Council The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Of course, in some public commentary that I have seen, screenings have also been conflated with almost like a test of whether somebody is a fit and proper person. What they tell employers and the like is whether somebody has a criminal history. They are not an endorsement that somebody is the best support worker in the world. It doesn't tell you whether they have criminal intent; it is not able to predict those sorts of things. It doesn't tell you whether they are appropriately qualified of not. What it tells the screening unit, whether somebody has a screening or not, is whether they have a criminal history which has been picked up through the various criminal databases. The President Legislative Council The PRESIDENT: Final supplementary on this one, the Hon. Ms Scriven.