Aged-Care CCTV Trial

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:57): In regard to elder abuse and what the government is doing, will the minister update the Legislative Council on the CCTV trial in supported accommodation and whether or not the government intends to expand the use of CCTV cameras?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:57): I thank the honourable member for his question, because it is yet another example of action by the Marshall Liberal government to protect vulnerable people. The pilot commenced at Mount Pleasant on 22 March and at Northgate House on 29 March.

As I have previously advised this council, not only is this an Australian first but I am not aware of any other Australian governments undertaking a CCTV trial. I know that my honourable colleague the Minister for Human Services is looking at CCTV in the human services context, but this project, which is jointly funded by the commonwealth government and the state government, is, as I understand it, a unique government pilot.

The pilot uses artificial intelligence technology to complement the surveillance of the rooms. Contrary to comments that the honourable member made on radio this morning, the devices are not limited to common areas. I am surprised that he hadn't appreciated that from previous comments I have made in this house. Just to clarify, the surveillance is linked to an independent monitoring centre.

In terms of progress thus far, obviously with both sites having been activated in March, it is very early to get any meaningful data from the pilot so far. I did take the opportunity to visit the Mount Pleasant aged-care services in the early weeks of the pilot and did have a chance to discuss with staff some of the early teething problems. For example, one of the staff members told me that the flicking of a garbage bag, in terms of the cleaning process, was enough to activate the alarms.

As with any technology that needs to be applied in a real-world environment, the teams at the two facilities are working with a technology partner to iron out those problems. This is an important partnership with residents, families and staff because the residents' participation in the pilot is voluntary. A number of families were initially reluctant to participate but, having had briefings from the health team, chose to be involved, and the pilot will be independently evaluated because we want to make sure that we take every lesson possible so that we can provide the best possible protection to older South Australians who are living in aged care.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Pangallo.