Aged-Care CCTV Trial

In reply to the Hon. F. PANGALLO ().5 July 2022).

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Attorney-General, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector): The Minister for Health and Wellbeing has been advised:

1. A key aspect of the SA Health CCTV pilot project was the independent evaluation, undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The final evaluation report, includes key findings such as;

A four-month commissioning phase to calibrate the system. This incurred delays in preparing the technology, decreasing the time of the active trial.

12,000 of alerts raised across the two sites were not verified as 'true events' and the technology was unable to distinguish between events of concern and regular movements and sounds.

In the final months of the pilot, staff were unable to respond to the alerts.

There was at least one instance where staff didn't respond to an alert that turned out to be a true resident fall event.

2. The report is publicly available on the SA Health website, and a copy has been provided directly to the honourable member.

3. The CCTV system has remained in situ at Mt Pleasant and Northgate House but is not operational following the final evaluation report.

4. The combined South Australian government and commonwealth government investment was budgeted at $785,000 (GST excl.). Actual budget spent was $839,564.

5. Following the trial, the government is now commencing a public consultation of different technology options. Following completion of the community consultation, a final report will be prepared to inform options in relation to the future use of surveillance and monitoring technology in residential care facilities.