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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-05-20 Daily Xml
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Communities and Social Inclusion Department Screening Unit

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (15:03): My question is to the Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion: can the minister tell the house why her department is taking up to two months to process police checks through the DCSI Screening Unit?

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON (Ramsay—Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) (15:03): The screening unit, part of the Department of Communities and Social Inclusion, is an important service which protects some our most vulnerable members of our society from harm, including children, people with a disability and older South Australians.

In 2013, the screening unit received an additional $1 million for an extra 11 full-time equivalent employees to assist with an increase in demand for services. The assessment process of applications for screening clearances involved a full investigation of all relevant and available information in Australia relating to an applicant. It is not just a simple criminal history check. Where no relevant information is identified for an applicant—

Mr GARDNER: Point of order, sir. I think you need to assist the minister. She is reading an answer to a Dorothy Dixer. It was actually a question raised by the member for Morphett. It was quite specific, but she is going nowhere near.

The SPEAKER: I will listen to the answer, but it appeared to be germane to me.

Mr Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: I will listen and, I am afraid, member for Morialta, if you are wrong, it's a bogus point of order and you will be departing. The Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion.

The Hon. Z.L. BETTISON: Thank you, Mr Speaker. It would be really good if we had a bipartisan view on this very important part of protecting children at risk. Where no relevant information is identified for an applicant, the turnaround time for processing an application is around 20 business days. I am advised that around 84 per cent of applicants are cleared within 20 days. Where any relevant information is identified requiring further assessment, an application may take more than eight weeks to process.

These time frames are clearly disclosed on the website. The number of applicants requiring further assessment represents around 16 per cent of the total number of applications. Of course, I understand the process of, and time involved in, obtaining an employment screening clearance can be frustrating to applicants. However, our government makes no apology for this, for ensuring that every effort is taken to protect some of our most vulnerable members of society from harm.

Ms Chapman interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The deputy leader is warned for the second and final time.

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