House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-09-20 Daily Xml

Contents

Child Protection

Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (15:12): My question is to the Minister for Education and Child Development. Can the minister confirm whether Families SA still relies upon single-staff shifts and whether the government will implement recommendation 150 from the royal commission and abandon this practice?

The Hon. S.E. Close interjecting:

Mr Marshall: Why is it so funny, Susan?

The Hon. S.E. CLOSE (Port Adelaide—Minister for Education and Child Development, Minister for Higher Education and Skills) (15:12): I just love the enthusiasm; it's beautiful. My recollection of 150—and I would just like to confirm—is that that relates to commercial care shifts. That is referring to 'abandon single-handed shifts', yes. We are in the process of redrawing the contracts with our commercial carers so that there are no longer single-handed shifts for commercial carers. It obviously takes a period of time to both redo the contract and for them to recruit. A broader consideration of moving away from single-handed shifts is an ongoing consideration as part of the response.