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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-06-05 Daily Xml
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Mental Health Services

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (15:24): My question is to the Premier. Is the Premier informing the house that no state-based NGO has had a reduction in their funding in the mental health sector?

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (15:24): I have explained this on multiple occasions.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier has the call.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: The money, which is currently going to NGOs for the provision of services to some clients, as those clients transfer to the NDIS as per the original design of the NDIS—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —transfers to the federal jurisdiction. If NGOs think that they are going to essentially lose clients and retain the funding, well, unfortunately, that is not going to occur. But the reality is this is the design of the program which we inherited and, I might say, inherited very happily. We think this is a very important reform.

I make the point that the Chief Psychiatrist has now written to the NGOs, and he has talked about the impact to them of transferring from the state system to the federal system, and he specifically requested that he be advised of any client-related continuity of support issues that may have arisen. He has also—very helpfully, I think—set up a transition task force, which we are also very pleased about. But in any way, shape or form to characterise this transfer of funding as a cut is misleading. It actually undermines the confidence in our mental health services in South Australia.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I make this point very strenuously. This is a disgraceful action taken by some people who have gone out to undermine the confidence in our mental health service—

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, leader!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: —increasing the level of anxiety and frustration for some of our most vulnerable people in South Australia and also increasing the anxiety of the people who are on the front line of some of the toughest areas of public policy in this state.

An honourable member interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL: I condemn this behaviour and I think it is absolutely disgraceful.

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