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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-03-17 Daily Xml
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Integrity Care SA

Ms COOK (Hurtle Vale) (15:41): Nearly one year ago Annie Smith died a slow and horrific death as a result of neglect. It is alleged she was under the watch of a single support worker, Rosa Maione. The very people who hired Ms Maione, Integrity Care, oversaw the rostering and took therefore responsibility for the competency of its workers who also now are under scrutiny. There are many people as vulnerable as Annie Smith in our community who rely on wonderful support workers.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: Point of order.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: There is a point of order, Attorney?

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: Yes, I just raise the point, for the benefit of the house and the member, that the case to which she has referred is still a matter before the courts. I would ask, sir, that you encourage the member to direct her comments in relation to the general concerns I expect she has as to vulnerable people.

Ms Cook: This has got nothing to do with the case of Annie Smith once I finish this part.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: The member has just identified the name of the person who has been charged in relation to a matter, and I ask her to confine her remarks to the general comment and not to the matters of that specific case.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, Attorney, for raising that point of order. It is actually for me to ask the member to confine her remarks. I have taken on board the conversation that has been had across the chamber, out of order though it is. I take it, member for Hurtle Vale, that you will be confining your remarks from now on, please?

Ms COOK: Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Thank you for your counsel, Attorney. I will just go back a couple of lines, if you would not mind just waiting, just so I can get back into the flow, because I want to make sure that I do not say anything that is not actually what has been reported to us.

There are many wonderful people working as support workers in the community who support people who are as vulnerable as Annie Smith in our community. Clearly, the agency involved previously did not do a great job, and the people in charge of that organisation should really not have anything to do with employment, oversight or training of support workers.

It has been brought to my attention and publicised that Amy Collins, one of the three former directors of Integrity Care, is now teaching student support workers at a company called Wade Training, an organisation which is run by Amy's own mother and which has direct links to Integrity Care itself.

It is published in online reports that Integrity Care owes substantial loans to Kerrie Wade, to the tune of $400,000. Other loans to and from directors of the organisations are also published in the financial statements. It beggars belief that a former director at the centre of one of South Australia's most shameful acts of neglect could be delivering education to people who will go on to provide personal care and support to vulnerable South Australians.

We have also had reports of mismanagement of NDIS plans, use of client credit cards and more that has been reported to us. It is concerning. Wade Training was suspended in September 2020 by the Australian Skills Quality Authority. This suspension is currently stayed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal while under review. It does not fill one with confidence.

Wade Training continues to operate during this time. I am told that it is not just one Integrity Care director who is employed there but virtually the entire Integrity Care administrative team. It is quite a cosy arrangement.

I have been advised by Wade Training staff that there are other staff there directed, and in some places completing, literacy tests for students who are struggling with language skills. A student has reported to me that the owner of the organisation has been seen reading out the answers to assessments directly for students to write down or she and other staff members changing answers on assessments themselves.

What qualifications do these people have? Do they have any recent clinical experience and are they trained in certificates in training and assessment themselves? Several students have also advised that the RTO assessor signing off on their competencies has no qualification all. It is disgusting.

I am advised there has been a report made to SAPOL of an alleged assault by the owner of Wade Training against a student, and both students and former staff have reported to us a culture of bullying and harassment within that training organisation. I am also aware that a worker from a state-government funded RTO was in attendance at the time of this assault.

This person is charged with providing support to students undergoing training and we are told nothing happened as a result of that. In fact, I am told the only thing that happened since then was that the owner responded to this report by then threatening students within the classes. What are the students to do?

I call on the state government to reach out to these students currently enrolled in courses at Wade Training, offer them assistance to move to another provider and ensure that they facilitate any RPL that could be done in order to get them to finish their training. It is not the fault of the students that they have found themselves in this arrangement. They need to complete quality training in order to enter the workforce.

Aged and disability care training providers have a duty of care to provide the qualifications and skills needed for the highest quality care and safety of our most vulnerable, like Annie Smith, and both the state and the federal governments must ensure safeguards and oversights are in place to guarantee this.

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