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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2007-10-18 Daily Xml
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AIDS COUNCIL OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (14:47): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Substance Abuse a question about the AIDS Council of South Australia Sex Industry Network.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: Time and again I have raised concerns in this place that the AIDS Council of South Australia is operating in a vacuum of unaccountability and that it is simply out of control. Last year Family First raised the fact that the AIDS Council of South Australia, through its taxpayer-funded SHine SA program, was referring some of its clients to prostitutes. Then, in June, I raised the outrageous fact that this organisation (this time through its SAVIVE program) was printing a magazine, again using taxpayer funds, which contained pro-drug use articles, including statements like. 'You mean taking as many drugs as you can isn't the meaning of life?'; 'You say I'm smashed like it's a bad thing'; 'Alcohol is fun, but take drugs instead and you'll remember your night out'; and perhaps the worst of all, 'Children are a blessing. You never know when you'll need someone to go out and score for you.'

Sadly, it does not stop there. Today I raise a further concern, this time with the AIDS Council Sex Industry Network program. On 22 September this year, the AIDS Council placed an advertisement in the The Advertiser for three positions within its Sex Industry Network program. When Family First obtained the job specifications and the specific advertising for these positions, it was shocked. Indeed, I have a copy of the document here. The job specifications indicate that 'sex work experience is essential for the position'. Two other positions also indicate 'personal experience of injecting drugs is also essential to achieve the position.'

The Hon. A. Bressington: Taxpayer funded.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: Taxpayer funded. My questions are:

1. Is the minister shocked and disappointed at finding that the AIDS Council continues to act in this way?

2. Why is the minister, as the Minister for Substance Abuse, funding an organisation that demands job applicants use drugs or participate in prostitution as a mandatory prerequisite for employment in this organisation?

3. Does the minister agree that this is a gross misuse of taxpayers' funds, and what action will she take to immediately address this deplorable situation?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister Assisting the Minister for Health) (14:50): The AIDS Council of South Australia conducts a wide range of very important programs aimed at improving the health and well-being of key client groups and preventing the transmission of HIV and other blood-borne diseases. The funding for these programs comes from a range of sources, including both state and commonwealth. State government funds are provided by Drug and Alcohol Services South Australia. A key program is the South Australian Sex Industry Network (SA SIN) program, which is funded through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG)—an illicit drug division initiative supporting measures relating to needle and syringe programs. SA SIN provides an Outreach Clean Needle program service to street-based sex workers in metropolitan Adelaide, a highly marginalised population that is particularly vulnerable to the transmission of blood-borne diseases, including HIV.

It is important to put this really important work in perspective. Not only does SA SIN provide a clean needle program but also education and information about safer injecting and also the dangers of sharing injecting equipment, including needles. It provides information about safe disposal practices, as well as providing referrals to drug treatment services and referrals to the health, legal and other social services; so it provides a wide range of important services. It should be stressed that accessing people who become vulnerable to these blood-borne disease transmissions by engaging in these high risk behaviours is an incredibly complex thing to do.

Paramount to that prevention, it is important to be successful with this group in order to, in turn, help prevent those diseases spreading further into the broader community. It is therefore vital that government-funded agencies such as the AIDS Council do this very important work. The AIDS Council has a proven history of engaging these very hard to reach groups, and Australia has been very successful in its AIDS and HIV prevention efforts. A significant component has been the provision of peer education services such as those provided by SA SIN. Peer education has been demonstrated to be a very successful way of engaging drug users to change this very high-risk behaviour.

Earlier today I was advised that the AIDS Council informed the department that there was an advertisement for a commonwealth-funded project to prevent AIDS and HIV amongst injecting sex industry workers. I have asked for this matter to be further investigated as I was made aware of it only late this afternoon. I certainly do not endorse the requirement that it is essential to employ an injecting drug user. However, I am informed that the advertisement could equally apply to a former injecting drug user. A peer educator may be someone who has significant personal knowledge of or experience in injecting drug use, enhancing their credibility and effectiveness with clients while themselves not engaging in these risk behaviours. So it is important that we reach this community. I am advised that Australia has one of the lowest rates of HIV amongst injecting drug users, and I have been advised that the peer support workers are an important part of that very successful outcome. I have asked for the matter to be further investigated, and I do not endorse the position that it be an essential requirement for the position.

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