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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-12-04 Daily Xml
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Bills

Return to Work (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) Amendment Bill

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (16:44): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Return to Work Act 2014. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (16:46): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I am proud to introduce this bill today, which is a first of its kind legislation in South Australia, designed to reduce the stigma surrounding post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), suffered by so many of our first responders as they face extreme conditions on the front line protecting our community every day.

PTSD is a mental health condition triggered by a traumatic event or cumulative exposure to traumatic incidents and is symptomatically manifested through flashbacks, insomnia, hypervigilance and, sometimes, suicide. The bill provides the rebuttable presumption of a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by first responders and volunteer first responders is work related for the purposes of workers compensation legislation.

The insertion of the word 'presumption' will, for the first time in South Australia, shift the onus of proof from worker to employer, a groundbreaking advancement in workers compensation legislation in this state. Where the presumption applies, where a diagnosis of PTSD has been made, it will be assumed, in the first instance, that the PTSD injury is work related unless there is evidence presented by the employer to establish that the cause of injury is not work related.

The bill is aimed at and focused on first responders and those who fall within the ambit of the legislation, including paramedics, police officers, firefighters, nurses, doctors, and SES and CFS volunteers. In addition, there are transitional provisions, which extend the components in the bill to claims initiated before the commencement of the amendments, unless the claim has been determined and all rights of review and appeal in relation to determination have been exhausted. Finally, there is a regulation giving power to add a person or class of persons.

This bill follows similar legislation passed earlier this year by the Hodgman Liberal government in Tasmania and hailed as nation-leading legislation. I applaud the Tasmanian Liberal government for being the first in the nation to take affirmative action to better support public sector workers who suffer with debilitating effects from PTSD.

We have consulted widely on the bill and have met several times with Professor Alexander 'Sandy' McFarlane AO of the Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies at the University of Adelaide, the Police Association of South Australia, the Ambulance Employees Association, the South Australian branch of the Nursing and Midwifery Federation, the CFS Volunteers Association, the SA SES Volunteers' Association and the United Firefighters Union of South Australia. I thank all of those organisations and their representatives for their valuable input into the bill.

Following consultation, I have chosen to focus this bill on our first responders and volunteer responders. It is my intention that should parliament be prorogued at the end of the year, whereupon all existing matters before this parliament will be extinguished, I will reintroduce the bill early in the next session of parliament and take it to a vote soon thereafter.

I also look forward to hosting a forum on the bill in the new year and inviting members to a screening of Dark Blue, a telemovie specially commissioned by the Police Federation of Australia and screened in Adelaide earlier this year, which features a compelling depiction of the true cost of PTSD on our police officers and, by extension, our other first responders and the personal cost it can have on families, relationships and carers.

I was deeply moved by watching Dark Blue and look forward to sharing it with other members of this place. The movie was accompanied by the visceral anthem Graduation Day, written by South Australia's own John Schumann. Schumann wrote the song after speaking to 25 police officers battling with PTSD about the dangers police face every day. He hopes to shine a powerful spotlight on the crippling scourge of PTSD affecting Australia's police officers in the same way his well-known anthem, I Was Only 19, changed the country's attitude to Vietnam veterans.

Graduation Day details the kinds of incidents which can cause psychological damage to police—from attending car crash scenes and shootings to the heartbreaking task of telling family members a loved one has died. I will also be inviting John to come and sing the song at the movie screening.

I want to read an email from Mark Carroll APM, President of the Police Association of South Australia, and I quote:

Dear member,

The Police Association supports SA Best MLC Frank Pangallo's introduction of the Return to Work (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) Amendment Bill 2019 into the Legislative Council today.

The bill, which applies to police officers and other first-responders, shifts the onus of proof of PTSD from the worker to the employer for the purposes of workers compensation.

This means that where a presumption applies (where a diagnosis of PTSD has been made), it will be assumed in the first instance that the PTSD is work-related, unless the employer provides evidence to the contrary.

The association has previously urged politicians to consider these changes. This is very significant legislation which, if passed, will greatly assist members recovering from PTSD.

The bill has our full backing and I will be writing to all politicians urging them to support it...

The very nature of the work our first responders do each and every day to keep us safe requires them to deny their own fears and walk towards danger. SA Police has stated that 26 per cent of its workers compensation claims in 2017-18 were due to psychological injuries.

I note a 2018 landmark study into the mental and physical health of firefighters of the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service, in conjunction with the University of Adelaide. The MFS commissioned the study to gain an accurate picture of workforce health to help it better support and manage the risks to firefighters' health from the time they are recruited through to their retirement years. The study was funded by a National Health and Medical Research Council partnership grant. Professor Sandy McFarlane, who I mentioned earlier, led the groundbreaking study, the results of which will assist other Australian emergency response agencies.

It is clear our first responders are twice as likely to suffer from suicidal thoughts than civilians. We expect them to keep us safe, but we also have a responsibility to ensure their own safety and wellbeing. We must break down barriers that prevent first responders from getting the assistance they need to deal with the stress and trauma they face day in, day out and to make the claims process easier in the event of a diagnosis of PTSD.

The prejudice implicit in our workers compensation system tends to harbour and encourage stigma and prejudice around our first responders and those who struggle, often after ignoring their health concerns coupled with a work culture of toughing it out. The bill aims to overcome this. With those words, I commend the bill to the chamber.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. T.J. Stephens.

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