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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-04-08 Daily Xml
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Question Time

Coronavirus

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:17): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Health and Wellbeing regarding public health.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Today, I spoke to the family of a nurse who were distressed due to a range of issues that include the limit of one toilet break per shift because they don't have enough masks for more than one change per shift. The main issue that was of concern, though, was that despite a huge need for medical professionals, they have casual nursing colleagues who are being stood down in the public health system and who cannot access JobKeeper payments. My questions to the minister are:

1. What support is the state government providing to public hospital casual nurses who are unable to work because of issues such as elective surgery cancellations but are also not entitled to receive the federal government's JobKeeper allowance?

2. How many casual nurses are being stood down despite the Prime Minister's desire to keep employees connected to their employer? Finally:

3. How many and what types of public sector health workers are being stood down with no access to JobKeeper payments?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:18): If you will allow me, I will leave the elements of the question that relate to the JobSeeker allowance. That is not my area of responsibility. Certainly, there is no doubt that the directions put in place by this state government in pursuance of the national cabinet's decision to not undertake non-urgent elective surgery has had a dramatic impact on activity levels in both the private sector and the public sector.

In relation to casual staff within our local health networks, I am advised that local health networks have been redirecting their staff to areas of need and focusing on retraining staff to meet surge capacity, should that be needed. The primary focus has been on ensuring that ongoing and temporary staff are meaningfully and gainfully employed.

A key element of the government's strategy in both the ongoing engagement of staff within our health system and also, to be frank, our engagement with the private hospitals under the national partnership agreement with the commonwealth government has been to make sure that nursing staff do continue to be available in the months ahead.

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