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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-06-02 Daily Xml
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National Disability Insurance Scheme

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:50): My question is to the Minister for Human Services regarding disability services. Minister, what do you understand to be the duty of care that the state has to people living with a disability and, in particular, what are South Australia's specific duty of care arrangements under the NDIS?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (14:50): If I can just address the line of questioning that the honourable member was asking about previously, which I think may have been prompted by comments that Mr Maurice Corcoran made recently about the Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner and a range of concerns that had been raised. The advice that I have received from the current commissioner in relation to a range of those investigations that took place in acute care settings is that they were all investigated and that the health system has amended its practices as a result of those.

The duty of care is quite a broad discussion, I think. In terms of duty of care—in fact, in a general sense—we all have a duty of care to one another to not ensure harm and neglect and a range of things. In relation to somebody who is a client of the NDIS, the front-line safeguarding mechanism for them, which I think was well understood by a range of people previously—indeed the member for Reynell in a speech in 2017 identified that the Quality and Safeguards Commission would be the front-line agency to regulate and ensure safety for people with disabilities, and I have also received that same advice from Mr Corcoran.

There is a general duty of care that we all have as citizens. The Quality and Safeguards Commission clearly has the regulatory and safeguarding oversight for all NDIS clients. Anyone else who comes in touch with what you might call a mainstream service, whether that is a health setting or the like, has a duty of care under those areas. There is a broad duty of care by everyone over everyone and specifically if someone is in a specific care setting, then that follows through that particular regulatory authority.

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