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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-09-07 Daily Xml
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Disability Services

The Hon. N.J. CENTOFANTI (15:22): My question is to the Minister for Human Services regarding safeguarding people with disability. Can the minister please update the chamber on how the Marshall Liberal government is expanding its CCTV pilot in state-run disability homes following a successful South Australian first three-month trial?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (15:22): I thank the honourable member for her question and for her interest in this very important area, as we all do want to ensure that we are providing the safest possible environments for vulnerable people who are living in our accommodation services.

In terms of the extension of a CCTV trial, as members would be aware, we undertook a trial with two properties that are part of the supported accommodation services in Adelaide's south. That is 10 residents across those two houses, and we needed to ask both the residents themselves and their guardians permission in order to install those.

What we have found since the trial has taken place is that there were no incidents at all in those two properties and so we are looking to extend this trial to up to six sites across our accommodation services, so we will be going out to ask people if they are interested. We will be communicating that to people shortly. There has been another $120,000, which will be invested in the trial cameras.

In terms of the initial homes, they were just in the common areas, and we do know that the people who were engaged in that did feel safer. The footage was retained and was not able to be accessed unless there was an incident, so that protected the privacy of people in those areas. We will be going out shortly to ensure that we are asking people where they would like these cameras installed, and so need to obviously consult with the people who live in those homes that will be selected and with their guardians. It is just one of the many tools in which we are providing safeguards to people.

I think it is worth reminding the chamber that we have done several reviews of our critical client incident process. As I have said before, I am always notified of anything that is declared a critical incident. We have lowered the threshold so that anything which—for instance, a staff member may grab a client's arm—will be declared a CCI is then investigated. They may have done it for safety purposes or they may have done it inappropriately.

We are very proud of the work we have done. We have a zero tolerance approach to any incidents or alleged incidents that take place across our services, and continue to ensure that the clients, their families and staff know that they need to report anything at all, how to report it, and that those things will be appropriately followed up, including, if appropriate, by the police.

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