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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-11-17 Daily Xml
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COVIDSafe App

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:59): A supplementary: can the minister explain if SA Health uses the federal government's COVIDSafe app in its tracing efforts?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:59): Yes; we certainly do. The COVIDSafe app is one of a number of tools that can provide data for contact tracing. Another project that we've currently got underway is to explore the use of QR codes and other forms of technology to bring data, particularly from high-risk sites like licensed premises, churches and the like.

What is really important for us is to have the data in a form that can be brought together, so a lot of work has been done, both at the state and federal level, to increase the range of data that might be available to us and also, to be frank, to improve the technology that is available for the contact tracers so that they can, if you like, make the links. It is all very well and good for a QR code to tell us that somebody was at a nightclub and for the COVIDSafe app to tell us that a positive case was also at the same nightclub, but we need to be able to make that information available to contact tracers.

In that regard, we have been upgrading the IT for the contact tracing team, which had an added benefit this week, because the IT system we use for contact tracing I think is called Salesforce. My understanding is that is the same program used by Western Australia, so if I could take this opportunity to thank the Western Australian government for having made contract tracers available to us. The latest advice I have received is that 10 Western Australian contact tracers have been backing up our efforts.

It would also be remiss of me in that context to not acknowledge the generosity of the commonwealth government and the Australian Defence Force. They have been very important and trusted partners of the South Australian government through this pandemic, particularly in the context of border controls and logistics and planning, very key members of our state command centre at Health. But also in the current context the Prime Minister has been in contact with the Premier and offered whatever help the ADF can provide. One of the areas of interest for us, of course, is contact tracing; that is expertise that the ADF has.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon Ms—

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: It's a supplementary on it.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon Mr Pangallo was up before. Is this following on from the previous one?

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