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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-09-23 Daily Xml
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Kindred Living Aged Care

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (14:27): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Health and Wellbeing a question about the Kindred Living aged-care facility in Whyalla.

Leave granted.

The Hon. F. PANGALLO: In July, the organisation announced it was closing one of its three facilities in Whyalla—the Annie Lockwood Court Hostel—giving its 37 aged-care residents, many of them high-dependency residents, a month to find new accommodation. The following month, it was revealed Kindred was looking to sell its entire operations in the town, with its chief executive, Juanita Walker, claiming Kindred Living was struggling amid an 'increasing regulatory environment, a lack of funding and chronic workforce shortages'. Under the act, Kindred can't actually close the facility until all the residents have been relocated. My question to the minister is:

1. When was the last time the state government or government officials spoke with the federal government about Kindred Living?

2. Has the minister been involved with talks with aged-care minister Senator Richard Colbeck about the future of residents at Annie Lockwood hostel?

3. Can the minister confirm Kindred Living has sold its three facilities in Whyalla?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:28): I thank the honourable member for his question. My recollection was that last week, my office had discussions with the local health network that looks after Whyalla and also with the office of the federal minister. We are very keen to continue to support the commonwealth to respond to the partial closure of the facilities the honourable member refers to.

In particular, we are mindful of supporting their workforce. Obviously, with a facility closing down there have been some staff who have been seeking to move on to other jobs. Of course, the health network is a major employer in the area and so we wanted to make sure that Kindred Living was able to continue to provide safe operations. I certainly am aware of the discussions about the future of the facility, but my understanding is that there have been no public statements made by that potential purchaser. I would certainly welcome continued investment in country aged care, including at Whyalla.

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