Page 1244 - Week 04 - Thursday, 5 May 2022
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Yesterday in this place the government acknowledged that 28 April was World Day for Safety and Health at Work and said that all employers have an obligation to protect their workers. How true. Today marks the start of nurses and midwives week. It is those two events that bring me to the purpose of my motion today, which is to protect nurses at Dhulwa Mental Health Unit who are being assaulted, bullied and harassed—not just nurses but other staff at the facility as well who, understandably, fear going to work.
Whose job is it to protect them? It is the government’s, as their employer, and, more specifically, Minister Davidson, as Minister for Mental Health, who is responsible for the ACT’s mental health system. Minister Davidson has failed to stand up for Dhulwa nurses and has been dismissive of serious safety issues. She has also repeatedly ignored the union’s pleas for help.
Let there be no doubt that this is a serious workplace issue. The ACT secretary of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, Matthew Daniel, told the Canberra Times on Monday this week he was seriously concerned that a nurse could lose their life. Let us pause for one moment and consider that. Let us imagine that someone has made that statement and raised such a serious safety concern about our workplace here at the Assembly—a workplace for politicians and their staff, attendants, cleaners and secretariat support. I can guarantee that immediate action would be taken to prevent a worker from losing their life.
Remember that yesterday the minister for workplace safety told us that all employers have an obligation to protect their workers. Sadly, Minister Davidson has failed in her duties to protect Dhulwa nurses, and it is only because of a strong public campaign launched by the nurses union on 5 April and repeated calls from the Canberra Liberals that Minister Davidson has announced the inquiry that the nurses were calling for.
It is important to stress that this Dhulwa issue did not begin on 5 April, when the union issued its statement under the heading, “ACT government failing nurses over safety”. What a damning headline from a union in the same month when we acknowledge World Day for Safety and Health at Work.
The only reason that the union went to the public with its campaign to protect the nurses at Dhulwa, the only reason that the union took on the government and Minister Davidson, is because the government had been ignoring the union’s concerns—the union’s and the nurses’ pleas.
The union does not hold back in its frustration with this government for ignoring their serious safety concerns. Here are some of the union’s remarks: “With no sign of the government intervening to provide a safe work environment;” “Nurses have had enough of giving everything they have and being taken for granted with unsafe workspaces;” “Nurses are fed up with the ACT government for not responding to their safety and workload concerns;” and “The situation at Dhulwa represents a particularly serious example of the government’s failure to respond where there is an imminent risk of a catastrophic event.” The union goes on to say:
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video