Page 3942 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 29 November 2022
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MRS KIKKERT: Minister, why are potentially highly violent offenders being denied or forced to wait extremely long wait times to get their anti-psychotic meds?
MS DAVIDSON: I can’t answer the specifics of someone’s health care in a public environment like this but I can assure you that Justice Health services do include psychiatric care, psychologist care and other mental health services as part of the care they provide to people. If there is someone specifically that you have concerns about I invite you to let my office know about what is happening and we can follow that up for the individual.
MS CASTLEY: Minister, why have you allowed things to get to a point where there is entrenched animosity between Justice Health, ACTCS and Winnunga? What negative effects does this have on daily operations?
MS DAVIDSON: I reject the premise of the question that there is that kind of entrenched animosity. It is a very difficult space in which to deliver services and there are times when Corrections, Justice Health and Winnunga need to work collaboratively to provide care to people but all three of those services are committed to providing the best possible care for people who are in the AMC. I know they are continuing to seek ways to continually improve the ways in which they work together. Such as for example, the roll out of the digital health record recently, being able to better support the sharing of clinical information where it is necessary between Winnunga and Justice Health services to make sure everyone has the information they need to deliver the right health care at the right time.
Inspector of Correctional Services—resourcing
MRS KIKKERT: My question is to the Minister for Corrections. The Inspector of Correctional Services stated they do not have any additional funding from the ACT to carry out their OPCAT responsibilities and that their budget bid for the last three years has “languished”.
At this point, they have not been able to conduct visits to Bimberi as often as they would like and should, under OPCAT legislation, due to under-resourcing. They further stated that they do not have the staff capacity to follow-up on the implementation of their recommendations. This is particularly important, as the inspector contests government claims that no less than six recommendations are resolved. These too could be resolved with additional funding. Minister, why has this government been unable to provide the funding three years in a row for just one more FTE position for the inspector's office?
MR GENTLEMAN: I thank Mrs Kikkert for the question. I responded to the exact same question during the annual report hearings. It is a cabinet decision on funding for the Inspector of Correctional Services, and those decisions sit with cabinet.
MRS KIKKERT: Minister, how will you advocate for the Inspector of Correctional Services to get an extra FTE position in the next round of budget discussions?
MR GENTLEMAN: That will be some work for me and my directorate.
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