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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 14 Hansard (9 December) . . Page.. 4716 ..

MRS CARNELL (Chief Minister and Minister for Health and Community Care) (12.00), in reply: I thank all members for their support, at least in principle, for this legislation. This legislation puts two new people on the Medical Board and on other boards as well. We already know why the legal practitioner is essential - to allow the number of cases that are currently before the Medical Board to go ahead appropriately.

I really wish that Ms Tucker had brought these amendments to us earlier, because, I have to say, we probably could have got to a stage of agreement on the words. It is our intention, as a result of this legislation, to put a community representative on the boards. In fact, most of the boards have had a community representative on them for a quite long time. I remember when - I would have to say, many years ago now - I was on the Pharmacy Board and we actually brought Jan Graham onto the board in an ex-officio capacity. The legislation had not been changed to allow that. We found her presence extraordinarily useful. She filled that position, finally, after much time, when the legislation was changed. I assume it has been changed.

My disagreement on the words is based on my experience that a consumer does not necessarily have to be a representative of a consumer association or whatever. A consumer can be one of all sorts of people; it can be somebody who has actually used the system personally a lot or somebody who is a carer of somebody who has used the system a lot. I do not think we are disagreeing - I am sure Mr Moore agrees - about having consumers on health boards. There is no doubt at all about that, but it is just the way we do it. I can guarantee that a community representative will be brought onto the Medical Board as a result of this, but I think there is actually a problem with putting three new people onto the board, rather than two, because you actually even up the numbers. You can actually end up with a tied vote on the board, if there is a vote, particularly when it comes to disciplinary procedures and so on.

I think it is something that we really should look at in the new Assembly. I guarantee that a community representative will go onto the board - there is no doubt about that - but let us look at how we do put these boards together; what the people on them really look like; and whether they are really doing the job they are there for. Remember that the job that our Medical Board and associated boards are doing is quite simple. The reason that the members of the health professions registration boards are there is to protect the community. They are not there to protect the professions; they are there to make sure that the community is properly serviced by health professionals generally. That really does rely heavily on the sorts of people that are on these boards. I will not be supporting Ms Tucker's amendments today. Again, I make the point that our amendment to the Medical Board legislation was to put a community representative on it. Let us, in the new Assembly, look at the whole make-up of the boards.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to in principle.

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