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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 10 Hansard (13 October) . . Page.. 3079 ..

MR MOORE (continuing):

assessment. With the new service arrangements, access to the Drug and Alcohol Counselling Service should be improved, more equitable and more planned. That was the goal, as I said yesterday.

Staff training: All staff rostered to perform intake and assessment duties have received training for the new service arrangements. All staff have been assessed through selection processes to be as competent as other alcohol and drug workers. The selection criteria were based on national alcohol and drug worker competency standards. Staff performing intake and assessment are all case workers or nurses. Case workers have a range of tertiary qualifications, including counselling, health, education, alcohol and drug work certificates, and general nursing. Other staff likely to perform these duties will have other qualifications, for example social work, psychology, mental health nursing. This is much improved on the previous arrangements, as administrative staff were previously the first point of contact.

There is no waiting time for intake, aside from a short queue on the phones. With the implementation of the new arrangements, time frames are specified for assessment based on priority of client needs and for allocation, if needed, to a case worker or a counsellor. The maximum time for a client to access a case worker or counsellor following an assessment in the new model should be no longer than 14 days. This is also much improved on the previous system, where clients have waited three weeks or more for a counselling appointment. Finally, statistics will be maintained on the major aspects of service delivery.

MR SMYTH: Mr Speaker, I have additional information for Mr Hargreaves on the tender yesterday. The department has given me this information. I am advised that the member's question refers to tender No. T99091, which invited proposals for the provision of event management services in relation to the management and implementation of the 1999 Christmas and New Year events in Canberra. The tender documents required the contractor, among other things, to formulate and implement a sponsorship program to raise a minimum of $250,000. The tender document also provides that the Territory has allocated a budget of $500,000 for both events; that the draft program of events identified was costed at almost $800,000; that sponsorship would be required to supplement the allocated funds; and that the program of events would need to be tailored to meet the funds available. These provisions remain a part of the contract with the successful tenderer.

MR HUMPHRIES (Treasurer, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice and Community Safety): Mr Speaker, I present for the information of members, pursuant to section 26 of the Financial Management Act 1996, the Consolidated Financial Management Report for the month and financial year to date ending 31 August 1999. The report was circulated to members when the Assembly was not sitting.

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