Page 1627 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 9 May 2018

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Furthermore, we have been hearing for years about the workloads in our courts and how magistrates have to deal with the issues of an ever-increasing population with the same number of magistrates. This allows our best and brightest to continue to serve our community. Other jurisdictions in Australia have already moved to 70 or higher. It is now time for the ACT to make the retirement age of magistrates meet community standards and expectations. I commend this bill to the Assembly.

Debate (on motion by Mr Ramsay) adjourned to the next sitting.

Orders of the day—discharge

Motion (by Ms Le Couteur) agreed to:

That order of the day No 2, Private Members’ business, being the Crimes (Invasion of Privacy) Amendment Bill 2017, be discharged from the Notice Paper.

Hospitals—governance

MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (10.07): I move:

That this Assembly:

(1) notes:

(a) in relation to the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children (CHWC):

(i) media reports on 26 April 2018 about concerns of clinical staff at the CHWC that mothers and babies’ lives are being put at risk by chronic overcrowding within the maternity unit;

(ii) the article reported that CHWC clinical staff had sent a letter to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing, outlining their concerns, which included:

(A) a lack of integrity in presenting the CHWC for the accreditation audit undertaken in March 2018;

(B) a lack of appropriate human and equipment resources and CHWC capacity;

(D) the prevalence of physical and emotional exhaustion among staff;

(iii) the CHWC was built in 2012 with no more capacity than the facility it replaced;

(iv) according to the answer given to a question taken on notice on 24 October 2017, there were short periods during September 2017, in which the CHWC was over capacity and the maternity ward at Calvary Public Hospital was at capacity; and

(v) Calvary Public Hospital is increasing its maternity ward bed capacity by only three, which will not be ready until July 2018;

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