Page 2784 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 13 August 2019
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As I mentioned earlier, the investments we are making in the justice health space are about strengthening diversion processes away from the courts where possible and improving health services for people in custody. There are two new initiatives being funded in this year’s budget that I want to highlight today.
The first initiative is the $3 million being provided for more staff to respond to the growing number of Canberrans with complex needs appearing before the ACT courts, and support strengthening diversion processes away from the courts where possible. This initiative directly supports and aligns with the government’s agenda to “build communities, not prisons” by helping to divert people from prison and by supporting their mental health needs in the community. It will also provide more capacity to deliver mental health assessments and supports at the courts, which are often places where Canberrans can experience particularly high levels of stress and also administrative pressure.
The second initiative is a $1.1 million boost to resources for the justice health service to enhance drug and alcohol services at the Alexander Maconochie Centre. This funding is being provided in response to existing demand and feedback from the community sector regarding unmet need. It will see recruitment of additional specialised nursing staff to support an expansion of the existing opiate replacement treatment service and the delivery of a range of additional drug and alcohol services. Detainees will be able to access services seven days a week, and the service expansion will mean that they are better supported to engage with their substance use issues while also forming essential linkages with counselling and services that may help them once they are released back into the community. When we reflect on the budget, we often talk about the amount of money that is being invested in particular projects, but there are, of course, other pieces of work being done. The delivery of a new performance indicator in the budget is an example of that.
I would also like to highlight an area that I am particularly committed to: the culture review of our health services. This is a fundamental part of the success of our health and mental health services. It will be part of the government’s investment to ensure safe, high quality health care for the ACT community. In addition to taking care of our community, we are working hard to ensure that our staff are looked after.
The government has received a very detailed independent report. I will be working with the new Minister for Health, Minister Stephen-Smith, to continue the culture review oversight group, which has engaged key stakeholders to follow through on that work, to make sure that we are implementing that report effectively and that we are meeting both the spirit of that report and the actual recommendations.
In having the range of stakeholders we do, from unions to medical groups, representatives from Calvary hospital and ACT government agencies, and a range of specialist organisations—the AMA, for example—we can do that work to the highest possible standard. I thank those representatives for their willingness to continue and engage in that process.
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