Page 2086 - Week 07 - Thursday, 20 August 2020
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recommendations from the inquest into the death of Joanne Lea Lovelock. I acknowledge Joanne Lovelock and her life and offer my sincere condolences to her family and friends for their tragic loss.
Acting Chief Coroner Theakston found Ms Lovelock died on 25 December 2015 from the combined effects of alcohol, and the prescription medications amitriptyline and methadone. The government has considered the coroner’s report and supports the recommendation for national real-time prescription monitoring, with auditing functionality. I can advise that work is already underway to implement the national real-time prescription monitoring system in the ACT in 2021, which will address the coroner’s recommendation. The ACT government is also working to address the coroner’s desire to see a broader range of medicines in the ACT’s online remote access real-time prescription monitoring website, DORA. The Government is already committed to commence the monitoring of some schedule 4 medicines through national real-time prescription monitoring by June 2021.
Monitoring the dispensing of controlled medicines is only one piece of the puzzle. We also need to focus our efforts on harm reduction in the community and the delivery of alcohol, drug and mental health services. The ACT government has a comprehensive plan to tackle the issues associated with drug and alcohol harm. The ACT government met action 16 of the ACT Drug Strategy Action Plan 2018-2021 by implementing the DORA real-time prescription monitoring system for practitioners in 2019. Our focus has now moved to upgrading to nationally consistent prescription monitoring next year, as agreed to by the Council of Australian Governments Health Council in April 2018.
Consultation will also soon be undertaken to determine the list of schedule 4 medicines that will be monitored by the ACT’s prescription monitoring system. These measures will further improve oversight of prescriptions and the dispensing of medicines that may cause harm in the ACT due to abuse, misuse or diversion. In accordance with the ACT government’s obligations under the Coroners Act, I commend the response to the ACT Legislative Assembly.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Environment—climate change
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Manager of Government Business, Minister for Advanced Technology and Space Industries, Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Minister for Planning and Land Management, Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Minister for Urban Renewal) (2.42): Pursuant to standing order 211, I move:
That the Assembly take note of the following paper:
Learning from Canberra’s Climate-Fuelled Summer of Crisis—A report with recommendations submitted to the ACT Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change by the ACT Climate Change Council on 26 June 2020.
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