Month: March 2021

The Greens say that the Aged Care system is fundamentally broken and there needs to be a sense of urgency in fixing it.
“The Royal Commissioners set out a five year process and the work needs to start today”, Senator Rachel Siewert said.
“This reform needs to be underpinned by a new aged care act based on a human rights approach.
“For too long, aged care has been put in the too hard basket. The Royal Commission Report clearly shows that years of tinkering around the edges has fundamentally failed older Australians.
“The funding that the Government announced yesterday is not close to enough. We have to see more in the budget.
“There is no point being sorry and distressed by what has occurred if we don’t see concrete plans for substantive reform and the commitment to adequately fund them.
“The Government must act on the most serious breaches of human rights against older Australians and an essential part of that is to move swiftly to reduce and eliminate the use of restraints in aged care.
“The use of physical or chemical restraints for control, punishment, retaliation or as a measure of convenience must be prohibited. Medicines should only ever be used for therapeutic purposes and with the free and informed consent of the person receiving them or their nominee.
“Older Australians will not be properly cared for and protected until the workforce is adequately paid and trained and the number of hours of care are increased.
“Aged Care workers can no longer be seen as collateral damage in this failed system.
“For too long those doing some of the most important work in our community have been overworked and underpaid. We must value the work that they do.”

The Attorney General must stand down and there must be an independent inquiry into the rape allegations, otherwise there will be a chilling effect on survivors speaking out, said the Greens today following the revelation of the identity of the cabinet minister.
“Today’s press conference by Christian Porter denying the rape allegations will have been extremely distressing to sexual assault survivors everywhere,” said Larissa Waters, Greens Leader in the Senate and spokesperson on women.
“After the powerful speech by Grace Tame encouraging survivors to speak out, the subtext of the Attorney-General’s denials and of the Prime Minister’s dismissal of the allegations earlier this week, is that the government doesn’t believe women.
“Mr Porter’s statement is a message to all survivors of sexual assault and rape that this government does not believe them. It will have a chilling effect on survivors and will almost certainly dissuade others from coming forward.
“Women don’t need any more discouragement from reporting sexual assault and rape, already they face disbelief from the justice system and this is why so few rapes are reported and even fewer rapists are convicted.
“The Prime Minister said two years ago that he believed victims – but actions speak louder than words. The Prime Minister exonerated Mr Porter after a brief chat, but didn’t even read the 30 page dossier of allegations from the woman.
“These are serious allegations made in circumstances in which a police investigation is no longer possible. Rather than simply dismissing the claims on the basis of Mr Porter’s assurance, the Prime Minister should initiate an inquiry to satisfy himself as to whether Mr Porter is suitable to hold a position in his Cabinet.
“Mr Porter must stand aside for the duration of an independent inquiry into these allegations. It is untenable for him to remain in the role and untenable for the Prime Minister not to order an independent inquiry.
“The Greens support calls from the alleged victim’s lawyer, family and friends for a Heydon-style independent investigation. Parliament should be setting the standard for good behaviour, not using flimsy arguments about precedent setting and ancient history to protect the boys club.”

Thousands of South Australians needing urgent mental health assistance will now be able to access cutting edge out-of-hospital care, with the doors opened this week at a nation-first mental health centre that is an alternative to a hospital Emergency Department.
The $14m Urgent Mental Health Care Centre (UMHCC) in Adelaide is the first of eight to be opened under a $114.5 million trial funded by the Australian Government.
Minister for Health, Greg Hunt, said the Adelaide Urgent Mental Health Care Centre (UMHCC) would give adults access to a range of mental health support services during extended operating hours, from midday to midnight.
“This centre is a genuine alternative to the hospital emergency department. People seeking help, especially in times of crisis, will have access to on-the-spot treatment, advice, and support provided by a variety of mental health professionals,” Minister Hunt said.
“The past year has been challenging for all Australians. The pandemic has led to many people seeking support for their mental health for the first time. Making sure that help is easily accessible and with a welcoming door for people in distress is the aim. The adult mental health centres will address a gap in the mental health system between general practice and hospitals.”
The UMHCC will have extended operating hours, from midday to midnight, which is the peak time of mental health presentation to EDs. It will initially accommodate up to 6 patients at a time, with a maximum capacity of 18 patients by May.
South Australian Minister for Health and Wellbeing, Stephen Wade, officially opened the centre and said the UMHCC delivers on the Marshall Liberal Government’s commitment to provide better services for people with mental health challenges.
“By delivering best practice crisis care, the UMHCC will not only reduce pressure on our EDs, but also reduce the time people seeking urgent help need to wait for care, freeing up hospital space and improving patient flow,” Minister Wade said.
In South Australia, there were more than 25,700 mental health presentations to EDs in metropolitan Adelaide last year. The new centre will focus on the approximately 12,800 mental health consumers who presented to EDs but did not need to be admitted to hospital to have their urgent care needs met.
Not-for-profit organisation Neami National has a long history of delivering mental health supports that are tailored to meet individual and community needs and was selected as the service provider of the UMHCC through an open tender process last year.
Neami will deliver the service in partnership with not-for-profit provider, RI International, international leaders in evidence-based services responding to people experiencing mental health distress and suicidal crises.
Chief Psychiatrist, Dr John Brayley, said that while the centre is the first of its kind in Australia, it is based on an effective ‘living room’ model that RI international has successfully implemented in a number of US cities.
“The design of the new UMHCC will include consultation rooms, and a ‘living room’ environment for people to sit in rather than hospital-style cubicles. There will be mental health peer workers, working alongside a clinical team including nursing, allied, and medical staff to provide high levels of engagement and support to people in crisis,” Dr Brayley said.
Neami National CEO, Tom Dalton, said the UMHCC will aim to demonstrate how new approaches, built on trust and a shared vision, can lead to better outcomes for people in crisis.
“Navigating the extensive range of mental health services available in communities can be challenging, especially in times of acute need,” Mr Dalton said. “More than half of the UMHCC’s multi-disciplinary team will have a lived experience of mental health recovery. The team work together to offer consumers immediate assessment, triage and treatment, and, where necessary, actively communicate with referral services to provide essential information about patient needs before any transfer.
“The centre’s model of care has been co-designed with people who have lived experience of recovery, as well as their family carers and supporters. This will amplify our impact, resulting in a recovery-focused service that will meet the urgent needs of people in Adelaide.
The services on offer at the centre include support and information for individuals, carers and families; psychological therapies; care coordination to help navigate the broader health system and connect to other appropriate services, including psychosocial supports; local outreach to meet the needs of vulnerable groups; specialised suicide prevention follow-up services; culturally safe services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; and assistance to manage comorbid substance misuse.
The UMHCC is located at 215 Grenfell Street, Adelaide and is open from 12pm to 12am every day. It will initially be open to referrals from SA Ambulance Service, SA Police and the emergency mental health phone line – the SA Mental Health Triage Service on 13 14 65. Over time the centre will expand to accept walk-in presentations and community referrals.
The seven other centres are expected to open in other jurisdictions by the end of next year.

The Morrison Government is leveraging Australia’s world-leading critical mineral and resources sector to create more jobs and economic opportunities for manufacturing businesses with the release of a new ten year plan.
The Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Processing road map shows how businesses can capitalise on Australia’s access to resources, which will be needed to manufacture many new technologies.
Applications under the Government’s $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative also opened today to projects in the priority area, to help manufacturers scale-up production, commercialise products and tap into global supply chains.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Government was focused on continuing to rebuild and grow the economy, with manufacturing playing a key role in the COVID-19 recovery.
“Yesterday’s national accounts showed the comeback of the Australian economy is well underway and manufacturing businesses and jobs will be central to our National Economic Recovery Plan as we build back from the COVID-19 recession,” the Prime Minister said.
“Our $1.5 billion Modern Manufacturing Strategy is at the heart of our JobMaker plan and it’s focused on growing our entire manufacturing sector.
“Our Modern Manufacturing Initiative will help position Australia as not just a global leader in the resources sector but also in the manufacturing of the technology used, as well as turning the raw materials into value-added products.
“Today’s funding will help unlock investment from industry to help build manufacturing capability and competitiveness in Australia’s resources sector while taking advantage of a significant global growth sector.
“This investment and this Roadmap will support jobs across Australia, particularly in our resource rich regions like the Hunter, Western Australia and Central Queensland.”
Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said the new Roadmap set out a ten-year vision to build sophisticated manufacturing capability in Australia in the resources sector.
“Opportunities outlined in the Roadmap include turning critical minerals into high value products like batteries and solar cells, as well as technologies and equipment that makes mining more efficient and safe,” Minister Andrews said.
“This funding will back businesses to pursue those opportunities and turn innovative ideas into high-value products so we can build on Australia’s competitive advantage and secure greater investment and market share.”
This Roadmap complements the Government’s initiatives to reduce electricity prices, boost liquid fuels security and invest in low emissions energy technology through Australia’s Technology Investment Roadmap.
Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia Keith Pitt said it also complements the Government’s Critical Minerals Strategy.
“The Government is committed to bringing on new supplies of critical minerals and developing this emerging sector to meet growing global demand,” he said.
“Developing our critical minerals processing capability will ensure Australian companies can move down the value chain, getting greater value out of the products they produce.”
The Roadmap also identifies how we can develop our resources technology to maximise efficiencies in our high performing resources sector.
“Our focus on resource technology will also support the development of new ideas to improve mine productivity, process efficiency and safety. As the sector’s productivity grows so does the Australian economy, benefiting all Australians,” Minister Pitt said.
The road maps in the remaining priority areas will be released in coming weeks to coincide with the opening of their respective MMI funding rounds.
The remaining road maps are; Food and Beverage, Recycling and Clean Energy, and Defence.
Initial applications will be limited to the Translation and Integration streams of the MMI, with expressions of interest for the larger Collaboration stream to open in coming months.
For more information on the road maps and available grant funding visit industry.gov.au/manufacturing .

Australian Greens Anti-racism spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has expressed her serious concerns about a Lowy Institute survey which found that 1 in 5 surveyed Chinese-Australians have been threatened or attacked during the past 12 months.
Senator Faruqi said:
“There’s no doubt ‘Covid racism’ is at play here. But we should not disregard the impact of political rhetoric and the consequences of heated debate over Australia-China relations.
“When Government MPs see nothing wrong with interrogating Chinese-Australians about their allegiances in Senate committee hearings, you can be sure there are deep-seated problems with our political debate.
“It’s completely unacceptable that thousands of Chinese-Australians are being subjected to threats or attacks.
“We need the government to commit to anti-racism, not just through policy and funded programs, but also through stamping out racist rhetoric among its own MPs,” she said.

The Greens say that the Aged Care system is fundamentally broken and there needs to be a sense of urgency in fixing it.
“The Royal Commissioners set out a five year process and the work needs to start today”, Senator Rachel Siewert said.
“This reform needs to be underpinned by a new aged care act based on a human rights approach.
“For too long, aged care has been put in the too hard basket. The Royal Commission Report clearly shows that years of tinkering around the edges has fundamentally failed older Australians.
“The funding that the Government announced yesterday is not close to enough. We have to see more in the budget.
“There is no point being sorry and distressed by what has occurred if we don’t see concrete plans for substantive reform and the commitment to adequately fund them.
“The Government must act on the most serious breaches of human rights against older Australians and an essential part of that is to move swiftly to reduce and eliminate the use of restraints in aged care.
“The use of physical or chemical restraints for control, punishment, retaliation or as a measure of convenience must be prohibited. Medicines should only ever be used for therapeutic purposes and with the free and informed consent of the person receiving them or their nominee.
“Older Australians will not be properly cared for and protected until the workforce is adequately paid and trained and the number of hours of care are increased.
“Aged Care workers can no longer be seen as collateral damage in this failed system.
“For too long those doing some of the most important work in our community have been overworked and underpaid. We must value the work that they do.”

Over 14,000 Defence personnel, through Operation COVID-19 ASSIST, have already supported the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including contact tracing, emergency clinical support, border control measures, swab testing, and support to hotel quarantine.
As part of the continued expansion of the phase 1A COVID-19 vaccine rollout, the Australian Defence Force will provide supplementary support to the rollout of vaccines to Australians in aged care.
As we move into the next phase of the aged care vaccine rollout and continue the expansion of teams, additional nurses, pharmacists and providers are being added, with ADF vaccination teams supplementing these efforts.
The teams are expected to start next week and will build on the planning, logistics, and operations support Defence personnel are already providing to the Department of Health’s COVID-19 Vaccination Taskforce.
Defence’s support to the vaccine rollout will focus on vaccinating senior Australians in locations not readily accessible by other medical providers.
This is another important role the ADF is playing in protecting Australians against COVID, as they have throughout the pandemic.