❓ Opposition questions the Mental Health Minister about the Auditor General's report on the suicide prevention strategy, alleging misleading the house due to lack of quantifiable measures. Minister defends the strategy, citing qualitative benefits and initial difficulties.
AnsweredQoN 503Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
SUICIDE
PREVENTION STRATEGY — AUDITOR GENERAL'S REPORT
503. Hon LJILJANNA RAVLICH to
the Minister for Mental Health:
I refer to the Auditor General's report on the
implementation and initial outcomes of the suicide prevention strategy, which
found that reporting of the strategy lacked quantifiable and objective measures
that would have allowed it to consistently measure community action plan
performance and that suicide prevention plans were not monitored and the
council could not evidence the effectiveness of the program. Given that the
minister has repeatedly informed this house of the success of the suicide
prevention strategy, whilst at all times knowing that community action plans
were not being monitored and there were no measures in place to measure the
performance of the strategy, will she now apologise to the house for misleading
it; and, if not, why not?
PREVENTION STRATEGY — AUDITOR GENERAL'S REPORT
503. Hon LJILJANNA RAVLICH to
the Minister for Mental Health:
I refer to the Auditor General's report on the
implementation and initial outcomes of the suicide prevention strategy, which
found that reporting of the strategy lacked quantifiable and objective measures
that would have allowed it to consistently measure community action plan
performance and that suicide prevention plans were not monitored and the
council could not evidence the effectiveness of the program. Given that the
minister has repeatedly informed this house of the success of the suicide
prevention strategy, whilst at all times knowing that community action plans
were not being monitored and there were no measures in place to measure the
performance of the strategy, will she now apologise to the house for misleading
it; and, if not, why not?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question
because it again gives me the opportunity to say that had she read all of the
report and not just picked out a couple of bits, she would have read that the
Auditor General made it very clear that there were qualitative aspects of the
report that indicated that the communities and individuals benefited from the
strategy.
Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : You said that it was successful,
but you can't measure it, so apologise.
The PRESIDENT : Order!
Hon HELEN MORTON : No-one is denying that in the
beginning, even before I was the minister, there were some difficulties around
the establishment of the strategy and the establishment of the non-government
organisation. The report asks why the commission was not included in the
structure in the beginning. That is because the commission was not even in
existence in the beginning. There are many things around why it was not as
straightforward in the beginning as we would like it to have been. The Auditor
General also makes the clear indication, had the member attended the briefing —
Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich interjected.
The PRESIDENT : Order!
Hon HELEN MORTON : Had the member attended the briefing, the Auditor General would have told her that —
Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich interjected.
The PRESIDENT : Order!
Several members interjected.
The PRESIDENT : Order! We do not have a provision
for supplementary questions, let alone asking one halfway through the minister's
answer, so let us hear the answer.
Hon HELEN MORTON : Again, it was made very clear that
this project got very much on track as the strategy progressed. The qualitative
information around the strategy was that communities significantly benefited
and continue to benefit.
because it again gives me the opportunity to say that had she read all of the
report and not just picked out a couple of bits, she would have read that the
Auditor General made it very clear that there were qualitative aspects of the
report that indicated that the communities and individuals benefited from the
strategy.
Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich : You said that it was successful,
but you can't measure it, so apologise.
The PRESIDENT : Order!
Hon HELEN MORTON : No-one is denying that in the
beginning, even before I was the minister, there were some difficulties around
the establishment of the strategy and the establishment of the non-government
organisation. The report asks why the commission was not included in the
structure in the beginning. That is because the commission was not even in
existence in the beginning. There are many things around why it was not as
straightforward in the beginning as we would like it to have been. The Auditor
General also makes the clear indication, had the member attended the briefing —
Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich interjected.
The PRESIDENT : Order!
Hon HELEN MORTON : Had the member attended the briefing, the Auditor General would have told her that —
Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich interjected.
The PRESIDENT : Order!
Several members interjected.
The PRESIDENT : Order! We do not have a provision
for supplementary questions, let alone asking one halfway through the minister's
answer, so let us hear the answer.
Hon HELEN MORTON : Again, it was made very clear that
this project got very much on track as the strategy progressed. The qualitative
information around the strategy was that communities significantly benefited
and continue to benefit.
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