Page 2383 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 2 August 2017
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As has already been discussed, there were four assets reviewed as being at extreme risk in the report. These were the structural works at the helipad, the main switchboard upgrades, a gas meter and windows in building 1. I understand from Minister Fitzharris’s public comments that work is underway to address all of these items, and the work on the helipad was completed earlier this year.
The AECOM report also identifies issues of relevance to my portfolio of mental health. Eleven items were identified within the report about Brian Hennessy house, of which nine were assessed as medium risk and two were found to be low risk. These issues will be addressed as part of the government’s future maintenance work, with priority determined based on the risk rating assigned in the report. In addition to identifying specific issues, the important finding of the AECOM report was the need to improve structures and systems for asset management planning going forward. AECOM found that while planning processes were in place for immediate and short-term issues, the long-term forecasts for replacing equipment needed to be improved.
While Mrs Dunne’s motion rightly focuses on reporting against the extreme and high-risk issues, it is also important that Canberra Hospital and ACT Health are simultaneously working to improve those longer term planning systems so as to avoid future high-risk situations as much as possible. Ideally, we would like to be in a situation where assets undergo ongoing maintenance which does not allow them to deteriorate to a level where they would be at extreme or high risk of malfunction. As part of the efforts to address this issue, strategic asset management plans are being developed for the Canberra Hospital, Calvary Public Hospital and other ACT Health sites.
I thank Mrs Dunne for bringing this motion to the Assembly today, and the ACT Greens are pleased to support it. Public reporting on the government’s Health asset maintenance program is important to ensure the public has confidence in our hospitals and other health facilities.
As Minister for Mental Health, I have a particular interest in the maintenance of our infrastructure at ACT Health’s mental health facilities. I look forward to working with Minister Fitzharris to ensure facilities right across the ACT Health system are properly maintained. Maintaining the good and proper condition of our health facilities enables our health professionals to provide the best possible level of care for the community, and that should ultimately be the focus of our health system.
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (4.10), in reply: I thank members across the chamber for their support for this motion. I thank Mr Rattenbury for his comments and the realisation that this is a motion that is designed to create transparency and confidence in the community about the fabric of our buildings.
There are a few comments that were made by the minister that I will reflect on a little. The minister, in her remarks, said that the commissioning of the AECOM report is what good governments do every day—they commission reports. She went on to say
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