Page 365 - Week 01 - Thursday, 13 February 2020

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consultations on a model of care for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Specific Residential Rehabilitation Facility. Under this contract a final Model of Care is to be delivered by July 2020.

(2) In relation to the purpose of the Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm as noted by Minister Gentleman in 2014:

“The farm will not be a place for medical treatment or to detoxify. Rather, it will be a place free of drugs and alcohol, with a strong focus on Aboriginal spirituality and culture. It will include a strong focus on agriculture and connection to the land."

(3) ACT has three residential rehabilitation services for the general community and a residential rehabilitation service for young people. This is in addition to a number of day rehabilitation programs. However, unlike other jurisdictions, the ACT does not have an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander specific residential rehabilitation facility, which is an identified gap in service provision for the ACT.

Data from the 2017-18 national minimum data set for alcohol and drug treatment indicates that 14 per cent of closed treatment episodes for residential rehabilitation were for people who identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait islander.

The ACT Health Directorate is also aware of a number of people seeking culturally specific treatment interstate due to the lack of a culturally specific facility in the ACT.

Given this, a culturally specific residential rehabilitation facility in the ACT could increase access and improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples seeking treatment for substance dependence issues.

Questions without notice taken on notice

ACT Health—workplace culture

Ms Stephen-Smith (in reply to a question and supplementary questions by Mr Parton and Mrs Dunne on Wednesday, 27 November 2019):

1. No ACT Health Directorate or Canberra Health Services employees have been terminated this year for behaviours described as bullying or harassment. A sanction including termination can only be imposed on an employee following a determination of misconduct that has been substantiated through an independent investigation process.

2. A “final warning” is not a sanction that may be applied to an employee. The ACT Public Sector Enterprise Agreements section H11 Disciplinary Actions and Sanctions details the sanctions that may be applied following a determination of misconduct:

written reprimand;

a financial penalty which can:

o reduce the employee’s incremental level;

o defer the employee’s incremental advancement; and

o impose a fine on the employee.


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