BRIDGET ARCHER, TASMANIAN HEALTH MINISTER: It is fantastic to be here with Assistant Minister White and Trudi Steedman from CHaPS, as well as Andrew Hargrave from the Department of Health Infrastructure to see construction underway on this intensive residential parenting unit here at St Johns Park. This is a really exciting project that will double the capacity of the beds available for new parents and their babies. This work has commenced here with the existing heritage building and when that work is completed, it will move to the extension that will also house those new beds. This is a very exciting milestone and follows on from the opening a week or so ago of the Intensive Residential Parenting Unit in the north, with those beds starting to take admissions from today at Tresillian in Launceston as well. These are important days in a family's life when you bring home a new baby it's a very exciting time, but it can also be not without its challenges in terms of sleeping, in terms of settling and adjusting to life as a new parent, and so these facilities are really important. I'll hand over to Assistant Minister White to make some more comments.
REBECCA WHITE, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGEING:
Well, thank you so much for the Minister's words. I think she summed it up perfectly well, why these services are so necessary. When Tasmania lost access to public mother and baby unit beds through the St John's closure, it was a really devastating time for lots of families who had used those services and knew how important they were, but also for families who might have needed them and then found themselves without access to those types of services. The State Government stood up some interim measures, but today this announcement, coupled with what's happened in the north of the state already means that we will have dedicated mother and baby unit beds in Tasmania for patients who need them. As the Minister said, it's really important that we have these services. When you take home a newborn baby, for most of us, you don't know what you're doing, and it can be really hard. And if you do struggle with sleeping or feeding or just generally coping, having access to public mother and baby unit beds can be a life changer. The fact that we've been able to support through some federal funding the establishment of six public mother and baby unit beds in the south of the state is such great news, and I'm just really proud that we've been able to join with the Tasmanian Government to deliver this outcome.
TRUDI STEEDMAN, CHAPS: Thank you. So CHaPS is really excited to be able to have an opportunity to really operate some residential beds. We already exist in 70 sites over Tasmania offering parental support, child health assessments throughout the whole of Tasmania. We're really thrilled that we've been able to start to govern six residential beds which will be here, which will really offer family support in sleep and settling, feeding issues, parental concerns and toddler behaviours. We'll be able to deliver care to zero to three-year-olds here, and we'll be able to do that in a multi-disciplinary workforce which is a really exciting opportunity. We'll be able to have child health nurses, registered enrolled nurses with perinatal infant mental health experience as well, and we'll also be able to have a GP here as well on the site.
We're really excited – this is going to be a home-like environment, which we know that research and evidence shows that it's a really great opportunity for families to be able to gain the support they require through a home-like environment, which is better suited than a hospital environment. So this is going to include six residential beds with a nursery and communal areas where families can come together and share their stories and support each other.
JOURNALIST: Can I ask just about the specifics – when will it come online? And you said there will be six beds here. What does that bring the total number of beds for mother-baby beds across the state?
STEEDMAN: So we will have six residential beds here, and up in the north there will be four residential beds, so that actually equals 10 statewide now.
JOURNALIST: And when will this come online?
STEEDMAN: This will come online hopefully September, October next year. But as you can see, it's a new build and we're really having to wait for that build to be completed.
JOURNALIST: And will there still be beds in the hospital, or are they going to be relocated to here?
STEEDMAN: They will be relocated to here, but there will be a transition plan in place as well, so there'll be no gap in service. Once this has been built and operational then we'll work with the mother-baby unit for a transition plan.
JOURNALIST: And how many beds are in the mother-baby unit at the moment?
STEEDMAN: There's currently two beds.
JOURNALIST: So there's significant demand for these extra beds, it's safe to say?
STEEDMAN: Yes, there's absolutely significant demand. We see that in our child health parenting centres, that we run three in the state, but also our universal settings, that families are really requiring that additional support, that residential care we’ll be able to deliver.
JOURNALIST: How many staff will this site employ once it's fully operational?
STEEDMAN: Well, that's hard to determine, but as a full FTE there's probably around 13 full FTE. But as we know, nurses in particular like to work part-time so there'll be quite a number of staff once we determine what that will be.
JOURNALIST: Will there be any specialist roles that perhaps might require us to look interstate for workers, or are you confident that all the workers that will be required for the site can be found here in Tasmania?
STEEDMAN: No, quite confident that we'll find the workforce in Tasmania. We already do have an existing child health workforce in Tasmania, and then also we'll be looking for registered nurses, enrolled nurses, midwives, GPs. So yes, we're confident that it will be in Tasmania.
JOURNALIST: What's the cost of this particular facility?
STEEDMAN: That I'm not sure.
ARCHER: Sorry, it's about $7.4 million, $3 million of that contributed by the Australian Government.
JOURNALIST: And do you know how old the building is behind you, by any chance?
STEEDMAN: No, I don't, but …
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: 1836.
JOURNALIST: Great. And do you know what makes this site specifically great for this purpose?
STEEDMAN: Well, I think it's great for this purpose because it is an old vicarage and we can actually put a whole new build on, but also it's in consultation with the St Johns Park Masterplan.
JOURNALIST: Thank you very much.
STEEDMAN: Thank you.
JOURNALIST: So in what ways will this facility once it is up and running, Minister, synergise with some of the other facilities that you've got here in the health space?
ARCHER: Yeah, so I think, as Trudi said, the idea of having a master plan here for this site or precinct, if you like, is really exciting. And as we were talking about with this service, it's important to have a more- a home-like environment. Some of these are obviously clinical services, but I think that they're best delivered to people in this sort of more or less clinical setting such as we see here at St Johns Park. And I think that's the intention of the Masterplan for this precinct to include those mental health services, older people's mental health services, child and parenting services as well, outside of a hospital footprint.
JOURNALIST: How far will this go for meeting the unmet need that arose when the St Helens facility closed?
ARCHER: This facility here will double the capacity here in the south. And of course we've also had those four beds come online in the north, and including some outreach into the northwest as well through that Tresillian project. We know that that is really important for Tasmanian families, but also as Trudi has said, we already do have an extraordinary network of CHaPS throughout Tasmania providing that early parenting support to Tasmanians now. But this will build on that by enabling that residential parenting facility as well.
JOURNALIST: What's the net gain of mother-baby beds that will be available at this site following the closure of the St Helens facility?
ARCHER: This site here will have six beds, which will be a doubling of the capacity.
JOURNALIST: And what's your message to people that are going through the birthing process in the meantime before this is up and running and they are struggling still to access services?
ARCHER: There's a lot of support that is available for new parents. I would encourage anybody that is feeling- who is struggling as a new parent, and as a mum of five myself, I really understand what that can feel like. Talk to your healthcare professionals. Talk to your midwife, talk to your GP, or go and talk to your child health nurse at the CHaPS service that exists in your community now. There are a lot of resources that are available to help and support you. As I said, residential parenting services commenced in Launceston from today. They're taking those residential admissions from today. But don't be alone. There is support out there. Ask for help. There is a lot of help available.
JOURNALIST: HACSU workers at the Roy Fagan Centre in Lenah Valley will be taking industrial action later today. They're the latest to walk off the job due to the Government's pay offer. How many stop works will it take to change your mind on the Government's current pay offer?
ARCHER: We will continue to work with unions and all stakeholders. We want public sector workers to have a pay rise, and we'll continue to negotiate in good faith.
JOURNALIST: Given that there have been a lot of stop work actions across different parts of our public sector in recent weeks and months, does this show that the government's got it wrong with that 3 per cent offer that's on the table?
ARCHER: Look, I don't think so. We have made what we believe is a fair and reasonable offer. We want those workers to have a pay rise, and we want to continue to negotiate. For me personally, I've continued to meet very regularly with nurses. I had a- and unions. I had a great round table, the third such one that I have had here in the south last week with the ANMF. There is more work to do, and we're committed to working with our workforce to get a better outcome for all Tasmanians.
JOURNALIST: Do you hope legislation to ban greyhound racing passes the Upper House this week?
ARCHER: Yeah, I think that would be a good outcome. We have passed that legislation through the Lower House on the last sitting day last week of the Lower House, and I'm hopeful that the Legislative Council will be able to deal with that legislation this week.
JOURNALIST: Jane Howlett gave a pretty intense or gave some intense remarks last week. Is there split in your party over this issue?
ARCHER: No, I don't think so. And I think that the Premier has been very clear about this, that it is very clear that community expectation has moved on. And this happens. Community expectation changes over time. But he has also been very clear, and we are all united, in understanding that that means that it is a difficult time for people that work in the greyhound industry. It is possible to be both empathetic to that and also to continue to work towards this phase-out of the greyhound industry, and we want to work with the greyhound industry in relation to that. We acknowledge that that is a difficult and challenging time, but we also acknowledge that community expectation has changed over time and that the vast majority of Tasmanians, we believe, want to see an end to greyhound racing.
JOURNALIST: Minister, in relation to the bushfires at Dolphin Sands, there's 19 properties that have been destroyed by fire, and yet there was no fire weather warning issued by the Bureau of Meteorology. It says it didn't reach the threshold. How concerning is it that on a day when 19 homes get gutted, there's no fire weather warning? Do you think there needs to be a review into the processes at the Bureau into their thresholds?
ARCHER: Look, I'm not aware of that particular issue, so I can't comment on that, but of course, I would like to acknowledge that our emergency services personnel have been doing an incredible job throughout this emergency. And of course, reminding people that circumstances, weather circumstances can change quickly as well, that this is an ongoing issue, and really reminding people to stay alert and continue to monitor the TasALERT website or listen to the emergency broadcaster and pay attention to what is happening with those alerts in your area.
JOURNALIST: Have you had any update from your federal counterparts, Minister, in relation to where the Federal Health Minister is at with the hospital funding agreement?
ARCHER: Well, obviously those negotiations are ongoing. The Federal Health Minister has expressed a desire for those negotiations to be completed by the end of this year. Health ministers are coming together with the Federal Health Minister at that Health Ministers Meeting in Brisbane later this week, where all states continue to call on the Federal Government to honour their commitment that they made in 2023 at National Cabinet. We will continue to advocate for that outcome. We will continue to negotiate with the Federal Government on that, and we will also continue to draw attention to this issue of stranded patients in our hospital system, people who are medically fit to be discharged but are unable to be because they are unable to access age care or NDIS supports. This is an issue that exists right across the country. The Australian Government has done some good work over the last few years in relation to their aged care reforms, but we know, and they I'm sure know, that there's still more work to be done on that as those reforms roll out. So, we want to continue to negotiate with the Federal Government about what we can do collectively and together to make sure that we're able to, in the interim, do something to support those stranded patients.
JOURNALIST: I put that question to you now, Rebecca, do you continue to stand by the Federal Government's offer that it announced that seemed to, according to state premiers, deviate away from the late 2023 commitment where it was 42.5 per cent by 2030 then 45 per cent increase in hospital funding by 2035?
WHITE: We are negotiating in good faith. I know the Minister will be sitting down with health ministers later this week to continue those discussions. There's $20 billion that's been put on the table by the Australian Government to support an agreement under the National Health Reform Agreement. Ultimately, we want patients to have access to the best care, whether they're in hospitals or whether they're accessing aged care or the NDIS or accessing public health services through the primary healthcare system or other services. It's about making sure patients get good quality healthcare, and that's why we're negotiating to make sure we can deliver on this. Those are discussions that are happening at the table with other ministers across other jurisdictions. I won't pre-empt the outcomes of those, but I can assure you that what the Australian Government wants here is best outcome for patients.
JOURNALIST: Is it fair to say we'll get a final decision by the Friday in Brisbane?
WHITE: I know that the Prime Minister and the Minister are very motivated to get a deal done by the end of this year. Obviously, we're in the start of December now, working towards Christmas, and there's an expectation that we're able to land this because ultimately, we know that's going to provide surety and certainty for jurisdictions as they make decisions about their future budgets.
JOURNALIST: You represent a very large electorate where people rely on the Bureau of Meteorology for accurate forecasts. We saw late last week bushfires at Dolphin Sands. There was no fire weather warning. Are you hearing any concerns in your community about that?
WHITE: I would say that people have responded very positively about the actions taken by emergency service workers and the support that they've been given. Obviously, it's very devastating to see the impact on people's properties, but incredibly thankful there was no life's lost, and we haven't seen some of the terrible tragedies here that we're now seeing elsewhere. I want to congratulate our emergency service workers for the efforts that they took in extremely dangerous and wild conditions. The weather was not just alarming in terms of the temperature, but the winds made it incredibly difficult to get an aerial response into the air.
The Bureau of Meteorology question that you've just asked isn't something I'm familiar with. Obviously, happy to follow up on that. But I know that a lot of people rely on the TasALERTs page. They rely on TasALERTs and the emergency broadcast to share with them the latest information. I'm not sure how many people are checking the Bureau of Meteorology website. I think they're talking to one another- their neighbours and checking on the emergency broadcaster to get the latest information.
JOURNALIST: So, as I understand it, 10 per cent of a forecast district has to be at an extreme level of fire risk for the bureau to issue a fire weather warning. On the Thursday, Dolphin Sands was at a level of extreme risk, but other areas around it weren’t. Do you think there needs to be a review into how that fire weather warning system is issued by the Bureau, especially at a time when there's climate change, there's an increased risk of fire? This could happen again in other communities.
WHITE: As the local member representing this community, I'm happy to follow that up because I want to make sure that not only this community, but other communities, are provided with the best advice, particularly as we're heading into summer. But I would say that the feedback I've had is that people have remarked on how well they were communicated with, and how good the emergency services were and the emergency broadcaster, that they had information at a time that they needed it. Obviously, things happened very quickly and the outcomes were somewhere quite devastating for those who lost property, but I haven't had anyone make any remarks to me about concerns with respect to the Bureau of Meteorology’s website.