The State Government has accepted all recommendations of the independent Safeguarding Taskforce’s July report. Co-chaired by Dr David Caudrey and Kelly Vincent, the taskforce outlined 14 key safeguarding gaps and seven associated recommendations to the State Government – and all have been actioned or completed.

The taskforce looked specifically at how safeguarding and oversight can be improved for people living with disability in South Australia under the Federal system.

New State Government actions from seven taskforce recommendations include:

• The State Government will bring forward the expansion of the Adult Safeguarding Unit so that its scope includes vulnerable adults of any age, to 1 October 2020 from 2022. Actioned.
• The State Government will provide an additional $1.8 million to continue the work of the Disability Advocate and to support individual disability advocacy in South Australia. Actioned.
• The Department for Human Services has developed and signed new information sharing guidelines with the NDIS Quality and Safeguarding Commission. Completed.
• The State Government urgently pushed the Federal Government for safeguarding gaps to be actioned, and the final report will be communicated immediately. Actioned.
• The State Government remains committed to maintaining the Community Visitor Scheme in South Australia and will progress how it can work alongside the NDIS given the legal limitations. Actioned.
• The State Government acknowledges that primary health is a Commonwealth Government responsibility and will work with them to ensure regular health checks for vulnerable NDIS participants are considered. Actioned.
• The Department for Human Services is supporting all state authorities to develop and publish their Disability Access and Inclusion Plan by 31 October 2020 – and this will include State Government initiatives. Actioned.

Additional community feedback on the final report is welcome. Email disability.advocate@sa.gov.au