2 September, 2026
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (17:30): I rise to indicate the Greens will be supporting the referral of this matter to an inquiry and, indeed, I am open to the amendments that have been flagged.
The Hon. I.K. Hunter: Then go on the committee. Go on the committee.
The PRESIDENT: Order!
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: I recall the debate in relation to the Social Worker Registrations Scheme that the Hon. Ms Hewett referred to. The idea of social worker registration is an issue that the Greens had championed for many years. It appeared clear on numerous occasions in the last parliament that the government was not meeting the timelines that it had set.
The government came to this chamber and requested an extension. It was made very clear at that time that this was not about abandoning the scheme; rather, it was about doing the necessary work to get the scheme up and running. This chamber granted in good faith an extension to the government on the basis of the information that was provided, so it was very disappointing to then see, straight after an election, the scheme being dumped in its entirety. That is not the undertaking that was given to this chamber before the election.
If it was the government's intention to jettison the entire scheme and explore a national framework, why did they not come clean with the people of South Australia and detail that commitment during the election and say, 'The facts have changed. We are no longer going to pursue this. We are going to pursue a national scheme and this is not part of our platform'? Instead, what they did was say, 'We are going to have a delay so that we can do all the work we need to do.' Then, hey presto, an election happened and they came along and dumped the whole thing. I am interested to know what has changed between the time when this parliament was given the undertaking and the time when they dumped the scheme. On that basis, the Greens are supportive of this inquiry.
Of course, I do recognise there are different views within the social worker community. The ASU, of which I am a member, have made clear they have some concerns around the idea of state-based schemes. On the other hand, another union, the Health Services Union, have made it very clear that their members want to see a scheme like this put in place. I would envisage that the committee will be able to tease out those issues and will provide an opportunity for all of the stakeholders to put their views on the table. I think there are some legitimate questions to ask about the process here and what has gone on. For that reason, the Greens will support an inquiry.