6 April 2021
An Australian-first trial of CCTV cameras inside the rooms of aged care residents is finally underway, with cameras now operating at two sites: Mt Pleasant District Hospital’s aged care home and Northgate House.
The CCTV trial, first announced two years ago by the SA Government, comes after the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety uncovered a litany of disturbing cases of abuse and mistreatment of vulnerable people in homes across Australia.
The CCTV was initially supposed to be trialled in five SA aged care homes, but this has been scaled back to two with the SA Government saying the focus was on “investing primarily in the quality of the product”, meaning less sites.
The ANMF (SA Branch) notes the trial of CCTV is not occurring in any of the sites that have been the subject of non-compliance and sanctions. The trial itself is beset with setbacks including being months behind schedule.
We maintain our position that installing CCTV at aged care facilities is a band-aid solution, rather than
addressing the inherent issues plaguing the sector, including insufficient staffing numbers and skills mix, lack of training, inadequate funding and poor outcomes for older people such as poor nutrition.
Only residents and families who have given consent are participating in the trial and SA Health is required to ensure that all staff and visitors are aware that surveillance is taking place. They do this with the use of signage and the Workplace Surveillance Policy Directive.
The ANMF has consistently raised concerns on behalf of members and continues to monitor the impact and evaluation of the pilot sites.
We have concerns about the ‘independent body’ proposed to monitor the recordings of the audio visuals. An independent reviewer (who could be family) may not have the knowledge and/or expertise to interpret a particular situation and could leave our members open to disciplinary action as a result of a subjective and uniformed opinion.
It is recognised that SA Health employees have provided consent to be overtly recorded in their workplace under the terms of their employment contract and SA Health’s Workplace Surveillance Policy Directive.
However, the planned processes for implementation, monitoring and use of the recordings as stated in the guidelines are as yet untested. The ANMF maintains Audio Visual recordings, while aimed at identifying perpetrators, will not address the underlying workforce issues that are directly related to such incidences including the need for improved training.