Question Without Notice No. 565 asked in the Legislative Council on 7 September 2017 by Hon Alison Xamon
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
WESTERN AUSTRALIAN RECOVERY COLLEGE
565. Hon ALISON XAMON to the parliamentary secretary representing the Minister for Mental Health:
I refer to the government's election commitment to introduce recovery colleges in Wanneroo and around Royal Perth Hospital.
(1) Will the minister please table the business case for a Western Australian recovery college coordinated by the Western Australian Association for Mental Health for the Mental Health Commission?
(2) Will the minister commit to building upon the extensive consultation and work that the recovery college of Western Australia steering group has undertaken when deciding which form a recovery college will take in Western Australia; and, if yes, how?
(3) When does the minister expect that a Western Australian recovery college will be operational?
Hon ALANNA CLOHESY replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. I notice that it was lodged on 22 August. Of course, the answer is quite different from what I was prepared to provide on 22 August, because I was going to refer the member to the budget. In that case, I can now say that the budget includes an allocation of $200 000 for the development of a comprehensive model of service delivery for a recovery college. That will include the development of a comprehensive business plan that will be suitable for production to the Expenditure Review Committee for consideration in other budget rounds. The $200 000 will go towards the development of a detailed model, which we do not have in Western Australia, for a recovery college. As the member knows, a recovery college aims to support individuals in recovery through creating an education platform. It also aims to reduce significant stigma around mental health and alcohol and other drugs. A number of models exist —
Hon Alison Xamon: The question was about the business case. Are you going to answer the question?
Hon ALANNA CLOHESY: The plan that was coordinated by the Mental Health Commission last year —Point of Order
Hon PETER COLLIER: Madam President, I am wondering whether the parliamentary secretary is answering a question without notice or answering on behalf of a minister. We need some clarity on that, because we have already had a ruling with regard to parliamentary secretaries responding. I will be interested to know in what capacity the parliamentary secretary is responding.Questions without Notice Resumed
Hon ALANNA CLOHESY: I will give the answer that was provided to the question lodged on 22 August. I was actually trying to be helpful and provide the member with detailed information, but I assume I cannot do that.
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. I am advised by the Mental Health Commission as follows.
(1)–(3) Implementation of the government's election commitments is ongoing. The government is expecting to make further announcements on the progress of delivering election commitments as part of the state budget on 7 September 2017.