Strengthening the Community Visitor Scheme
Tuesday 19 August
Second Reading Debate - Mental Health (Community Visitor Scheme) Amendment Bill 2025
Ms CLANCY (Elder) (11:17): I rise today in support of the Mental Health (Community Visitor Scheme) Amendment Bill 2025, which seeks to amend the Mental Health Act 2009. The Community Visitor Scheme plays a vital role as an independent oversight body visiting mental health and disability services across our state. The scheme safeguards the wellbeing of some of the most vulnerable members of our community, ensuring their experiences are heard and that they are valued.
Established under the Mental Health Act 2009, the scheme serves as a key mechanism for ensuring independent oversight of mental health and disability services. At its heart, the scheme exists to uphold the rights of those receiving care, particularly people living with severe mental illness, by listening to their experiences, monitoring their environments and advocating for change when necessary. People undergoing mental health treatment, especially those who are involuntarily detained, occupy a uniquely vulnerable position. Independent oversight is critical to ensuring their rights are protected, that they are treated with dignity and respect and that any issues of abuse, neglect or improper care are identified and addressed.
Mental health services visited by the Community Visitor Scheme include the Flinders Medical Centre, Glenside Health Services, James Nash House, Lyell McEwin Hospital, Modbury Hospital, Mount Gambier and Districts Health Service and the Noarlunga health service. The scheme has also visited treatment centres, including The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the Ramsay Clinic Adelaide and the Repat Health Precinct in my electorate.
The Community Visitor Scheme supports people receiving care for mental health services, those receiving disability support in their homes, individuals who have the Public Advocate as their guardian and those with an NDIS plan. Its role is to ensure that everyone's human rights are respected and upheld. To do this, the scheme enlists volunteers known as community visitors. These volunteers visit services, check in on how people are being supported and report any issues they find. If a problem cannot be resolved locally, they escalate it to make sure it gets the attention it needs.
Community visitor volunteers come from many different walks of life, each bringing their own unique skills and experiences, but there is one thing they all share: a deep and passionate commitment to upholding the rights and wellbeing of people. Currently, around 41 community visitors generously dedicate their time to this vital work across our state. These volunteers are tireless advocates, working to ensure the highest possible quality of life and care for those receiving mental health and disability support. They draw on a broad range of professional and personal experiences, including some with lived experience themselves, to guide their important work and fulfil the significant responsibilities of this role.
I want to sincerely commend community visitors—every single one of you—and all other volunteers and workers for giving their time, skills and energy to make a real and lasting difference in the lives of South Australians living with disability or mental health challenges. This community visitor role is much more than a social visit. It requires careful inquiry, thoughtful observation and detailed report writing
Community visitors operate independently of the services they monitor. This independence means they can speak freely and report without fear or favour. They are not subject to internal pressures, and their presence encourages services to maintain high standards, because someone is watching and someone cares. This helps to build trust in the system for both patients and the broader community.
Every time a community visitor enters a service, they are opening a door to a conversation, often with people who otherwise may have little opportunity to speak up. Community visitors talk directly with clients about their care and treatment. They ask questions like: 'Do you feel safe?', 'Are your needs being met?', 'Are you being supported, engaged and treated with dignity?'
The power of those conversations cannot be overstated. For someone in a locked ward, simply being asked those questions and knowing someone is listening can be a lifeline. Over time, regular visits can reveal patterns. They can help identify systemic issues, such as understaffing, unsafe environments, gaps in therapeutic support, and missed opportunities for recovery. This helps create a cycle of learning, accountability and improvement.
In 2023-24, the Community Visitor Scheme made 753 visits to mental health and disability services, produced 506 reports, and found 369 issues that needed attention and five matters of concern that were escalated to senior executives and ministers. Under the Mental Health Act, the rights of patients are not just ethical; they are legal obligations. Independent checking ensures that services comply with the law, that people's liberty is only restricted when justified, and that there is proper documentation of decisions and treatments.
The proposed amendments before us are practical and important. They strengthen the scheme by allowing the minister, rather than the Governor, to appoint, suspend or remove community visitors, and this will improve efficiency. The bill also gives the Principal Community Visitor the power to delegate tasks, so visits can go ahead even if someone else cannot attend.
Finally, this bill also introduces minimum visiting frequencies for community-based and outpatient services based on risk, while also maintaining robust oversight of inpatient treatment centres. These changes will make the scheme more flexible, responsive and sustainable, particularly as community-based services continue to expand.
An accountable mental health system means putting people first. It means that every person who seeks help receives timely, respectful support. It means health services and providers are responsible not only for delivering care but also for outcomes, ensuring interventions can lead to real improvements in people's lives.
The government and the mental health system value the role of community visitors, who volunteer their time and expertise for the scheme to succeed. Every voice matters, every visit counts and every safeguard brings us one step closer to a more just, compassionate and accountable mental health system.
I think the fact that our Chief Psychiatrist, Dr John Brayley, is sitting in the gallery for this debate today shows how much the broader government and community really value the scheme. Thank you for being here, Dr Brayley. I commend this bill to the house.