Security boost after island rape
12.03.2008
THE Queensland Government has bowed to union pressure to immediately improve security at all Torres Strait medical centres after a nurse was raped in her government-provided accommodation on Mabuiag Island.
The Queensland Nurses Union is threatening to leave health facilities in remote communities unstaffed unless the Government steps up security by March 28.
Queensland Health Minister Stephen Robertson told state parliament yesterday he was ``shocked and angered'' by the alleged rape.
``I have directed my department to undertake urgent action to improve security and maintenance at all island health facilities,'' Mr Robertson said.
The Health Minister said a locksmith and electrician had repaired broken locks, doors and windows at the nurse's residence on Mabuiag on Monday. ``Security screens will be measured and replaced within the next two weeks,'' Mr Robertson said.
``QBuild will also visit other islands to carry out the most urgent repairs and assess further work that needs to be done.''
He said the director-general and chief nursing officer would fly to Torres Strait today to make sure the improvements were being carried out.
The union held a teleconference with all remote-area nurses late yesterday afternoon about security.
A union spokeswoman said the nurses had reported that some work had been done on Badu Island in the Torres Strait but not on Darnley Island, where the medical centre has been condemned. She said the union was still committed to its ultimatum that unless all facilities were made safe and secure by the end of the month, nurses would withdraw their labour.
The union has demanded the Government urgently repair broken locks, doors and fire alarms in nurses' accommodation and introduce a system allowing nurses to summon help in an emergency.
The 27-year-old nurse, from NSW, was attacked and raped in her sleeping quarters on February 5, after working on Mabuiag Island for a couple of months.
Before the attack, the woman had frequently emailed her superiors on Thursday Island, informing them of the substandard security protecting her office and upstairs living accommodation.
She said there were broken windows, no locks on doors, no curtains, no airconditioning, no television, an unreliable telephone, a broken fax machine, no running water, and a stove with no gas.
Mr Robertson said the health department would also overhaul current procedures designed to deal with ``critical situations'' involving staff working on distant islands.
The review is expected to be completed by April 14.
``A review has been initiated to analyse the critical response processes surrounding this incident with a view to ensuring system improvements are introduced,'' he said.
But Opposition health spokesman John-Paul Langbroek accused the Government of failing to protect its public servants.
``This attack could have been prevented if the Health Department provided safe and secure facilities for people working in regional health centres across Queensland,'' he said.
In parliament yesterday, the Opposition also raised concerns about accommodation for police in the indigenous community of Woorabinda, near Rockhampton.
Police Minister Judy Spence admitted that some of the officers at Woorabinda would soon be living in 12m-long airconditioned shipping containers.
