Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, , 2:49:18 to 2:56:31
Updates on the proton beam therapy facility, comparing proposals from South Australia and Victoria, and reviewing costs for overseas treatment for children.
Topics: Health, Infrastructure
Speakers: Hon Anne Ruston, Dr Liz Develin, Hon Jenny McAllister, Blair Comley, Unknown Speaker
Um, can I just um ask in relation to the proton um therapy facility? We must feel like groundhog day sometimes, don't we, Dr. Develin? Um so I understand that the South Australian Health Minister, um Minister Blair Boyer Um met with Minister Butler regarding the pro time beam therapy facility in July. Maybe that's a uh I don't know whether that's something for you to answer Dr. Develin or Minister. Um is that correct?
Um I don't have the details about Minister Butler's diary with me.
I suspect you have questions about where the conversations are with jurisdictions around this, and it maybe that Dr. Develin can assist.
I mean it was a matter of um public uh and news articles, I thought maybe we might know. Um because I'm really keen to understand what the outcome of that meeting was and whether the government, the federal government is still committed to delivering the project in South Australia?
Uh Senator, I believe our Minister has put on the public record the government's strong commitment to continuing to develop a proton beam facility capacity in Australia. Since we last spoke to you at the last estimates, we've had uh proposal from Victoria from the Peter Mack Centre. So we now have two jurisdictions who have expressed their interest in hosting such a facility. The two options are different in terms of the technology that they that they would offer. So we are now in the process of very much conversations around uh national funding models, which we have had with the health chief executives most recently. Officials from the department have gone and visited sites in the site in South Australia as well as uh Victoria, and uh we are now looking at both options together because of the nature of the different uh technology they provide, and they would service a different um patient cohort. So we are continuing to work through that to provide advice to government on how to proceed.
Okay. So I suppose the question is still remains, and thank you for that because I do understand that the proposal in South Australia, I'm assuming is significantly more expensive than the proposal that's come from the Peter Mack because of the difference in what's being suggested at the at the two sites. Um but I'm still keen to understand whether the government remains committed to delivering the project in South Australia.
Senator, the Minister has said that Australia is very much committed to delivering a POTON facility. This isn't a comparison of which one.
No, no, no, no, sorry, Dr. Steven. To be fair, I didn't ask about Australia. I think you know that I can probably accept that as a given. The question is more is the government still committed to the delivery of the facility in South Australia.
Senator, as I have said, we have two proposals on the table, and it would be foreseeable in the future with the demand modelling of the patient cohorts that Australia could accommodate two different sites with two different technologies. So they are the options we are currently considering, South Australia and Victoria. There will also be differences in time to first patient. Uh, as the technology is different, one may be able to be established quicker than the other. Uh so they're not.
You'd like to think one could be established more quickly than the current process in Adelaide, given that it's probably coming up to about nine years and we don't actually have anything.
Senator, as you would appreciate this, was committed to in a I think in 1718. It was only in recent years that that uh arrangement that had been done with the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute and the contract they had with the proprietor uh had to be exited.
Yeah. No, no, and we've certainly traversed this before. So I perhaps I'll go to the Minister. The Minister, is the federal government still committed to the delivery of a proton beam therapy facility in South Australia?
We continue to work with the South Australian government around the future of the project. I think you're aware of the history that Ms. Dr. Develin's just alluded to. Uh I I do understand relevant to your earlier question that Minister Butler met with the uh South Australian Minister in July. Um I think Minister Butler's been clear that given the level of capital, you know, physical capital, human capital sunk in South Australia, it is important to give South Australia an opportunity to demonstrate if they have a viable approach or an available alternative to their original approach. Uh, but we're also in conversation with other jurisdictions. One final question before I want to take the call.
Um, how much did the government spend over the last three years through the medical treatment overseas programme for people accessing
So I'm just trying to think whether that was in the individual benefits category. I'm not I'm not trying to dodge the question. I someone might have the precise number here. Um I I know that the medical treatment overseas program, and if I give you the ballpark figure rather than and we'll come back on notice.
Well, maybe I mean I'm fine for you to come back on notice because I'd also like to know how many of them were children, um, because obviously the importance of that um statistic is that um the Adelaide facility is the facility that would be more suited for children. Um and um I'm sort of keen also in that process. If we can get some more um clarity around when we're going to get an answer to this. I mean, I I I've been coming to estimates now for four and a half years, and I know the frustration you probably feel too, Dr. Devil, and I've asked you exactly the same question for four years or four and a half years, and we have no answer. I mean, it'd be nice to know I get some clarity as to when we're likely to get an answer to this.
So we now have um Ms. Hermann at the table who has the numbers on MTOP.
Oh, cool, thank you.
And once Ariane Hermann, First Assistant Secretary, Chronic Conditions and Screening Division. Um this is a 2526 number uh under MTOP. The total adults and children uh that have applied for proton beam therapy is 55 of those, 36 uh are children, and the total costs are for 2526 are 18.9 million dollars.
Okay, thank you. All right, we will uh rotate the call. Thank you, Senator Ruston. Senator Wishon.