SA Government announces SA Health taskforce before reading ICAC report into corruption
The State Government has been savaged as “incompetent” for responding to an ICAC report before reading it all – as a study shows how much corruption in SA Health could cost us each year.
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Corruption in SA Health could be costing taxpayers as much as $600 million a year, a leading economist says.
The warning comes as the Opposition savages the State Government’s response to ICAC’s scathing report on the embattled department.
SA Centre for Economic Studies visiting fellow Darryl Gobbett says overseas studies suggest the extent of corruption in the organisation could be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
“Based on the literature from the US and Europe, the cost of fraud and corruption varies between about 3 per cent and 8 per cent of national healthcare expenditure,” Mr Gobbett said, citing multiple reports on the issue including one commissioned by the European Commission.
“A report tabled in the German Parliament put it even higher, at 10 per cent.
“This is not just an issue that is bad enough from an ethics and morals point. There is a massive economic impact here.
“Total spending on health in the state is now $6.88 billion for 2019-20, and even if you use the lower 3 per cent figure you’re talking about $200 million. If you look at the higher figures it is something like $600 million a year lost to fraud and corruption which is equal to half of payroll tax or all of land tax.
“If it were really addressed you could do something significant to cut those taxes, or increase health spending to help real people instead of losing money to fraud.”
Despite the amount of money at risk, Treasurer Rob Lucas denied a request for $2 million for a more thorough investigation of SA Health by the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption.
Mr Gobbett’s observations came as the Opposition criticised Premier Steven Marshall and Health Minister Stephen Wade for coming up with a response to Mr Lander’s report on corruption in SA Health – then admitting they had not read the full report.
Mr Wade announced a cross-agency public service taskforce to try to clean up the $6 billion, 40,000-employee health organisation after Mr Lander’s report warned it was “ripe for exploitation” by corrupt officials, giving a long list of examples of dodgy practices.
However, later in parliament Mr Wade and Mr Marshall both admitted they had not read the full report.
Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas described the Government’s action as somewhere between “incompetent and neglect”.
Mr Wade’s claims on radio there were legal reasons not to read the report were washed away by a statement by Attorney-General Vickie Chapman that he was allowed to read it prior to it being tabled in parliament. The Opposition accused Mr Marshall of misleading Parliament about when he read the report.
Meanwhile, SA Health chief executive Dr Chris McGowan, who was conspicuously absent from Mr Wade’s taskforce announcement while surrounded by nine other top health officials, has backed away from reappearing at a Budget and Finance committee meeting on Monday.
Dr McGowan has now sent the committee a letter saying he will be busy preparing to give evidence to the Aged Care Royal Commission.