Stirling Griff (SA, Centre Alliance) | Hansard source

enator GRIFF () (): Newborn blood spot screening, known as the heel prick test, has been a vital tool to protect the health of newborn Australians since the 1960s. Screening was first used for phenylketonuria, a condition with no clinicals signs at birth. Time is of the essence; with early identification, the condition can be easily treated. Without it, a child may suffer from severe intellectual disabilities.

The advantages of the heel prick test were clear. Over the last 50 years, it became possible to identify more than 60 different conditions with just the one test. Many are conditions without clinical signs. Screening enables early intervention and better health outcomes for both babies and children, so you might assume the test is routinely used on Australian newborns to rule out all of those conditions. You might assume that, but that is wrong. A typical Australian family is lucky to get screening for even 25 conditions, and the actual number depends simply on where the baby is born. This is totally unacceptable, particularly since expanding the test to 50 conditions is estimated to cost just $10 per baby. That is just $10 to screen for conditions which might have devastating, lifelong consequences.

Last year, a committee recommended that screening be standardised across the country and expanded to include more conditions. Incredibly, the government has not even responded to that report. It has certainly not implemented the recommendation. I call on the government to act to show some leadership. This is a vital, cheap reform that will make a huge difference to the health of Australian babies. Do it today.