Page 3215 - Week 11 - Thursday, 12 September 1991
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Mr Speaker, a major part of the Bill introduces provisions in accordance with a decision of the Council of Social Welfare Ministers and the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General for the enactment of reciprocal States legislation dealing with the transfer of young offenders from one State or Territory to another. All Australian jurisdictions either have such legislation in place or are currently developing it.
This Bill's provisions are most closely modelled on the New South Wales enactment as it is anticipated, quite logically, that most ACT transfers will occur with New South Wales. Such transfer legislation is primarily designed to enable young offenders to complete a sentence as close to their family or relations as possible, in order to maintain the essential family supports and to promote rehabilitation.
The transfer scheme applies to custodial orders and to non-custodial orders such as an attendance centre order or a probation order. The main provisions of the transfer scheme are: Firstly, the young offender, or his or her parents or guardians, must apply for the transfer and the Director will have a wide discretion to approve or refuse that application; secondly, the young offender must be given independent legal advice on the effect of the transfer; thirdly, in terms of any order to which the young offender is subject, he or she should not be either advantaged or disadvantaged by the transfer; and, finally, adequate facilities must be available in the receiving State or Territory before a transfer may proceed.
The Bill also proposes changes to the Act to correct deficiencies in the existing reciprocal arrangements for wards transferring into and out of the ACT. In addition, the terminology used in the Act is to be brought into line with that contained in the Family Law Act in relation to the terms "guardianship" and "custody". The Children's Services Act currently uses a variety of terms to denote the one concept of "custody". This rationalisation of terminology had been agreed to by all State and Territory Welfare Ministers in June of 1990.
Another provision relates to a renaming of the office of Director of Welfare to the Director of Family Services. This renaming reflects restructuring changes within Housing and Community Services and the increasing orientation of the newly-retitled Family Services Branch towards family support services as a strategy to provide protection and care to children. Because the office of Director of Welfare is also referred to in the ACT's adoption legislation, the Bill is accompanied by a short Bill to amend the Adoption of Children Act 1965 in relation to that title.
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