Page 3985 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 9 November 1994
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MS SZUTY (5.07): Of course, Mr Humphries's statements conflict with the committee's report on this matter. In recommendation No. 4 it stated:
... the operation of the increased penalty in section 103(2) of the Children's Services Act 1986 be reviewed after a reasonable period of operation.
So, the committee recognised the extent of what we were doing with regard to this provision; but, I think, it wanted to err on the side of putting in an appropriate maximum penalty. The discussion of the matter before the recommendation in the committee's report is, I believe, instructive. We said:
The Schedule amends section 103(2) which deals with the mandatory reporting of child abuse by medical practitioners, social workers, public servants and so on. The Schedule provides a fivefold increase in the penalty for failure to report injury to a child or sexual abuse of a child to the Director of Family Services/Community Advocate.
The Committee notes the wide community debate which has accompanied the issue of mandatory reporting. In particular, it notes the discussion paper on this subject issued by the Community Law Reform Committee in 1993. It also notes that there has been some division among those working with cases of child abuse as to whether mandatory reporting assists or hinders the process of uncovering abuse.
The committee believes that the quintupling of the penalty provided in section 103(2) may send the wrong message about current attitudes towards this issue. The increase in penalty may also be conducive to promoting the reporting of suspected abuse in the most doubtful of cases. The Committee believes that the operation of this increased penalty should be reviewed after a reasonable period of operation.
Mr Humphries indicated that the members of the Community Law Reform Committee were divided on the issue. In fact, I think it was by a majority of one vote that the report came out in the way it did. I have worked in the community sector for many years, and I have always firmly supported the mandatory reporting of child abuse. In fact, it has been a constant source of frustration to me that the community sector has taken as long as it has to recognise that we, in the ACT, really do need to address this problem as a matter of urgency. I, too, look forward, as the Attorney-General has indicated that he does, to a statement on this issue by the Minister for Community Services, Mr Lamont. I will be very happy to review this provision of the Children's Services Act after a reasonable period of time, to see what effect the maximum penalty provision of $5,000 has actually had.
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