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There are some key elements of effective implementation which must be in place. We must be sure that we have trained the people who will be involved and that we have an annual cycle of follow-up training. We need an effective and protective response, ensuring that there are enough child protection workers to respond to notifications and that they are trained and equipped to do this very difficult and important job. That certainly is something that cannot happen immediately. That is something that the Government has to plan for. Training has to be done. Money and resources have to be allocated and perhaps some restructuring needs to be done in the way the Government responds. All of that takes time.

We also must have an appropriate range of placement and support options in place. We must have foster care placements and residential placements for children who cannot live at home and family support services for families who can continue to care for their children but who need a lot of support. We need a good computerised database so that we have an immediate history of notified children on which to base assessment of risk. We also need interagency support and ownership and a coordinated approach between the key agencies. Again, those are things that simply cannot be done overnight. They take a number of months to get up and running. It is also probably worthy of note that in the ACT at present we have a high level of what is effectively voluntary reporting which matches some States' actual mandatory reporting. Whilst in Victoria there is an increased level of reporting, we may not experience something of that magnitude; but we feel that there would be a very significant increase in reporting.

Mr Speaker, prevention is also very important, and it is critical to ensure that maximum efforts are made to reduce child abuse and neglect. Without adequate emphasis on prevention, there will be continued growth in demand for, and resourcing of, protective services, with consequent individual, social and economic costs. The ACT is taking part, with the Commonwealth and with other States and Territories, in a national strategy to prevent abuse and neglect. Our role is to deliver our services to target at-risk children and their families. The Commonwealth role is to deliver a community education program that will change parental attitudes and encourage non-abusive behaviour.

It is essential to highlight which groups would be involved in mandatory reporting. There would be many groups. First and foremost, there are doctors. There are also teachers and pharmacists. There are many people in the community who have a role and a duty in reporting child abuse. Under our present voluntary reporting, some groups are better than others at doing that. Over the next six months we can target groups and prepare them for mandatory reporting. As I said, some groups have a better history of reporting child abuse than others. Some groups still have a reluctance. It is a vexed question that has been around for some time.

I note that Ms McRae, quite sensibly, was somewhat guarded in her comments in relation to what had happened previously. The issue in the ACT has been around for a long period of time. It was the subject of a Community Law Reform Committee report, Report No. 7, back in 1993. There has been legislation around for some time. The current proposed regime has been given some of the necessary legislative support to enable it to be put in place. I understand that maybe a little bit more needs to be done, but that can be attended to. Act No. 17 of 1994 was passed in May of last year.

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