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self-government but the relevant section had not been brought into force. There really was no legislative hurdle. It could have been done, although perhaps not in as sound a form as would be possible with current thinking, by simply bringing into force a piece of legislation enacted before self-government.

There was considerable community debate over many years about when mandatory reporting should be brought in. Prominent Canberra personalities - most prominently, the Chief Magistrate, Ron Cahill - had been calling for some years for immediate action. Other prominent people in the welfare sector were urging a more cautious approach and a period of staged implementation. The then Government referred the matter to the Community Law Reform Committee. The Community Law Reform Committee, for the first and only time in the committee's history, came down with something of a divided report; but the majority view favoured a staged process of implementation.

In the last two budgets the ACT Labor Government provided quite significant enhancement funds. ACT budgets, Mr Stefaniak, you will quickly learn, are never easy. I am not sure when any ACT Treasurer has ever said or will ever say, “Not only is the cupboard not bare but it has lots of goodies in it”. Budget time is always a difficult time; but, in that very challenging time of adjustment to the realities of self-government financing that Labor principally had stewardship over, the then Treasurer, Ms Follett, provided in the last two budgets quite significant enhancements because mandatory reporting was seen as a priority. Mr Lamont, Mr Berry and I, all of whom at various times had prime responsibility for this issue, were able to persuade our colleagues - and we came to this collective view - that preparing the way for mandatory reporting was an essential priority. In the last two budgets there were significant enhancements of the health budget, essentially to get the child-at-risk unit at the Woden Valley Hospital upgraded and its resources upped. There were also significant budget increases to enhance the relevant areas within Community Services.

As I think has been mentioned, we in the ACT have been for some time at the point where rates of reporting in the ACT equal or exceed rates in some jurisdictions where there is mandatory reporting. We have a very committed and dedicated group of workers in the child-care field. Our doctors, medical workers and community nurses are very committed to, and concerned about, child welfare. The ACT, being a small jurisdiction where people tend to know each other and network, has high levels of reporting. The suggestion that mandatory reporting will open the floodgates and that it will be impossible to introduce it is hard to believe when so much work has been put in.

Ms McRae is not saying that it has to happen tomorrow. Ms McRae is not grandstanding and saying that it must happen by a specific date, although I seem to recall the Independents and Liberals supporting such a resolution in the last Assembly. I can recall Ms Szuty moving some motions demanding instant action, which motions the Liberals then were all enthused about. What Ms McRae is saying is that the Assembly should have progress reported to it and that a clear implementation plan should be announced.

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