Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 4 Hansard (17 April) . . Page.. 1024 ..

MR STEFANIAK (Minister for Education and Training and Minister for Children's and Youth Services) (3.55), in reply: Mr Speaker, I am gratified to have heard during this debate what amounts to a substantial level of support for our implementation of mandatory reporting of child abuse. Let me just take on board a couple of statements made by members. Mr Osborne and Ms Tucker touched on the actual Family Services Bureau and its staffing. Mr Speaker, at present, staffing is possibly better than it has been for some time, in that, largely, all the positions there are filled. It was a different situation when we took over. There were some 12 positions which were not filled, which we had to fill in May last year. So, I say to Ms Tucker, especially, that there have been significant improvements there, compared with the situation in the past.

This is a very serious area, Mr Speaker. Like Mr Osborne and perhaps some other members here, I have certainly seen a number of instances of child abuse - especially during my work as a prosecutor. Both child abuse from within the immediate family of the child and child abuse from close relatives and friends, or so-called friends, are very common and all-too-frequent occurrences. Of course, this is really being highlighted now with the New South Wales inquiry into paedophilia and ancillary matters such as that. Needless to say, people who abuse children abuse their trust and, I think, commit possibly one of the most serious criminal offences we have on our statute books. It is an insidious problem. It is something that governments and, indeed, communities at all levels have to address.

When I announced our plan, Mr Speaker, I indicated that we needed to adopt a graduated approach in relation to the implementation of the legislation. Such an approach is critical to successful implementation. We did look in some detail at whether we should mandate certain groups of professionals to start with; but the basic concept of adopting a gradual approach was so that we actually had something to build on - a means of actually assessing what we were doing and just what additional services would be required. We must build into the implementation of this legislation a means of assessing the impact on our service provision of mandating. That is critical in order to be able to achieve two things effectively and efficiently.

The two critical outcomes that we must achieve in the course of this process are, firstly, the ability to manage newly reported cases of children at risk in a way which is best for the children and families involved. We must do this in a way which will meet their needs, with as high a quality of support services as we can possibly provide. The second critical outcome is the ability to protect the services we currently provide and the children we are currently caring for from the type of destabilisation which can so easily result from sudden and ill-planned demands on services of this type.

It must never be forgotten that it is the best interests of the child that is the very reason why we are even debating this issue at all. Children who are in very vulnerable circumstances and for whom we - the Government and the ACT community - have a responsibility are the ones who matter here. This Government believes that it is vital to ensure at least that it is mandatory for all professionals who work with children to report suspected abuse. But, beyond that, we believe that it is also essential to ensure that,

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .