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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 4 Hansard (17 April) . . Page.. 1025 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

once the incidence of such abuse is demonstrated, the Government is in a sound position to actually do something about it. That is why this Government, unlike the previous Government, has finally driven the legislation to the point of implementation. It is why we have devised a strategy for implementing the legislation that best protects the interests of all the children we care for now, as well as those we will care for in the future.

I might ask, Mr Speaker: Where was the previous Government's plan to ensure the safety and care of the children at risk in our community? We had to wait for a while for any announcement of a strategy. It should be noted, of course, that we are the ones who are actually doing something now. Needless to say, I was heartened by the positive comments Ms Reilly made in this debate. She raised some very valid and reasonable points, too, might I say, Mr Speaker. As members know, we allocated money in the last budget to provide a viable base of trainers. In fact, we have appointed a mandatory reporting trainer, who has started work, allowing us to get on with the very important training element of our strategy. This is a vital improvement on the abysmal void in the resourcing and attention to this issue we saw during the previous Government's term of office.

Ms McRae: They have been trained to death. It is time you put in some resources instead of bagging the Opposition.

MR STEFANIAK: We have done that. You did absolutely nothing.

Ms McRae: Just get on with it. It is just nonsense. These people have been trained since the beginning of time. In 1988 they were first trained. Just get on and put some resources into it.

MR SPEAKER: Order!

MR STEFANIAK: It is little wonder that Ms McRae is getting a bit touchy. It is because we are actually doing something. Maybe she can take a leaf out of her colleague's book, in terms of making some positive comments in relation to this.

Ms McRae: Perhaps you can find some real history instead of reinventing it.

MR STEFANIAK: You are touchy on this, aren't you?

Mr Speaker, I return to the issue of the way in which this Government will make sure that these children are looked after. There would be little to be gained by stretching existing resources to the point where the support we provide to the children is compromised. As well, the need to take a graduated approach to implementation is greatly increased in the face of the relative rate of reporting in the ACT. In spite of reporting not yet being mandatory in the Territory, we already do have a rate of reporting which is equal to the national average. The experience in other States is that, once training in mandatory reporting is complete, the incidence of reporting increases. We must have a measure - some evidence of the impact of this phenomenon in the ACT - and we can respond to that measure, if need be, in future resource allocations.

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