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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 12 Hansard (13 November) . . Page.. 4130 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

Mr Speaker, the principles of fairness and opportunity have also been clearly in evidence in the legislative program of this Government. The Discrimination (Amendment) Act 1996 streamlined the handling of discrimination complaints by imposing strict deadlines on investigations and by placing an increased emphasis on conciliation of complaints. The Discrimination Commissioner now takes an active role in investigation and conciliation of complaints. For those discrimination complaints which require a hearing, the ACT established a new Discrimination Tribunal presided over by a magistrate. Again, this is a demonstration of the practical approaches which have been a central issue for this Government.

The Community and Health Services Complaints (Amendment) Act 1997 enabled the Health Complaints Commissioner to investigate and resolve complaints about a wide range of services provided specifically for aged people and for people with disabilities in the ACT. This is important in ensuring the availability and quality of services for particularly vulnerable members of the community. The Housing Assistance (Amendment) Act 1996 saw the provision of a range of affordable quality housing options to those in most need in the most flexible and most cost-effective manner possible. As a further example of this Government's inclusive view of fairness for all citizens, the recently tabled Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Bill 1997 adopts a more flexible approach to changing social needs and includes provision for persons who have undergone gender reassignment to be issued with new birth certificates.

Mr Speaker, in introducing the Smoke-Free Areas (Enclosed Public Places) (Amendment) Act 1997, I stated that the responsibility to protect public health carries with it the obligation to ensure that health requirements are timely, equitable and likely to achieve the desired outcome. Similarly, in introducing the Public Health Act 1997, I stated that equity is an important principle recognised by this Government; that a component of this is that the health of the greatest number is promoted and protected to the greatest capacity; that this has particular implications for those who are in the higher risk groups, such as infants, older people, and other groups more vulnerable to ill health; and that it creates an obligation to remove as many barriers to good public health as possible.

Mr Speaker, the measures and examples that I have outlined today demonstrate this Government's recognition of the importance of acknowledging the needs of all its customers, irrespective of their characteristics, as we continue to develop a truly inclusive customer-driven service. Meeting the needs of a community is a challenging and difficult task. It requires government service providers to have a knowledge of the needs that exist in the community, a basis for prioritising those needs, and capacities for delivering services to meet those needs. This Government has shifted the focus from inputs to outputs to deliver services which are outcome-focused on meeting the needs of customers. It has taken on the challenge of changing the ACT Public Service to a customer focused service which is more customer driven and more accountable to the community through performance measures. I believe the record for the past three years has been excellent and that with the ongoing evaluations in the commitment to service statement strategy we will see continuous improvement.

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