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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 7 Hansard (1 July) . . Page.. 1960 ..
people other than a supervisor or those officers, it must not occur for more than 12 hours each day and must allow reasonable access to the open air.
Importantly, children and young people receiving therapeutic protection are not to be in premises used mainly for remandees or criminal offenders.
YOUTH JUSTICE REFORMS
Speaking of criminal offenders, this is an appropriate time for me to mention that the youth justice reforms dealt with by the Bill are limited to:providing for community service orders as a dispositional option,
reducing remand periods comparably with adult provisions from 21 to 15 days,
prohibiting smoking at prescribed places (to include Quamby), and
clarifying procedures in relation to transfers from the youth justice system to the child protection system.
As part of the continuing process of legislative review, however, I hope to be
able to announce measures for consultation with the community on wider reforms in this area within the next 12 months.
CHILD CARE LICENSING REFORMS
More significantly for now I commend to Members the child care licensing reforms which replace Part VII of the Childrens Services Act. The Bill formulates a 2-stage process of 'approval in principle' then licensing for providers of child care centres and family day care schemes. In doing so it recognises the integrity and specialisation necessary for the effective regulation of child care services and reflects best practice by adopting similar provisions from Victorian and Queensland legislation.The umbrella term 'childrens services' will cover child care centres. It also covers family day care schemes (as distinct from individual family day carers). Regulating schemes, not individual carers, is a further example of the Bill making active provision for government cooperation with the community and for ensuring State intervention in the field is not overly restrictive.
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