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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 6 Hansard (25 May) . . Page.. 1770 ..
Title read by Clerk.
MR HUMPHRIES: I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
Mr Speaker, this bill seeks to implement a recommendation of the Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety by increasing the victims of crime levy from $30 to $50. Recommendation 22 of the committee's report on the inquiry into the Victims of Crime (Financial Assistance) (Amendment) Bill 1998 provided:
The committee recommends that the government increase the amount collected under the criminal injuries levy and use it as a source of funds for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme.
The committee also warned that the levy "should not be so high as to have an adverse impact on families of offenders". I think that the recommendation was also picked up by the same committee in its response to the draft budget.
The government has accepted the recommendation of the committee. Increasing the levy to $50 will allow a greater contribution to be made to the criminal injuries compensation scheme by those convicted of criminal offences, while not causing significantly greater hardship to the families of offenders. I commend the bill to the Assembly.
Debate (on motion by Mr Wood ) adjourned.
MR MOORE (Minister for Health and Community Care) (11.07): I present the Mental Health (Treatment and Care) Amendment Bill 2000, together with its explanatory memorandum.
Title read by Clerk.
MR MOORE: I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
This bill clarifies the operation of involuntary detention provisions contained in the Mental Health (Treatment and Care) Act 1994. The bill represents an amendment to the act to ensure that doctors working with mentally dysfunctional and mentally ill patients can provide the most appropriate treatment. Currently, individuals who are at serious risk of harming themselves or others may be apprehended and taken to an approved health facility under section 37 and placed under an involuntary detention order through section 41 of the act, providing they meet the relevant clinical criteria.
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