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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 8 Hansard (30 August) . . Page.. 2672 ..

MR BERRY: Proposed new section 198B sets all those requirements out.

Mr Humphries: Where does it say you cannot know the aggrieved person?

MR BERRY: I just went through that, Gary. Weren't you listening, for heaven's sake?

Mr Humphries: I was, but you did not say. You did not tell me. Where does it say you cannot know the aggrieved person?

MR BERRY: Have a look at 198B. Read the lot. If you are still relatively uninformed, come back to me.

Mr Humphries: I am, I am afraid. I cannot see where it says you do not have to name an aggrieved person.

MR BERRY: It says:

Mr Humphries: It does not say you should not name the aggrieved party.

MR BERRY: That will not make the aggrieved person's identity available. Mr Humphries also said that names could be kept secret by the Magistrates Court. That may be the case. But keeping addresses secret is not the issue. The issue here is that the names of the teachers will be known. The person who takes out the affidavit and puts the evidence before the court will be the one who is identified. You do not have to be Einstein to find out where somebody lives if you know who they are. If you cannot find their address in the phone book or on the electoral roll, you can follow them home. It is as simple as that. This is about keeping the names of individuals confidential. This is the advice I was given as a precursor to the development of this bill.

I suspect-Mr Humphries protests the opposite-that this is just opposition for opposition's sake. He is talking about a review in the education system. I am not interested in that. I want to see this apply more widely. This legislation has been drafted to protect all employees by ensuring that their identities are kept confidential in proceedings of this sort. This is not just about the education system, the subject of the review Mr Humphries is talking about. I want something wider than that. That is why I drew up this legislation.

I think Mr Humphries is grasping at straws. I am happy to consider further amendments if his review turns something else up in the future, but I am not prepared to wait at this stage for a review of the nature proposed by Mr Humphries. The review he is talking about, as far as I can make out, applies only to the education system.

Mr Humphries: No. It is more.

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