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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 07 Hansard (Thursday, 1 July 2004) . . Page.. 3166 ..

came from various people. You will be interested to hear this, I am sure. In fact, I think you’ll be shocked. The complaints in 2002-03 were from:

• medical practitioners, mandated persons; 1 per cent;

• hospital and other personnel, mandated persons; 8 per cent;

• school personnel, mandated persons, 14 per cent;

• child-care personnel, mandated persons, one per cent;

• social workers, mandated persons, 2 per cent.

Twenty-six per cent of these reports were from mandated persons. The other 74 per cent were from non-mandated persons, including 39 per cent from friends and neighbours—74 per cent from non-mandated people. The police figure was 16 per cent, I might add.

The point I am making, Minister, is this: wouldn’t these people have seen these children perhaps presenting at hospital? Wouldn’t they necessarily have gone to school? How come only 26 per cent of the reports came from mandated people and 74 per cent came from the rest of the community? This raises very serious questions in my mind on the whole question of mandatory reporting.

You know I have attacked this before, and I will continue to do so. You made a statement earlier, Minister, about how matters had improved in the last six months in your department. Yet as recently as 4 May, two months ago, in answer to a question about action on mandatory reporting, you trotted out Justice Kirby’s comments of 23 years ago:

The Commission believes that the existence of the sanction—

that is, of mandatory reporting—

is more important than its enforcement; it can be purposefully used to educate, to direct and to reinforce good intentions rather than provide a basis for prosecutions ...

I do not think that Justice Kirby, even 23 years ago, Mr Speaker, was directing those comments to the case of two children who died in this territory. I do not believe that that was the case at all. In fact, the whole question of mandatory reporting is now in serious doubt in the ACT. I am beginning to suspect that we may be planning to do away with it.

Mr Hargreaves: Is that an election promise?

MR CORNWELL: Thank you for the interjection. I see. Mr Hargreaves asked me if it is an election promise. I am asking you, Mr Hargreaves, or I am asking your minister and your government, because it seems to me your government’s failure to act upon this matter—

Mr Hargreaves: On a point of order, Mr Speaker, following on Mr Pratt’s point of order before: could you ask Mr Cornwell to direct his questions through the chair.

MR CORNWELL: I am addressing it—

MR SPEAKER: Mr Hargreaves, don’t provoke him with interjections.

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