Page 527 - Week 02 - Thursday, 9 March 2006
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In response to concerns raised by the Office of the Public Advocate, the government has proposed an additional amendment to replace the word “suspect” with “believe”. The OPA have agreed with this wording. The additional government amendment clarifies that a mandated reporter must reasonably believe, rather than reasonably suspect, that another person has made a report to the chief executive about the same child or young person and the same abuse or injury in order to be exempt from making a report. This will provide a clearer picture as to the number of children and young people at risk by reducing the number of multiple reports.
Proposed new clause 18A provides that the chief executive must provide reports on children and young people for whom the chief executive has parental responsibility to the Public Advocate if the incident giving rise to the report involves the authorised carer or happened while the child or young person was in an approved care placement. This includes children and young people placed in out-of-home care or on approved contact visits.
The intention of the provision is for the Public Advocate to provide oversight of the chief executive’s actions in relation to children and young people allegedly abused or neglected in care or while on an approved contact visit. An additional government amendment was required for this clause in response to a request by the Office of the Public Advocate that these reports be extended to include alleged abuse that also happens on a contact visit.
The Public Advocate will continue to receive reports of abuse and neglect on children and young people for whom the chief executive has parental responsibility. In practice, the current requirement to report has resulted in many reports being provided which do not involve significant care and protection concerns; for example, a young person absconding from placement for a short period. The government amendment to this clause clarifies that the chief executive must provide reports to the Public Advocate on children and young people for whom the chief executive has parental responsibility if the incident giving rise to the report involves the authorised carer or happened while the child or young person was in an approved care placement.
Turning to the amendment in relation to information sharing, clause 21 introduces a new framework for information sharing, with information being categorised into levels of protected and sensitive information. Different obligations for the information holder attach to each level. The chief executive will be empowered to release information where it is in a child’s or young person’s best interests.
Improved guidance is provided as to what information may be released by information holders, who include statutory office holders such as the Public Advocate and the Official Visitor, persons exercising a function under the act, persons engaged in the administration of the act or anyone else who has been given information by one of these people. The chief executive will also be able to release information where it is decided that this would be in the best interests of the child or young person.
Removal will result in a lack of clarity and guidance to information holders in order to protect sensitive information about individuals, especially for third parties. In particular, clause 21, subsections (3) and (4), provides that an information holder does not need to
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