Page 2501 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 1 July 2008

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child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.

2. For this purpose, the child shall in particular be provided the opportunity to be heard in any judicial and administrative proceedings affecting the child, either directly, or through a representative or an appropriate body, in a manner consistent with the procedural rules of national law.

When working through the ideas for amendments, my staff and I liaised with various groups, obtaining support for the ideas in general. The Public Advocate ACT supports that the principles/objects section of the bill needs to be amended to include the requirement that children and young people participate in decision-making processes. A number of groups mentioned that in other jurisdictions, New South Wales in particular, participation of children and young people is more fully enshrined in the legislation. The New South Wales Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 has a separate principle, the principle of participation, section 10, which the Public Advocate has suggested is a good example of how another jurisdiction covers this area in legislation. It reads:

(1) To ensure that a child or young person is able to participate in decisions made under or pursuant to this Act that have a significant impact on his or her life, the Director-General is responsible for providing the child or young person with the following:

(a) adequate information, in a manner and language that he or she can understand, concerning the decisions to be made, the reasons for the Department’s intervention, the ways in which the child or young person can participate in decision-making and any relevant complaint mechanisms,

(b) the opportunity to express his or her views freely, according to his or her abilities,

(d) information as to how his or her views will be recorded and taken into account,

(e) information about the outcome of any decision concerning the child or young person and a full explanation of the reasons for the decision,

(f) an opportunity to respond to a decision made under this Act concerning the child or young person.

(2) In the application of this principle, due regard must be had to the age and developmental capacity of the child or young person.

(3) Decisions that are likely to have a significant impact on the life of a child or young person include, but are not limited to, the following:

(a) plans for emergency or ongoing care, including placement,

(b) the development of care plans concerning the child or young person,

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