Page 4301 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 13 October 2009
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In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.
Adoption is one of a range of options used to provide care for children who cannot live with their birth families. It is the process whereby the legal relationship between a child and their biological parents is severed, and the legal rights of the child are as if he or she had been born to the adoptive parents.
This is a serious issue, it is an emotive issue, and it requires both sensitivity and a well-researched approach. The Greens believe the purpose of this amendment bill is to provide the ACT with access to contemporary adoption practices and provide appropriate transparency and accountability for birth parents, children, prospective adoptive parents and the broader community.
The ACT prides itself on protecting the rights of all its citizens, including our children and young people. Children and young people rely heavily on the critical evaluation and guidance of adults to ensure that they have secure protection of their rights. In the ACT we have made efforts to achieve this through the ACT Human Rights Act 2004 and the Children and Young People Act 2008. We are signatory to the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. By enacting both legislation and convention responsibilities we play a critical role in working towards recognising and understanding the importance of protecting children’s rights.
With regard to this current legislation before the Assembly, I am particularly pleased to have young people who are 12 years old or older, but not yet adult, recognised in the amendment bill as young people. The ACT Greens are also pleased that clause 5 indicates that the best interests of the child or young person receive primary consideration.
In December 1990, Australia ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This convention makes the best interests of the child a paramount consideration, in actions and decisions concerning that child. The principle of the best interests of the child is one of the fundamental principles of the convention underpinning the interpretation of all children’s rights and freedoms.
I welcome the changes in this bill surrounding the provisions made for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people. Under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle, a department has a responsibility to consider placing an Indigenous child or young person with, in order of priority, a member of the child or young person’s family, a member of the child or young person’s community or language group, another Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander who is familiar with the child or young person’s community or language group, or another Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander. If these placements cannot be found, then a placement can be arranged with a non-Indigenous family who have the capacity to support the child’s cultural identity as a person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background.
It is incredibly important that this placement principle that appeared in the Children and Young People Act is now being reflected in these amendments to the Adoption
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