Page 5656 - Week 15 - Thursday, 10 December 2009
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exemption to the relevant accommodation standard is unable to be authorised and the centre must close rooms and limit services until the work is completed.
Similarly, a childcare centre may seek an exemption while undertaking recruitment of staff or while staff complete their childcare qualifications. Should a service require a second exemption for the same standard within the licence period, even if this is for a different staff member, it is not available under the current provisions. If not granted, the service may have to close rooms and parents will need to find childcare places elsewhere.
The childcare provisions of the act and the childcare services standards are administered by the Children’s Policy and Regulation Unit of the department. As of 12 November 2009, the unit regulates 243 proprietors granted a childcare licence, monitoring these proprietors for compliance with up to 396 childcare service standards. It must be noted that not all licensed services must comply with all standards. Temporary standard exemptions have been granted on 43 occasions to licensed childcare services and each exemption is notified on the ACT legislation register and displayed at the centre.
In addition, the provision of an exemption requires staff of the Children’s Policy and Regulation Unit to form a belief on reasonable grounds that the exemption: (a) will not prejudice the safety and educational, social and developmental wellbeing of children being cared for in childcare service; (b) is not likely to impact on the childcare service’s promotion of the educational, social and developmental wellbeing of children; (c) the childcare service has taken, or is taking, steps to comply with any childcare service standard included in the exemption; and (d) will not result in the service failing to take all reasonable practicable steps to protect the health, safety and welfare of employees.
The amendment proposed clearly states that a temporary standard exemption may be granted on more than one occasion during a licence period for any one standard and the duration of the exemption is determined by the chief executive in accordance with stringent requirements and accountability measures, and where there is an agreed plan in place to remedy the situation.
Information sharing provisions in the act are the second area of this bill that is proposed to be amended. The Children and Young People Act 2008 makes provisions for information sharing and information secrecy requirements when undertaking functions under this act or as required under another law. The restrictions and limitations placed on information sharing ensure that the best interests, safety and wellbeing of children and young people are paramount in decision making. The act also provides that a person who receives information under the act becomes an information holder and restricts the information shared by information holders and the chief executive.
The act differentiates information as protected information and sensitive information. Protected information includes all information about a person obtained by, or disclosed to, an information holder and includes sensitive information. Sensitive information includes prenatal reports, reports made to the Public Advocate; care and protection report information, including child concern reports; care and protection
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