Page 737 - Week 02 - Thursday, 25 February 2010
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educational, social and developmental wellbeing of children; the childcare service has taken, or is taking, steps to comply with any childcare service standard included in the exemption; and the exemption will not result in the proprietor of the childcare centre failing to take all reasonably practicable steps to protect the health, safety and welfare of employees of the childcare service.
The current standards, and the act, are considered. They provide transparency through reporting on the legislation register as notifiable instruments. This reporting will continue with the additional temporary exemptions. Exemptions will still only be allowed if it is safe and does not impact negatively on the wellbeing and development of the children at the centre.
I ask that the minister monitor the use of these exemptions to ensure that the flexibility required is being used and the best interests of the children are protected at all times. It is hoped, minister, that these changes will further enhance a collaborative relationship between the service providers and the department to ensure positive outcomes for children, parents, staff and the community.
The changes to the reporting outlined in clauses 9 to 12 serve to provide improved safety and clarity in information sharing concerning reporting. People making a report under the provisions of the Children and Young People Act 2008 are doing so because they believe it is in the best interests of the child. It is important that protection is built into the legislation to ensure that information from concerned members of the community comes through and allows action to be taken when considered necessary.
The department, which, of course, is bound by the act, holds the best interests of the child as the paramount consideration in any action. It shares information in order to protect the safety and wellbeing of the child or young person. It is critical that the community has a sense of security, trust and an understanding of what will happen to their information when making a child protection report.
We know that a child abuse report is made in Australia every two minutes. This is information from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. With this in mind, I refer to the message from Child Protection Week 2009, which was “Walls protect child abuse, not children. Break down the walls and help bring child abuse out into the open.”
Last year over 30,000 Australian children were proven to have been abused or neglected. It would seem that many walls still exist within our community that continue to allow this to happen. It is the small changes to our legislative framework that allow us to move forward in breaking down the barriers to people reporting child abuse and neglect in our community.
The final amendment to the bill discusses changes to information provided to police to assist with their investigations where there is an allegation of criminal offence committed against a child or young person. The chief executive will now be able to provide a reporter’s details to police to assist in their investigations.
In order for a full and frank investigation to occur, the AFP, in particular the sexual assault and child abuse team, requires access to all possible sources of information.
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