Page 559 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 9 March 2011
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Amendment agreed to.
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services, Minister for Children and Young People, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Women) (10.41): I move amendment No 11 circulated in my name [see schedule 1 at page 683].
The bill addresses the review of child deaths from the time the provisions are enacted. It will be of value to the ACT community to maintain an ongoing record of trends and patterns of child deaths over time. ACT Health reviewed child deaths from 1992 to 2003, and the government proposes an amendment at section 727L(5) and (6) that ensures that child deaths from 2004 to the date of the commencement of the amendments being debated today will be able to be undertaken and recorded within the following six years. This seven-year period would add to the trend information concerning the death of children and young people in the ACT, would assist the committee and would inform the ACT community.
The government amendment at section 727L(6) empowers the committee to include information in the register of child deaths from 1 January 2004 and inclusion on the register of information prior to that date. The amendment proposes that the analysis and reporting of this work must be completed in the next six years, enabling the committee to undertake both current and past work concurrently.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Convenor, ACT Greens) (10.43): We support the work of the committee to develop the register and that includes the deaths of children and young people from 2004 to 2011. We believe this will provide the committee with information that may alert them to trends or patterns and provide a solid basis for future recommendations.
Amendment agreed to.
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services, Minister for Children and Young People, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Women) (10.43): I move amendment No 12 circulated in my name [see schedule 1 at page 683].
The government also proposes an amendment that ensures that relevant entities as defined at section 727LA(6) must provide the committee, within three months of the death of a child or young person, information concerning the cause of death of a child or young person and the age and sex of the child and whether the child is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander or, as a section 727L(a)(4) amendment states “as soon as practicable” after its information is subject to an inquest or review. Relevant entities include the Chief Police Officer, the Registrar-General, the Coroners Court, the chief executive responsible for the administration of the Children and Young People Act 2008, the chief executive responsible for the administration of the Education Act 2004, the chief executive responsible for the administration of the Health Act 1993, a licensed proprietor of a childcare service and an entity prescribed by regulation.
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