Page 566 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 9 March 2011
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amendment at section 727O(3) proposes the report. The bill makes provision at 727O that a requirement of the committee is to provide yearly reports. The provisions specify the nature of the information that must be included and does not preclude the committee from reporting other relevant information to their functions.
The report may include recommendations about legislation, policies, practices and services for the implementation by the territory and non-government bodies to help prevent or reduce the likelihood of child deaths and also the implementation of any previous recommendations of the committee. The committee report must be provided to the minister four months after the end of the financial year and the minister is required to table the report in the Legislative Assembly within six days after receipt.
The bill enables the minister to amend the report before presenting it to the Assembly to prevent the disclosure of the identity of a child or young person or allowing the identity of a child or young person who has died to be worked out. The government supports in principle the intent of these provisions but suggests amendments that are consistent with the privacy of children and young people and their families. New clause at 727O(3) states that the report must be provided to the minister no later than two months after the end of the reporting period.
I turn to new section 727O(5). The Greens new amendment to 727O(5) is superseded by the government’s amendment to 727O(5). The intent of Ms Hunter’s amendment—to move the original bill section 727O(5) to 727O(2A)—is reasonable. However, the government’s amendment to this section is important and in relation to the reporting period.
Given the small number of child deaths in any given year, the government seeks to make this amendment. The government also supports further amendments to the bill which indicate the committee must not include in the report information which discloses the identity of a child or young person.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Convenor, ACT Greens) (11.07): Mr Assistant Speaker, we will not support amendments 20 and 21 as they are linked to the three-year reporting amendment which has already failed. We believe that annual reporting is optimal.
Amendments negatived.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Convenor, ACT Greens) (11.08): I move amendment No 7 circulated in my name [see schedule 2 at page 689].
This amendment omits section 727O(5) which provides that a minister may amend the report that may disclose or allow a child or young person to be identified. We are removing this clause because the amendments that have just passed that put the obligation on the committee to protect privacy more effectively achieve what was originally intended by this clause.
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