Page 4867 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 25 October 2011
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being subjected to abuse or neglect. It is not the intent of the bill to unnecessarily regulate employment or volunteer roles where the risk to vulnerable people is low. This amendment addresses concerns raised during consultations.
Government amendment 8 and other similarly proposed amendments to the bill remove the imprisonment element from the strict liability offences in the bill. People who knowingly engage in regulated services and activities for which they are not registered pose a risk to the safety and security of vulnerable people. Therefore, the strict liability offences in the bill must reflect the seriousness of the offence and act as a deterrent. However, imposing a term of imprisonment is unlikely to be a deterrent to a person who knowingly commits an offence under the bill or breaches the act. These amendments address comments made by the scrutiny of bills committee report 27.
Government amendment 14 adds the term “supervised employment” in the heading of clause 14. This amendment clarifies that this clause is applicable to unregistered people who are intending to engage in a regulated activity or service and that employers have an obligation to provide appropriate supervision to an unregistered person while they are engaging in a regulated activity or service.
Government amendment 16 proposes the addition of a new clause in the bill which will ensure that unregistered eligible kinship carers and significant persons are able to take children into their care in an emergency situation without inadvertently breaching the law. At present, the bill does not permit emergency placements of children into the care of unregistered kinship carers or other persons who are significant to the child or children. The government is proposing this amendment to remedy this unintended consequence of regulating specific activities and services provided under the Children and Young People Act 2008. The proposed new clause does not compel the Office for Children, Youth and Family Support to place a child or children in the care of a relative or significant person when an emergency placement is required if they are not satisfied that the person is an eligible kinship carer. This amendment addresses concerns raised during consultations.
Government amendment 18 removes the requirement for an applicant to provide a statutory declaration with their application form when advising of convictions or relevant offences which have occurred outside of Australia. Information regarding these offences will be able to be provided via a written statement.
Government amendment 19 and other similarly proposed amendments to the bill clarify that where time frames are imposed on an applicant or the commissioner in the bill the days stated are working days, not sequential calendar days. These amendments provide consistency between the bill and the Legislation Act 2001.
Government amendments 23 and 34 provide for the appointment of independent advisers. The commissioner will be compelled to seek advice from a minimum of three independent advisers when considering the issuing of a role-based registration or when faced with a risk assessment decision where the complexities involved require the advice of experts in the field. There is no limit to the number of independent advisers who can be appointed. However, at least one of the independent advisers is to be from an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background.
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