Page 4919 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 25 October 2011
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willing to support the bill in the form it was in when it was listed for debate on 29 March this year.
I would like to make it clear that the Greens do not want to see community workers given approval if they are likely to harm or abuse vulnerable children or adults. But we also recognise, as I have already pointed out, that some workers have made mistakes in the past, have learnt from them and pose no risk. It is the latter group of workers the Greens want to ensure can still be employed.
I would like to recognise the significant work undertaken by the Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Association and the Mental Health Community Coalition of the ACT in working with the directorate and the government over the last 10 months to improve on the bill. These peak bodies provided leadership and assurance to workers in their sectors who were concerned about the impact of the legislation. The bill has come a long way from where it was previously and I hope that community sector workers have greater assurance now with what is being proposed. The Greens believe that we now have improved legislation and a better outcome for the community.
The Greens made it clear when the bill was first tabled that we wanted to see regulations finalised before the bill was debated and passed, because these will be crucial to how the bill operates in practice. That had not occurred when the bill was brought on for debate in March, but that work has been done and the details of the scheme have been made available.
With regard to the government’s amendments, one of the most important changes proposed is the staged implementation across sectors of the requirement to have background checks. Proposed new section 2A sets this out by stating that the legislation will apply to children in year 1; disability and homelessness in year 2; education and sports in year 3; refugees, emergency services, housing and crime prevention in year 4; mental health and transport in year 5; and corrections and addictions in year 6.
There has been a change, via section 31, to require the appointment of seven independent advisers, each of whom must have existing expertise with migrants, Aboriginal people, people with disabilities, children and young people, mental health, drug and alcohol addiction or psychology. The advisers will be responsible for assisting in the examination of applications which are more likely to result in a negative notice or a role-based approval. I believe ACTCOSS brokered this amendment with the government, and it is a significant improvement to the proposed scheme.
The government is also proposing an amendment so that people who receive a negative notice can ask to have their case reconsidered. It is also proposed that there be a mandatory review of the system after the third year of implementation. The Greens support this approach as it will mean that any problems that emerge with negative notices in the first three years of implementation will be addressed before the legislation applies to other workers. I note that the government is proposing amendments which address concerns raised by the scrutiny of bills committee about strict liability and that offences should not involve possible imprisonment.
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