Page 4920 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 25 October 2011
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Amendments are also proposed which better cater for kinship carers so that they can provide care on an immediate basis. And there have been a number of changes made to the risk assessment guidelines and application form.
Over the past six months, improvements have been made not only to the legislation but also to the education and communication material which accompanies the legislation. This information has been simplified, and people applying for a background check will be better able to understand the accompanying materials. There have been some concerns raised by Civil Liberties about the experiences in the UK with similar legislation. However, I believe that the thorough process that has been applied in the ACT—and it has been very thorough through what has gone on over the last few months—in working with community organisations and very much taking into account their concerns, along with the built-in review processes, means that there is a process which addresses concerns from the start and can address problems if they emerge.
As I said, this has been a difficult process, but even though it has gone on over a number of months, we have come out with a much improved piece of legislation. The concerns of the community sector, particularly in relation to drugs and alcohol and mental health, have been taken into account. We also have some very good risk assessment guidelines in place. I think that we have got a process here that other states will look to in terms of how it has been implemented. And having this staged approach will be very beneficial, as I have already said, in terms of picking up any concerns that come about.
The Greens will be supporting the amendments that have been put forward.
DR BOURKE (Ginninderra) (4.39): I rise to support this legislation. This bill has been developed following extensive community consultation and is in line with obligations under the national framework for protecting Australia’s children, Creating safe environments for children: organisations, employees and volunteers.
Other Australian states and territories have established or are in the process of developing centralised checking systems for people working with children. Operational systems have been established in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia and Victoria. A centralised checking system has also been introduced in the United Kingdom. Tasmania is still in the process of developing a background checking system.
While there are similarities across all checking systems, there are also fundamental differences relating to the definition of child-related work; scope of people subjected to checking; range of information considered as part of the assessment process; duration of approval notices; and level of fees charged to undertake an assessment. If a person is excluded from child-related employment or volunteering in one state or territory, or particular agencies or organisations within a jurisdiction, they may go to another jurisdiction or agency with less stringent screening processes.
Implementation of background checking in the ACT was recommended in the community services and social equity standing committee report No 3, The territory
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