Page 470 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 21 February 2012
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accountability for its actions. Yet today it is very clearly stating that that commitment does not apply to this group in regard to the charter of rights. It is particularly disappointing that the government is acknowledging that it is prepared to not stand by and include this charter in legislation.
They have been very proud of that charter. There was a launch. There were a number of young people in out-of-home care who attended that launch. I find it very disappointing that we have not, like Queensland and Western Australia, been able to include it in our legislation.
The second part of this amendment, which is also addressed in amendment No 3, is to ensure that children and young people in care have an entitlement to their possessions and information about them. There are a number of parts to this amendment, and it does cover a number of clauses within the bill, but the outcome is quite straightforward. The amendment ensures that young people, their carers and the directorate are very clear about their obligations to keep the possessions of young people and young people’s entitlement to those possessions.
This clause seeks to insert a new division, which provides when a young person or young adult has an entitlement to personal items and access to protected information. If, during the course of a placement, information or items have been kept by a care entity and not previously given to the director-general, this clause provides that the director-general can direct the care entity to give the child or young person the information, items or access to them if it is considered on reasonable grounds that it is in the best interests of the child.
The director-general may place conditions on the direction if they believe that this would benefit the child or young person. For example, this may include ensuring that adequate support is available for the child or young person accessing this information for the first time. The provision around entitlement to possessions has been modelled on the Western Australian act and reflects the fact that young people and young adults have the right to their own things and the right to know about their family and cultural history.
Feedback from the discussion paper that I put out some time ago made me aware that many kinship and foster carers are already doing this for children and young people in their care. I know parents who do this for children in the community. I believe that there is a reasonable community expectation that the territory should collect and store these items for those few young people and young adults who do not have significant adults to do this for them.
We cannot and should not underestimate the significance of this to help in reconciling many difficult issues these young people have experienced in their past and the benefits that these items and information can have. This amendment also ensures that support is given to children, young people and young adults to make sure their memories, information, history and stories are preserved for their future.
We need to acknowledge that when we talk about personal items we are not talking about every piece of clothing and soft toy a person has ever had. We are talking about
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