Page 3074 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 24 September 2014

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I am proud to bring this bill forward today and I truly hope the ACT government supports my request. I also hope that other jurisdictions will take on similar legislation. The public are entitled to know how their money is being spent, and I am pleased to present the bill to the Assembly today.

Debate (on motion by Mr Barr) adjourned to the next sitting.

Children and young people—foster care

MS LAWDER (Brindabella) (10.18): I move:

That this Assembly:

(1) notes that:

(a) September 2014 is Foster Care Month, raising the profile of fostering in the wider community;

(b) more than 40 000 children in Australia are in out-of-home care, a number that rises every year;

(c) in 2013 there were over 500 children living in out-of-home care in the ACT;

(d) the number of children in foster care in the ACT has more than doubled since 2003;

(e) foster carers can be young, old, single, married, same-sex couples, from different cultures and religious backgrounds;

(f) there are still many children and young people in the ACT in need of immediate foster care; and

(g) last week, 14-20 September 2014, was Foster Care Week highlighting the invaluable work foster carers do;

(2) acknowledges the commitment given by foster carers in the ACT;

(3) acknowledges the work of community organisations in the ACT to facilitate the care of the children in out-of-home care; and

(4) ensures that the care of children in the ACT in out-of-home care is a priority for the Government.

I bring this motion to the Assembly today to acknowledge the invaluable work that is done by those who take on the responsibility for children who are not their own—who voluntarily give so much to help our most vulnerable by sharing their lives and their homes.

Here in the ACT we have over 500 children who need this support who are in out-of-home care. This means we have hundreds of people in our territory who voluntarily

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