Page 34 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 9 February 2016
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As I said when I introduced the bill last year, and as I reiterated earlier this morning, the changes in this bill are about better focusing existing resources to meet the needs of the client group and ensuring the most effective delivery of rights assistance and advocacy in a challenging budgetary environment.
The government is working with the statutory office-holders and the staff of the relevant agencies to ensure that internal operational processes and arrangements will also facilitate a smooth transition to the new structure established in this legislation, and to make sure that staff are supported in this time of change and are ready to commence operations in the restructured offices from 1 April this year. This implementation work is being led through a workplace consultative committee comprising the commissioners, staff and JACS directorate officials, with input from the relevant unions, particularly the Community and Public Sector Union.
I will briefly cover the main provisions of the bill and outline minor changes to the policy since November, following the ongoing work with statutory office-holders and staff to plan for the new distribution of functions set out in this bill. These changes will be addressed partly through the amendments that I have circulated, to be dealt with during the detail stage, and also through a second bill that will address outstanding issues and make consequential changes across the statute book to support the new structure.
This second bill, the Protection of Rights (Services) Consequential Amendment Bill, is due to be introduced shortly and will commence at the same time as the existing bill that is before us today—that is, at the beginning of April.
In summary, the protection of rights bill that we are debating today implements a new structure for the Human Rights Commission, including the advocacy functions of the Public Advocate and the Victims of Crime Commissioner. It also establishes a new, expanded office of the Public Trustee and Guardian.
Turning to the provisions of the bill itself, the bill amends the Human Rights Commission to establish these new positions, redistribute functions within the commission and introduce a number of new mechanisms to improve the governance of the commission. The bill amends the objects of the Human Rights Commission Act to reflect that the Public Advocate and the Victims of Crime Commissioner will be members of the commission.
This is a significant change. For the first time we recognise in particular that the rights of victims of crime are also human rights. The bill inserts new definitions of “prescribed service”, being all the different services that the commission provides. It includes, as I mentioned, services for victims of crime.
The bill amends section 12 of the Human Rights Commission Act to provide that the president is a member of the commission and the Human Rights Commissioner, and it also includes the Public Advocate and the Victims of Crime Commissioner as members of the commission.
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