Page 5481 - Week 14 - Thursday, 30 November 2017
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Bill, as a whole agreed to.
Bill agreed to.
Correction
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (6.23), by leave: Thank you, members, for your indulgence. During the debate on pill testing, I quoted from the Canberra Times. I said that the Canberra Times had said that the ACT Liberals had refused more than a dozen times a request for a briefing. When I went upstairs, my staff pointed out to me that that was not strictly correct. I will quote from the Canberra Times to correct the record. It said:
The ACT Liberals Vicki Dunne and Jeremy Hanson, who oppose pill testing, had refused up to a dozen requests to meet with STA-SAFE and discuss their concerns.
I hope that that makes the record correct.
Reportable Conduct and Information Sharing Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
Debate resumed from 2 November 2017, on motion by Mr Barr:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
MRS KIKKERT (Ginninderra) (6.24): I am grateful for the opportunity to resume the debate on this important legislation, which the Canberra Liberals will be supporting. The reportable conduct scheme for the ACT, which commenced on 1 July 2017, received unanimous support when it was introduced. There can be no doubt that every single member of this Assembly views the safety and protection of our children and young people as of great importance.
This bill seeks to amend the Children and Young People Act and the Ombudsman Act. Its primary purpose is to improve information sharing for child protection. This was one of the core recommendations in the Glanfield inquiry that was tabled in May last year in response to the tragic death of Bradyn Dillon three months earlier. Mr Glanfield specifically recommended:
Legislative provision should be made in the ACT similar to Chapter 16A of the NSW Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act … to clearly authorise information sharing and to foster a culture of appropriate information sharing and collaboration.
The bill expands the range of entities that may request and disclose child safety information and, importantly, it specifically authorises the heads of such entities to share child safety information on their own initiative, if deemed necessary, without a request. I and the Canberra Liberals support these enhancements to information sharing. The Glanfield inquiry notes that:
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