Page 2098 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 6 June 2018
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Sadly, children under one year of age comprise the largest number of deaths across age groups, accounting for 70.4 per cent of all deaths of children and young people for the five-year period. The leading causes of death for infants are medically related and include “‘certain conditions originating in the perinatal period’ … followed by ‘chromosomal or congenital anomalies’”. The main cause of death listed for the infants who died in the first month of life was prematurity—more often than not, extreme prematurity.
Cases where the cause of death is unascertained continue to present a challenge for the committee, particularly for young children. These deaths can be due to a range of actual causes, but there is insufficient evidence to make an accurate determination. During the five-year period there were eight incidents of deaths in infants where the cause could not be ascertained.
The committee chair, Ms Margaret Carmody PSM, notes in her foreword to the report that the committee is currently conducting a more in-depth review of the deaths of children aged between zero and three years, given the relatively high rates of mortality in this age group. The committee is seeking to identify and consider factors that increase the vulnerability of children and young people. I look forward to receiving the committee’s report on this review.
The death of any child or young person is devastating, and I would like to take this opportunity to extend my condolences, and the condolences of this Assembly, to all families and friends affected by the death of a child or young person.
I commend the ACT Children and Young People Death Review Committee annual report 2017 to the Assembly and thank the committee for their work over the past year.
Municipal services—street sweeping
MS LEE (Kurrajong) (3.34): I move:
That this Assembly:
(1) notes that:
(a) millions of deciduous trees across the ACT collectively drop thousands of cubic metre of leaves onto Canberra’s roads, footpaths and gutters; and
(b) insufficient street sweeping of Canberra roads leads to leaf litter entering our storm water system, causing:
(i) blockages;
(ii) organic material to flow down the drain; and
(iii) contributes to blue-green algal blooms in our lakes; and
(2) calls on the ACT Government to, by the end of the first sitting week in October 2018:
(a) conduct an audit of the timetable for street sweeping in all suburbs and review the requests for street sweeping received via the Fix My Street
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