Page 1885 - Week 05 - Thursday, 16 May 2019
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borders to create a national system of protection against harm and abuse against vulnerable people. I commend the bill and the amendments to the Assembly.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Bill agreed to in principle.
Detail stage
Bill, by leave, taken as a whole.
MR STEEL (Murrumbidgee—Minister for City Services, Minister for Community Services and Facilities, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Roads) (5.58): Pursuant to standing order 182A(c), I seek leave to move together amendments to this bill that are in response to comments made by the scrutiny committee.
Leave granted.
MR STEEL: I move amendments Nos 1 to 8 circulated in my name together and table a supplementary explanatory statement to the amendments [see schedule 3 at page 1908]. I mentioned that we had responded to the scrutiny committee by making some government amendments to this bill in light of the committee’s comments in relation to how disqualifying offences might be added to the act. The amendments will withdraw the provision that would enable the making of disqualifying offences through regulation, requiring that all disqualifying offences be included in the primary legislation. On reflection, I believe this is reflective of the level of impact on a person.
Any future changes to disqualifying offences arising out of national agreements on the royal commission or other reforms will require an amendment to the act. I anticipate that if offences need to be added to the schedule without other substantive amendments to the act these might be brought forward by way of a statute law amendment bill.
The committee asked that I clarify the intended operation of the bill regarding allegations of disqualifying offences. My amendments relate to the meaning of non-conviction information, which will explicitly include the consideration of non-conviction information by the commissioner as it relates to a person’s disqualifying offence. Non-conviction information may be the source of exceptional circumstances for class B offences and evidence of mistaken identity for class A offences. We want to ensure that the commissioner is able to consider all relevant information before making a decision about whether to issue a negative notice.
Amendments agreed to.
Bill, as a whole, as amended, agreed to.
Bill, as amended, agreed to.
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