Page 2038 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 4 June 2019
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response if the coroner has provided the Attorney-General with a report which makes comments or recommendations about a matter of public safety or findings of a risk to public safety. These amendments also clarify the roles of the Attorney-General and other ministers, as well as the coroner’s. We are committed to improving government processes, and this amendment is an example of this commitment in action. This change will also contribute to a safer Canberra by ensuring matters of public safety that are identified by the coroner are thoroughly considered by the government, and that the outcomes of those considerations are made public.
Turning to the Freedom of Information Act and the Children and Young People Act amendments, the bill will also amend the Freedom of Information Act to clarify its application to the disclosure of sensitive information in child protection matters. I am aware that further discussion on this will be held in the detail stage, but already there has been public consideration of the issues that have raised this amendment.
It is important that the technical amendment that is being considered in this particular bill not be conflated with the ongoing consultation and the policy work around child protection matters. They are related but they are not the same matter. This bill has a technical change that aligns the Children and Young People Act with the Freedom of Information Act. It in no way pre-empts the work that is underway, led by Minister Stephen-Smith, to look at the decision-making in child protection matters. It is truly a technical change.
The underlying principle is that both pieces of legislation should be consistent and that ultimately policy on sensitive information about children should be set out in the Children and Young People Act. Any reforms arising out of the ongoing consultations on our child protection legislation will be reflected in future legislation. This change is plainly a sensible change. It will provide certainty and clarity to the law and its users and those administering it. It is good policy and good legislation.
The JACS bill also makes a range of other changes to legislation to improve the operations of the territory’s laws, including clarifying that the Magistrates Court can exercise the civil claims jurisdiction in fair work matters that has been conferred on it by the commonwealth Fair Work Act 2009, improving the appointment framework for the Victims Advisory Board and removing gendered references to marriage across ACT legislation to ensure that our laws reflect the recognition of same-sex marriage. By updating these references to be gender neutral, the bill is yet another demonstration of how Canberra is leading the way as the capital of equality and the city of inclusion.
Today’s bill makes a number of important technical changes to territory laws. These play an important role in ensuring that the territory’s laws are working well and are serving the Canberra community in the way they should. It continues a series of JACS bills that improve our statute book. Its passage will deliver sensible, measurable benefits for Canberrans. I commend the bill to the Assembly.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Bill agreed to in principle.
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