Page 662 - Week 02 - Thursday, 20 February 2020
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objective. This means that our legislation is driven by the goal of providing long-term best practice services in a way that meets the expectations of the community.
The bill proposes a high-level framework for licensing cemeteries and crematoria to ensure that Canberra has facilities which meet a minimum level of standards while being encouraged to provide best practice services that meet expectations. The community expects that facilities will meet minimum expectations, and it is important that the government can act when things go wrong. The new licensing scheme supports this, with greater oversight of how facilities are operating. The bill significantly improves enforceability, with the introduction of an enforcement framework and a regulator to allow for swift and appropriate action where deficiencies have been identified.
Under the bill, the government may impose conditions on a licence or, in serious circumstances such as where an operator poses a danger to public health, may cancel or suspend a licence. Given the sensitivity and seriousness of the services the industry provides, we have proposed strong penalties to apply for any operator who is found to have failed to operate or comply with the requirements of their licence.
The bill prescribes a range of minimum operating requirements for facilities. These standards are designed to ensure that the community’s needs are being met and that facilities are meeting best practice standards. These minimum standards include keeping the facility clean and tidy; creating, maintaining and reviewing standard operating procedures; and having regard to the cultural and religious needs and preferences of the community.
Of particular importance is the introduction of a strong framework for good record keeping. Under the act, there are only minimal record keeping requirements and no reporting requirements. The investigation into the case of the lost ashes found that though the record keeping complied with the necessary standards of the time, it did not sufficiently capture enough information to accurately understand what had occurred. I am determined that no other families will experience the pain and trauma of having their loved one’s ashes lost.
Under this bill, all operators must keep records of all pre-sold interment sites; details of the individuals who have been interred, including the site and location of the interment on a map, including a unique identifying location number; and details of cremations, including a unique identifying number for the remains. These records must be kept permanently in a secure system and in an easily accessible format to ensure that families can be confident about the status and location of their deceased loved ones.
The regulatory system is not intended to be overly burdensome, and the impact on operators doing the right thing will be minimal. However, these amendments will ensure that the community can be confident that operators have the appropriate skills, knowledge and procedures to operate a cemetery or crematorium effectively and efficiently.
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