Child Protection Screening

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (16:04): I would like to talk about police checks or DCSI screenings. This issue is becoming very prevalent in my region and I have had many constituents visit my office with complaints regarding delays in getting this police check or screening approved. It has affected many industries from taxi drivers, school bus drivers, carers of children, carers of the aged and carers of vulnerable persons, to name a few. Unfortunately, these delays are leading to people being temporarily laid off or getting very close to the point where employment is suspended for a period of time until that check comes through.

We all agree that police checks and screening are necessary, but I would like to offer the government a bipartisan approach to trying to find a solution. The main issue is the turnaround time. Although the minister's office has indicated to me time and time again that approximately 20 business days should be the norm, with some taking up to eight weeks if a name match is registered in the database, I am seeing numerous cases where it takes three, four or five months for this screening to occur. I have had many people write to me, including a principal who wrote to me just the other day. His experience is common to many:

[Dear Troy,]

This…is getting out of control

I work with children and have a teacher registration

I renewed my criminal history check in Dec 2014 as part of that registration

He goes on to say that, by February 2015, he needed another police check so that he could drive a bus. Because this involves a different part of the department, they would not accept the one that he had two months earlier. Therefore, the school had no bus driver for a period of time. He indicates in his letter that something needs to be done. That is echoed by a number of people who come into my office in similar circumstances.

I do need to give credit to the minister, Zoe Bettison, who, on every occasion that I have rung or emailed or spoken to her and said that this person is about to lose their job or this person will be unemployed as of Friday, has taken immediate action to rectify that situation. So I do thank the government and, in particular, the minister for those actions.

The issue I have is that it is becoming more and more regular and we need to find a way forward, working together. In doing some research, I researched a Queensland model called the blue card system. Basically, it is a card that you are given once you have gone through your screening checks. It was introduced in 2001. It is valid for three years and has your photo on it with the history check.

The thinking is that we would match that with a database that would not have people's names in it but would have the number of the card. As with a driver's licence and many other licences, if an offence is committed, that card is taken away or withdrawn and that is indicated on the database, so that a school or a Rotary club or a volunteer organisation could ask for presentation of this card at any stage and then check the number against a database.

This card, as I said, is for a three-year window and it mitigates many of the issues of continual police checks for varying organisations. The one card is valid for a whole range of different industries and applications.

The Hon. J.M. Rankine interjecting:

Mr BELL: Yes, but the point I am trying to make is that for every different event or organisation, you need a new police check, so whether it is a bus driving licence—

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: You're talking to me.

Mr BELL: Thank you. I have people coming into my office saying that they had a police check on Wednesday and, because they apply for something else on Thursday, that check is not valid and needs to be redone, clogging up the system. In the spirit of cooperation, I offer that to the house and would like to work on this in a bipartisan way.