Child Protection Screening

Mr BELL (Mount Gambier) (15:19): I rise today to talk about an issue that I have spoken about before, and unfortunately it does not seem to be getting any better, that is, police screenings or DCSI clearances. I talk on this matter because there is a continual stream of people coming into my electoral office and we are reaching a point where people have been stood down and people are now out of work just because of a bureaucratic delay in screenings.

I am the first to admit, and I come from an education background, that we do need to keep people safe and I am fully supportive of that, but it is at a point where people are losing income. These are good community members, and as far as I know they have had no problems in the past, and delays are causing stress to their families and they are not able to pay bills. Do not forget that we are in a state that now has the highest unemployment rate in Australia—not just mainland Australia, which we could always say beforehand—and I find this totally unacceptable.

Today, I am going to put on record four people who have either lost their jobs or are waiting for police screenings and hoping that the minister will actually take some action. These are four people who have come into my office. Matthew Denholm submitted his DCSI clearance on 17 December last year for approval. He visited my office on 22 April this year for assistance, and through some negotiation with the minister's office we found a name match, but we are still, two months down the track, waiting for approval, so this is over six months since the initial application. Again, if there is a problem, let the person know, but do not just leave them in limbo.

Matthew Canario lodged his DCSI clearance on 17 November, so a month earlier last year. Matthew is not currently working, but he has a job driving a taxi waiting for him as soon as this clearance comes through. So, seven months after submitting his application there is still no approval. Again, if we are serious about getting people into work and not just talking and paying lip service like many do in this place, we need to get off our butts and actually get on with this.

Allan Haggar's clearance was lodged on 11 November 2014. Allan's initial form was sent back to him with no explanation, so he put the form in and a couple of months later it was sent back to him with no explanation. He resubmitted it with the help of my office and he is still waiting for approval. As a result of this, Allan is now unemployed. He cannot drive a taxi, which he was doing beforehand. He has three children, a mortgage, bills to pay and yet no income. I find this situation unacceptable and, if there is a reason, tell Allan, tell him so that he can adjust it or at least know what is going on. He had been working for 12 years with no previous issues, and to the best of his knowledge no screening issues have popped up, but of course he cannot drive a taxi because he does not have this DCSI clearance.

Then we have Nigel White. Nigel put in his form in January this year. He had been washing taxis for his employer, his employer wanted to give him a job back in January, but here we are, start of July, and no clearance. Again, he has been denied the opportunity to get off Centrelink, which is supposedly what we are meant to be doing, but he cannot due to DCSI clearances. Again, I am not vouching for these people; I do not know them personally. All I am saying is that if there is a problem, for God's sake let them know so that we can get on with this; if there is no problem, give them a clearance.

My office has been in continual contact with the member for Ramsay, and it is getting to a point where I will be starting to send her a bill for office time because the number of hours my staff are spending helping people with DCSI clearances is ridiculous. We have a system that we could implement. It is called the blue card system, and it has been in Queensland since 2001 and I do not understand why it is not in here.

Time expired.