Child Protection

Ms SANDERSON (Adelaide) (14:45): Supplementary: has the minister asked for this to be put on the agenda at the next meeting of the Law, Crime and Community Safety Council so it can be discussed further?

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for Consumer and Business Services, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (14:45): I believe I have put something on that agenda, because there are—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.R. RAU: That particular committee is an opportunity for us to advance interjurisdictional cooperation in a whole range of areas. We are looking at it in respect of domestic violence, and I am pretty sure that we have actually got child protection in there, but I will check. But yes, there is obviously a national interest in these matters. Can I say, too, for those who may not be as familiar with some of these areas as others, that there is a significant overlap in practice between the cases of domestic violence and the cases of child neglect or, in some cases, child abuse, so—

Mr Marshall: Hence the recommendation.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Yes. We are very much aware of the fact that these things are cross-border issues. It is an important matter, and obviously the idea that an individual who is known in one jurisdiction to be a risk can cross a border and become effectively invisible is not a good outcome, either for the jurisdiction that they have left or the one that they have gone into.