Child Protection

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:58): Thank you, sir, my question is the Minister for Child Protection Reform. Three months ago the minister informed the people of South Australia that he would bring a new child protection bill to this parliament. It is now November, and I am wondering whether the minister can update the house as to when that draft bill will be available?

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) (14:58): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for this very important question, and the government, of course, has been working with the findings and the recommendations of the royal commission, which was obviously presided over by Justice Margaret Nyland.

We have a couple of pieces of legislation, and I would like to acknowledge the constructive support of the Leader of the Opposition in respect of the passage now of the children's commissioner, and I think it is important that, when we have a really constructive engagement with the Leader of the Opposition, I acknowledge that because I don't like to be always critical; I like to be positive where possible.

Mr Marshall: I am positive that you are running two months late with the bill.

The Hon. J.R. RAU: I am being positive about that. I also would like to say that the second bill in this important group of bills, which is the one concerning screening, I believe has also been passed in the other place, and again it is terrific that that has gone through. We have a third one now on data sharing; obviously, it is in the other place, and I am optimistic that will be dealt with quickly. The last piece of the puzzle, of course, is the child protection legislation, and I am optimistic that we will be in a position to put something in the parliament before the parliament gets up for—

Mr Marshall: You said September. What's holding it up?

The Hon. J.R. RAU: Well, it's a big job.

Mr Marshall: Why did you say September, then?

The Hon. J.R. RAU: I'm an optimist. Mr Speaker, I know that you would be familiar with this phenomenon: you are so interested in the topics with which you work that you think you can get it done in a certain period of time but, unfortunately, all the work isn't yours. There are people in the chain who have to be just as enthusiastic about it as you are, and sometimes that chain is quite long. In this case, there are many people to whom the government must speak. There are many people who have a very strong interest in this. We are very, very close, I can say that. What I would like to do is be able to produce a draft which, when I show it to the Leader of the Opposition, and I will, he will be able to say to me, 'This is terrific. We want to support this.'

Mr Marshall: Will you guarantee it will be introduced in time to be debated and decided this year?

The Hon. J.R. RAU: That depends on sitting weeks and everything else. My hope is that we will have it in here before the end of the year. If we can get it in here and I can have the support of the Leader of the Opposition to get the legislation through the other place, I will look forward to moving it through quickly. Sometimes, it is colleagues of the Leader of the Opposition in the other place who engage in what they call improvement, which renders the legislation in a condition that it gets stuck here for a very long time. So, if we can stop improvement, it will be an improvement.