Ministerial Statement

Child Protection, Rice Inquiry

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Planning and Local Government) (11:03): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. V.A. CHAPMAN: As members know, on 17 December 2020, I appointed the Hon. Paul Rice QC to conduct an inquiry in response to the sentencing of two paedophiles for sexual offences against two then 13 to 14-year-old girls who were under the guardianship of the Chief Executive of the Department for Child Protection. Terms of reference were published on that day.

On 9 February 2021, Mr Rice provided the report on the child protection inquiry to me as Attorney-General. Redactions have been made to the report in order to protect the identities of the two children referred to in the report as C1 and C2, as recommended by Mr Rice. The Crown Solicitor's Office provided legal advice with respect to any additional redactions that may be necessary and risks that may follow from the public release of the report, having regard to defamation and/or procedural fairness. Accordingly, the public interest in releasing the report outweighs the potential legal risks.

Only one further redaction has been made, which was to further protect one of the girl's identity. Government considered the report and, in keeping with our commitment to transparency, approved its public release. It was tabled minutes ago, and I understand an electronic copy has been forwarded to you, Mr Speaker.

Mr Rice made six recommendations, all of which were accepted by the government. Not only have they been accepted but some of his recommendations have been upgraded. We have imposed greater oversight and made additional improvements, and I will now outline how this will be achieved. I will not repeat verbatim the recommendations; they will be for members to view in the report.

Recommendations 1, 2 and 3 refer to improving instructions and guidance to ensure that the minister and chief executive are advised of any serious allegations of a criminal act against a child, that departmental policies and directions are unambiguous, that guidelines be developed to distinguish high and low matters of importance, and that the minister advise the chief executive of the types of events and incidents about which she wants to be informed.

In response, the government will establish a permanent significant incident reporting unit, to be headed by the Crown Solicitor's nominee. This person will work closely with the Chief Executive of the Department for Child Protection and will report to the Chief Executive of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet until we are confident that the reporting mechanisms are being followed, including to the minister.

The Crown Solicitor's nominee will also review data collection to ensure that the information required by the reporting procedure is available to the chief executive and the minister. This will ensure that the policies, directions and guidelines are clear, concise and well understood and leave no ambiguity.

Recommendation 4 was that the Chief Executive of the Department for Child Protection undertake a comprehensive staff education program directed towards a knowledge and use of the existing incident management procedure. In response, the government will ask the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment to oversee the staff education program to ensure that the incident management procedure is understood and implemented. This will ensure an additional layer of oversight.

Recommendations 5 and 6 recommend that the government consider increasing the penalty for a breach of a written direction to three years for a first contravention and four years for a second or subsequent contravention—that is, imprisonment—and that a person arrested for a breach of a written direction be a prescribed applicant for the purposes of the Bail Act.

In response, I have instructed my department to immediately prepare the necessary draft bill to give effect to these recommendations so that the government can introduce legislation to this parliament within 30 days. The government acted swiftly and decisively when it appointed Mr Rice to undertake this review. A tight time frame was imposed, which he met. Now, just over a week after receiving the report, the government provides its response, which not only accepts the report's recommendations but provides additional rigour and oversight and provides for time to take the assessment of the redaction issue fully into account.

In the presence of the parliament, I thank Mr Rice for his report and for identifying areas that need to be improved. Our government continues to make significant progress in the provision of child protection services and in the recruitment of departmental staff and more foster carers. We take our responsibilities very seriously—our children and young people are owed nothing less.