CHILDREN'S PROTECTION (IMPLEMENTATION OF REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS) AMENDMENT BILL

Introduction and First Reading

Received from the House of Assembly and read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy) (17:15): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading explanation inserted in Hansard without my reading it.

Leave granted.

On 17 June 2008, the South Australian Government tabled in this Parliament its initial response to the Children in State Care Commission of Inquiry report. Its response to the Children on APY Lands Commission of Inquiry report was subsequently tabled on 24 July 2008. In responding to both reports, the Government advised the Parliament that it had accepted the majority of the Commission's recommendations. The Government committed to a comprehensive implementation plan for the Mullighan recommendations, including: a package of legislation; a public apology to victims; an extra $2.24 million to prosecute child abuse cases arising from the Mullighan Inquiry; more police and social workers posted to the communities on the APY Lands; and a further $190.6 million over four years into the child protection system, including the introduction of reforms in keeping with Commissioner Mullighan's recommendations.

A number of the recommendations of the Children in State Care Commission of Inquiry along with recommendation 21 of the Children on APY Lands Commission of Inquiry suggested new or strengthened statutory provisions. The Government accepted all but one of these 'legislative' recommendations, as explained to Parliament in some detail on 17 June 2008 and 24 July 2008.

I now introduce a Bill, which amends the Children's Protection Act 1993 and the Health and Community Services Complaints Commission Act 2004, as recommended by Commissioner Mullighan and to keep faith with the Government's commitments to this Parliament.

The Government is also introducing a Bill to address recommendation 47 of the Children in State Care Commission of Inquiry. These 2 Bills make up the 'package of legislation' committed to by this Government.

As recommended by Commissioner Mullighan, the amendments proposed in this Bill include:

Enhanced provisions to promote child safe environments, including requiring a broader range of organisations to have criminal history checks for personnel working with children;

Additional protection for mandatory notifiers;

Provisions to ensure appropriate mechanisms are available to respond when a young person makes a disclosure of sexual abuse;

Provisions to clarify and strengthen the role and powers of the Guardian for Children and Young People and Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner; and

Mechanisms to promote the participation of children and young people in government decision-making.

This Bill is a key part of the South Australian Government's overall response to the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry. It will strengthen the robust legislative framework already enacted in South Australia to keep children safe from harm and will reinforce the principle that keeping children safe from harm is the responsibility of the whole community.

It is also the Government's intention to introduce supporting regulations following passage of the Bill. The proposed regulations are described in the supporting material available on the Service SA Mullighan Inquiry website. The proposed regulations should be considered in conjunction with this Bill.

Child Safe Environments

There is a growing community expectation that organisations engaged in the provision of services to children should take appropriate measures to promote their safety and well-being. For this reason in 2005, the Government amended the Children's Protection Act 1993 to require all Government, local government and non-government organisations that provide health, welfare, education, sporting or recreational, religious or spiritual, childcare or residential services wholly or partly for children, to establish appropriate policies and procedures to maintain child safe environments. At that time, the Act was also amended to require all Government organisations and non-government schools to conduct a criminal history check on persons occupying or acting in 'prescribed positions'.

I note that at that time, a number of non-government organisations that were not legally obliged to conduct criminal history checks of staff and volunteers working with children, did so as part of their commitment to making children safe and because they saw this as 'good organisational practice'. I recognise in particular a number of our churches, sporting bodies and service organisations that undertook this positive step of their own initiative.

This type of support for the protection of children receiving services from organisations is important. The Commission of Inquiry observed that 'in order to achieve long-overdue reform to the protection of children in State care, there must be commitment from the whole-of-government, as well as non-government organisations and the community'.

This Government believes that the 'child safe environment' framework in the Children's Protection Act 1993 is fundamental to ensuring consistent child protection standards across the Government and community sectors. This Bill proposes to strengthen the framework in 2 ways. First, it introduces a new requirement for organisations to lodge a statement setting out details of their child safe environment policies and procedures with the Chief Executive of the Department for Families and Communities and second, it obliges those organisations already required to have 'child safe environment' policies and procedures to also undertake criminal history checks on persons working in prescribed positions in their organisations.

As I have noted above, those organisations outlined in section 8C of the Children's Protection Act 1993 are already required to have in place policies and procedures that establish and maintain child safe environments. This Bill will require these organisations to lodge a statement of the details of their policies and procedures with the Chief Executive of the Department for Families and Communities as evidence that the organisation is engaged in making their organisation a safer place for children. The Chief Executive will be empowered to seek further information from sectors or organisations relating to their compliance with the child safe environment requirements.

The obligation to conduct criminal history assessments is extended to this same group. The group includes organisations providing health, welfare, education, sporting or recreational, religious or spiritual, childcare or residential services wholly or partly for children. This obligation applies to any business, service provider or group organised for some purpose or undertaking, whether incorporated or unincorporated. The requirement for criminal history assessments extends to all employees, volunteers, agents and sub-contractors working in a prescribed position in a relevant organisation.

The definition of 'prescribed functions' under section 8B(8) will be amended to provide greater clarity for organisations and to exclude certain 'low risk' functions. Up until now, a 'prescribed function' included regular contact with children or working in close proximity to children on a regular basis; supervising or managing personnel working with or around children on a regular basis; or accessing records about children. It is proposed that in situations where a person is under direct supervision and observation at all times by appropriate personnel, there is no need to have a criminal history check. For example, a specialist sports coach who is at all times supervised by a PE teacher with an appropriate criminal history check, would not need to have a check themselves. The requirement that all persons with access to records relating to children obtain a check also lead to some confusion. The definition of a record is enormously wide in scope. It encompasses commonly held records such as name, address and date of birth, or indeed a photograph. These types of common records may be handled by a large range of personnel in an organisation. In order to achieve a better balance between protection and practicality, it is now proposed that only personnel accessing the more sensitive type of personal records (the details of which will be set out in regulations) will require a criminal history check.

The Act currently requires organisations to obtain criminal history checks 'from the Commissioner of Police or some other prescribed source'. The Bill will now amend this obligation and instead require an organisation to 'cause an assessment of a person's criminal history to be undertaken in accordance with the regulations'. This amendment will have no immediate impact on an organisation's obligation to conduct criminal history checks but will accommodate any future requirements arising from the work being undertaken at a national level to establish a framework for improved inter-jurisdictional exchange of criminal history information for screening of people working with children.

These amendments contribute to the safety and well-being of all children in South Australia and provide much stronger protections for children and young people who access services in the community. As I have noted, many organisations already conduct criminal history checks for employees and volunteers as part of their policies and procedures to maintain child safe environments. Extending the requirement will assist organisations to manage the risks associated with engaging people to work in positions of trust with children and ensure that consistently high standards are established for many of the key organisations that provide services to children.

Most Australian jurisdictions outside South Australia have introduced 'working with children' checks in recent years or are moving to introduce such checks. Jurisdictions which have such systems are New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. These proposed amendments have been drafted with the benefit of experience in other jurisdictions as well as our own. They will also bring South Australia more in line with other Australian States and Territories.

As announced in this Parliament on 17 June 2008, an exemption scheme will also be established by regulations under the Children's Protection Act 1993. These will exempt organisations, positions and functions from the requirement to undertake criminal history checks in certain circumstances.

Exemptions will not be available for activities potentially posing a high-level of risk to the child, such as commercial child care, residential care, family day care, juvenile justice, child protection and the provision of services specifically to children with disabilities. Also, the scheme will not override the prohibition preventing registrable offenders from engaging in child-related work set out in section 65 of the Child Sex Offenders Registration Act 2006.

A consultation paper setting out the elements of the exemption scheme is available on the Service SA Mullighan Inquiry website.

An exemption scheme is considered necessary because the potential range of organisations which will be required to conduct criminal history checks on personnel is quite broad and we recognise that not all situations pose a tangible risk to children. In considering which situations might attract an exemption, the Government had to balance the potential levels of protection and risk—considering all the elements in the environment—with the cost to organisations and individuals. A balance needs to be struck between ensuring that the best child protection mechanisms are applied and a sensible, workable approach is taken to the application of these new obligations.

It is therefore proposed that the following organisations, persons and positions will be exempt from the application of section 8B:

(1) A person who volunteers in their children's activities;

(2) A volunteer less than 18 years of age;

(3) A person who works or volunteers in a prescribed position for a period of not more than 10 consecutive days in a calendar year or for no more than 1 day in any month;

(4) A position in which all work involving children takes place in the presence of the children's parents or guardians and in which there is ordinarily no physical contact with the children;

(5) A person who undertakes, or a position that only involves, work that is not for the exclusive benefit of children and is not provided on an individual basis;

(6) An organisation that provides equipment, food or venues for children's parties or events but does not provide any other services;

(7) A person who has regular contact with a child as part of an employment relationship;

(8) A person who is appointed as a police officer;

(9) A person who is a registered teacher.

It is the Government's intention to delay the implementation of the new child safe environment provisions for one year, to provide the necessary lead-time to enable affected organisations to establish appropriate policies and procedures to comply with the new requirements. The requirement to conduct criminal history checks on persons working in prescribed positions will then be phased in over a three year period, commencing with those organisations and sectors identified as high risk. The timing of the 'phase in' period will be outlined in the regulations.

Notification of Abuse and Neglect

The mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse is the first step in stopping abuse and protecting children from further harm. As noted by the Inquiry, if Families SA is not alerted to potential incidences of abuse or neglect through mandatory reporting, the abuse or neglect of the child is likely to continue. It is therefore extremely important that the law not only protects the confidentiality of people who make reports under the Act, but also protects people from intimidation or unfavourable treatment when reporting.

In order to ensure that strong protections are in place to protect mandated notifiers when discharging their duty under the Act, it will be an offence to threaten or intimidate, or cause damage, loss or disadvantage to a person discharging or attempting to discharge the obligation of mandatory reporting. Providing additional protection to people subject to mandatory notification requirements will help ensure that notifiers are confident to provide Families SA with the necessary information to make an appropriate response in cases of suspected child abuse or neglect without fear of intimidation or unfavourable treatment.

Guardian for Children and Young Persons

The Guardian for Children and Young Persons plays a vital role in representing and advocating for the rights and interests of children and young people in care and as a monitor of that care.

In recognition of this important role, the Government has already provided funding to the Guardian to establish two new specialist positions to ensure that individual and systemic advocacy is provided for children with disabilities in care and Aboriginal children and young people in care.

This Bill strengthens the powers and functions of the Guardian in order to ensure that the legislative framework exists to enable the Guardian to continue providing a high level of support and advocacy to children and young people in care. In many cases, the amendments operate to formalise what is already occurring in practice and ensure that there is no doubt regarding the Guardian's role as an independent and impartial advocate for children and young people in care.

The independence of the Guardian is expressly recognised. The Guardian's functions and powers are also amended to make it clear that the Guardian is to act as an advocate for a child or young person in State care who has made a disclosure of sexual abuse. This amendment will provide greater clarity for children and young people who make a disclosure of sexual abuse whilst in care and for the organisations that support them.

The Guardian will be required to establish a Youth Advisory Committee. The purpose of the committee will be primarily to assist the Guardian in the performance of the Guardian's functions by ensuring that the Guardian is aware of the experiences of, and receives advice from, children who are, or have been, under the guardianship, or in the custody, of the Minister.

The Guardian will be able to prepare a report to the Minister on any matter arising from the exercise of the Guardian's functions under the Act. The content of the report is immune from any ministerial direction and the report must be promptly brought to the attention of Parliament.

Government and non-government organisations involved in the provision of services to children are already required to comply with a request for information from the Guardian in connection with the Guardian's functions under the Act. However, as identified by the Inquiry, situations could exist where the Guardian might quite properly need information from an organisation that does not provide services to children and might need the support of the law in obtaining that information. To address this issue, this Bill makes clear the Guardian's powers relating to obtaining and using information. It allows the Guardian to obtain information from any person in connection with the Guardian's functions under the Act and establishes a maximum penalty of $5000 for non-compliance with a lawful request for information from the Guardian.

Charter of Rights for Children and Young People in Care

A Charter of Rights for Children and Young People in Care was developed during 2005-06 by the Guardian for Children and Young Persons, following extensive consultation with stakeholders, including children and young people in care. This Charter is a valuable resource for children and young people in care and articulates their rights in easily-understood language.

In accordance with the Inquiry's recommendation, this Bill establishes a legislative requirement that the Charter of Rights for Children and Young People in Care exists. This will ensure that the Charter will continue to be available to children and young people in care and to the carers and organisations that support them. The Charter will be subject to review at least once every 5 years to ensure that its content remains relevant and it is a useful resource for this vulnerable group.

Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner

This Bill amends the Health and Community Services Complaints Act 2004 to clarify the provisions of the Act in the child protection jurisdiction.

At present, the Health and Community Services Complaints Act implicitly allows the Commissioner to receive complaints from children and young people on a case-by-case basis. The Commissioner may also extend the time-frame in which a complaint needs to be lodged in certain circumstances, such as where the complaint arises from circumstances since the launch of the Keeping Them Safe reform agenda in May 2004. However, as noted by the Inquiry, the Commissioner's powers in relation to these issues are not expressly stated in the Act.

As recommended by the Inquiry, the Act is amended to expressly state the right of children and young people to complain directly to the Commissioner. This will ensure that there is no actual or perceived impediment for children or young people who wish to make a complaint themselves. The Act is also amended to provide that a relevant consideration for extending the 2 year limit on the child protection jurisdiction is that the complaint arises from circumstances since the launch of the Keeping Them Safe reform agenda in May 2004.

These amendments will ensure that appropriate complaints mechanisms are available to children and young people in South Australia and that these mechanisms are confidential, impartial and protected. These amendments will allow the Commissioner to better target information to this important and vulnerable group of service users.

I commend the Bill to Members.

Explanation of Clauses

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

This clause is formal.

2—Commencement

Operation of the measure is to commence on a day to be fixed by proclamation.

3—Amendment provisions

This clause is formal.

Part 2—Amendment of Children's Protection Act 1993

4—Amendment of section 4—Fundamental principles

This clause amends a reference in section 4 of the Children's Protection Act 1993 to the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle so that reference is also made to Torres Strait Islander children.

5—Amendment of section 6—Interpretation

The terms government organisation and non-government organisation are currently used several times in the Act but are only defined for the purposes of section 8B. This clause inserts definitions of those terms into the interpretation provision of the Act. The definition of Aboriginal Child Placement Principle is replaced with a definition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle.

A new subsection makes it clear that an organisation may consist of 1 person.

6—Amendment of section 8—General functions of Minister

The amendments made by this clause have the effect of requiring the Minister to consult with groups representing or comprised of children and other persons who are or have been under the guardianship, or in the custody, of the Minister. This consultation is to take place so as to ensure that the Minister receives advice from, and is made aware of the experiences of, such persons.

7—Amendment of section 8B—Powers and obligations of responsible authority in respect of criminal history

This clause amends section 8B of the Act to make some adjustments to the requirement that certain organisations must ensure that a criminal history assessment is undertaken in relation to persons employed by the organisation who undertake functions involving contact with children or access to records relating to children.

Under the section as amended, the responsible authority for an organisation to which section 8B applies must ensure that, before a person is appointed to, or engaged to act in, a prescribed position in the organisation, an assessment of the person's criminal history is undertaken in accordance with the regulations. A prescribed position is a position in an organisation that requires or involves contact with children, supervision of persons in positions with regular contact with children or access to records relating to children.

The section currently applies to government organisations and non-government organisations to which its operation is extended by regulation. As a consequence of the amendment made by this clause to section 8B(6), the operation of the section in respect of non-government organisations will be extended so that it applies to all non-government organisations that provide health, welfare, education, sporting or recreational, religious or spiritual, child care or residential services wholly or partly for children. This means that section 8B will apply to the same non-government organisations that section 8C applies to.

Section 8B as amended will also provide for the making of regulations under the section—

prescribing the manner in which an assessment of a person's criminal history may be undertaken; and

making provision in relation to the use of information relating to a person's criminal history received from another jurisdiction; and

making provision in relation to confidentiality of information relating to a person's criminal history; and

prescribing penalties, not exceeding $10,000, for offences against the regulations.

8—Amendment of section 8C—Obligations of certain organisations

Section 8C requires organisations to which the section applies to establish appropriate policies and procedures for ensuring that appropriate reports of abuse or neglect are made under Part 4 of the Act and that child safe environments are established and maintained within the organisations. As amended, the section will require that the policies and procedures comply with any requirements prescribed by regulation.

Under section 8C as amended, organisations to which the section applies will be required to lodge a statement setting out the organisation's policies and procedures with the Chief Executive of the Department for Families and Communities. The organisations will also be required to respond, as soon as reasonably practicable (and in any case within 10 business days), to any written request by the Chief Executive for information relating to the organisation's compliance with the requirements of the section.

Subsection (3) of section 8C, which specifies the organisations to which the section applies, is replaced with a new subsection. This is because of the definitions of government organisation and non-government organisation that are inserted into the interpretation provision of the Act by clause 5. This change to section 8C is not substantive. The section will continue to apply to all government and non-government organisations that provide health, welfare, education, sporting or recreational, religious or spiritual, child care or residential services wholly or partly for children.

9—Insertion of section 8D

Proposed section 8D provides for the regulations to exempt organisations, persons and positions, or particular classes of organisations, persons and positions, from the application of Division 3 of Part 2 or from specified provisions of the Division. It also allows regulations to be made for transitional purposes which, by providing temporary exemptions or modifications, would allow a phasing in of provisions of the Division.

10—Amendment of section 11—Notification of abuse or neglect

The first amendment made to section 11 by this clause is consequential on the insertion of definitions of government organisation and non-government organisation that apply for the purposes of the whole Act.

The second amendment inserts a new subsection. Under the proposed subsection, it is an offence for a person to threaten or intimidate, or cause damage, loss or disadvantage to, a person to whom section 11 applies because the person has discharged, or proposes to discharge, his or her duty under subsection (1) to notify the Department for Families and Communities of a reasonable suspicion that a child has been or is being abused or neglected. The maximum penalty is a fine of $10,000.

11—Amendment of section 16—Power to remove children from dangerous situations

This clause proposes an amendment to section 16 that will make it clear that the section, which authorises the removal of children from dangerous situations, is in addition to, and does not derogate from, the powers of authorised police officers under section 51(4) of the Act. Section 51(4) provides authorised police officers with certain powers in relation to the enforcement of orders of the Youth Court.

12—Substitution of heading to Part 7A

This clause substitutes a new heading to Part 7A to reflect the fact that the Part is now to deal with the Youth Advisory Committee and the Charter of Rights for Children and Young People in Care. Part 7A will now also include a number of offences in Division 4.

13—Amendment of section 52A—The Guardian

Section 52A is amended by this clause to expand the list of circumstances in which the office of the Guardian for Children and Young Persons becomes vacant. The section as amended will also provide that the Governor may remove the Guardian from office on the presentation of an address from both Houses of Parliament seeking the Guardian's removal. It will also provide that the Governor may suspend the Guardian from office on the ground of incompetence or misbehaviour.

14—Insertion of section 52AB

This clause inserts a new section.

52AB—Independence

Proposed section 52AB provides that the Guardian is to act independently, impartially and in the public interest in performing and exercising his or her functions and powers under the Act. The Minister cannot control how the Guardian is to exercise the statutory functions and powers and cannot give direction with respect to the content of any report prepared by the Guardian.

15—Amendment of section 52C—The Guardian's functions and powers

One of the Guardian's functions is to act as an advocate for the interests of children under the guardianship, or in the custody, of the Minister. This amendment makes it clear that the Guardian is to act as advocate, in particular, for any such child who has suffered, or is alleged to have suffered, sexual abuse.

16—Insertion of section 52CA

This clause inserts a new section dealing with the use and obtaining of information.

52CA—Use and obtaining of information

The proposed section requires any government or non-government organisation that is involved in the provision of services to children to, at the Guardian's request, provide the Guardian with information relevant to the performance of the Guardian's functions. If the Guardian has reason to believe that a person is capable of providing information or producing a document relevant to the performance of his or her functions, the Guardian may, by notice in writing provided to the person, require the person to do 1 or more of the following:

to provide that information to the Guardian in writing signed by that person or, in the case of a body corporate, by an officer of the body corporate;

to produce the document to the Guardian;

to attend before a person specified in the notice and answer relevant questions or produce relevant documents.

17—Insertion of section 52DA

This clause inserts a new section.

52DA—Other reports

Under proposed section 52DA, the Guardian may, at any time, prepare a report to the Minister on any matter arising out of the exercise of the Guardian's functions. The Minister is required to have copies of the report laid before both Houses of Parliament.

18—Insertion of Part 7A Divisions 2 to 4

This clause inserts 3 new Divisions into Part 7A.

Division 2—Youth Advisory Committee

52EA—Youth Advisory Committee

This section provides for the establishment and maintenance of a Youth Advisory Committee. The primary function of the Committee is to assist the Guardian by ensuring that the Guardian is aware of the experiences of, and receives advice from, children who are, or have been, under the guardianship, or in the custody, of the Minister. The Guardian may consult the committee, or members of the committee, as the Guardian thinks fit.

Division 3—Charter of Rights for Children and Young People in Care

52EB—Development of Charter

Section 52EB provides for the development of a draft Charter of Rights for Children and Young People in Care.

52EC—Review of Charter

This section provides that the Guardian may review the Charter at any time. The Charter must be reviewed at least every 5 years.

52ED—Consultation

In developing or reviewing the Charter, the Guardian must invite submissions from, and consult with, interested persons (including persons who are, or have been, under the guardianship, or in the custody, of the Minister).

52EE—Approval of Charter

On the receipt of a draft Charter or a variation of the Charter from the Guardian, the Minister may approve the Charter, or the variation to the Charter; or the Minister may require an alteration to the Charter or the variation, after consultation with the Guardian. The Minister may approve the Charter or variation as altered. A copy of the Charter or variation is to be laid before both Houses of Parliament.

52EF—Obligations of persons involved with children in care

This section applies to persons exercising functions or powers under the Children's Protection Act 1993, the Family and Community Services Act 1972 or a law relating to the detention of a youth in a training centre. Such persons must, in any dealings with, or in relation to, a child who is under the guardianship, or in the custody, of the Minister, have regard to, and seek to implement to the fullest extent possible, the terms of the Charter. The section makes it clear that the Charter cannot create legally enforceable rights or entitlements.

Division 4—Offences

52EG—Offence relating to intimidation

This clause makes it an offence for a person to persuade or attempt to persuade by threat or intimidation another person—

to fail to cooperate with the Guardian; or

to fail to provide information or a document to the Guardian as authorised or required under the Act; or

to provide to the Guardian information or a document that is false or misleading in a material particular, or to provide information or a document in a manner that will make the information or document false or misleading in a material particular.

The maximum penalty is a fine of $10,000.

52EH—Offence relating to reprisals

Section 52EH provides that a person must not treat another person unfavourably—

on the ground that a person has cooperated with the Guardian in the performance or exercise of powers or functions under the Act; or

on the ground that a person has provided information or documents to the Guardian as authorised or required under the Act; or

on the ground that he or she knows that a person intends to do either of these things, or suspects that a person has done, or intends to do, either of these things.

The maximum penalty is a fine of $10,000.

52EI—Offence relating to obstruction etc

Section 52EI provides that a person must not, without reasonable excuse, obstruct, hinder, resist or improperly influence, or attempt to obstruct, hinder, resist or improperly influence, the Guardian in the performance or exercise of a function or power under the Act.

The maximum penalty is a fine of $10,000.

52EJ—Offence relating to the provision of information

Under section 52EJ, a person must not—

provide to the Guardian information that the person knows is false or misleading in a material particular; or

refuse or fail to include in information provided to the Guardian other information without which the information provided is, to the knowledge of the person, false or misleading in a material particular.

The maximum penalty is a fine of $10,000.

19—Amendment of section 63—Regulations

This clause amends the regulation making power of the Act so that the regulations may—

be of general application or limited application; and

make different provision according to the matters or circumstances to which they are expressed to apply; and

provide that a matter or thing in respect of which regulations may be made is to be determined according to the discretion of the Chief Executive (or a delegate of the Chief Executive); and

refer to or incorporate, wholly or partially and with or without modification, a code, standard or other document prepared or published by a prescribed person or body, either as in force at the time the regulations are made or as in force from time to time.

20—Insertion of Schedule 1

Schedule 1 inserts a transitional provision that applies to organisations that will be subject to section 8B after commencement of the measure but were not previously subject to the section. The provision requires the responsible authority for such an organisation to ensure that criminal history assessments are undertaken, in accordance with the regulations, in relation to certain existing employees. The transitional provision is required because section 8B, as amended, will require criminal history assessments to be undertaken only in relation to new employees.

Schedule 1—Related amendments

Part 1—Amendment of Health and Community Services Complaints Act 2004

1—Amendment of section 24—Who may complain

This clause amends section 24 of the Health and Community Services Complaints Act 2004 to make it clear that a child who is a health or community service user may make a complaint to the Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner about a health or community service.

2—Amendment of section 27—Time within which complaint may be made

Section 27(1) provides that a complaint under the Act must be made within 2 years from the day on which the complainant first has notice of the circumstances giving rise to the complaint. Subsection (2) authorises the Commissioner to extend the 2 year period in a particular case if satisfied that is appropriate to do so after taking into account various listed factors. Under the section as amended, the Commissioner will be able to extend the period if the complaint relates to the provision of a health or community service to a child and the complainant first had notice of the circumstances giving rise to the complaint after May 2004 (which is when the Keeping Them Safe reform agenda was launched).

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.M.A. Lensink.