CHILDREN'S PROTECTION (LAWFUL SURRENDER OF NEWBORN CHILD) AMENDMENT BILL

Committee Stage

In committee.

Clause 1.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: I just want to make a brief contribution on clause 1. Members will be aware that this bill is a reinstated bill by the Hon. Ms Bressington. I gave a substantial second reading contribution when the bill was originally introduced back in April of last year, so I will not rehash all of that, but I will make a few brief comments. It will surprise no-one in this chamber that Family First strongly supports this bill. We commend the Hon. Ms Bressington for reintroducing it; of course, it did drop off in the prorogue. As I said, I made a substantial contribution then. Indeed, I have personally introduced bills in this chamber in the past to protect both infants and the unborn, and I will continue to do so.

Essentially, this bill seeks to make it less onerous and, indeed, lawful for a young woman in trouble to be able to surrender her baby so that baby can be cared for and not harmed. As I said, that is something Family First strongly supports. It goes to the heart of what we are about, and we wholeheartedly commend the Hon. Ms Bressington for introducing it.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: This is an unusual clause 1 because this is the restored bill, so the committee is facing a bill under significantly changed circumstances. I just want to address a couple of points in relation to what has happened since this bill was last considered by this committee so that people may better understand the position the Liberal Party will be taking on it.

Members will well recall that on 23 November 2011 the Hon. Terry Stephens addressed this bill on behalf of the Liberal Party. At that stage, we were only prepared to support the second reading of the bill, as the Victorian government was at that stage undertaking research on behalf of the Community and Disability Services Ministerial Council to identify options available to respond to the issue of abandoned and relinquished babies.

Liberal governments in New South Wales and Victoria have previously made comments indicating their interest in pursuing legislation such as this. Since the bill was last considered by the house, there have been two significant research developments; the first has been in relation to the ministerial council work that I referred to. A research paper has been prepared by the Victorian government and submitted to that ministerial council. The paper includes a literature review and an analysis of the current approach to child abandonment and provides some analysis of responses such as baby safe havens.

I understand that, while the paper concludes that child abandonment and neonaticide do not decline through the introduction of baby safe havens, it recognises that some children were abandoned safely and without harm. The fact that that is an outcome may not have been the case without the existence of legislation such as this. The baby safe haven can be seen to provide an option for some mothers in a time of great need. In addition, these children do often find permanent homes with adoptive families.

The second piece of significant research that has become available since the council last considered this bill is in relation to the work of Dr Lorana Bartels. It was my privilege last year to meet with Dr Lorana Bartels, a criminologist from the University of Canberra. At that meeting we did discuss a range of issues, including baby safe havens. Since we met, Dr Bartels has prepared a paper for the 24^th Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology Conference in Geelong. I understand that that paper has been published in the Criminal Law Journal (volume 36, page 19, 2012). Dr Bartels' article spends a significant amount of its time considering specifically the bill that the Hon. Ann Bressington has submitted to this house. In that paper, she concludes:

The options discussed will never eliminate all instances of baby abandonment/neonaticide, and there are practical and theoretical problems associated with the introduction and use of such measures internationally. Any model will also need to be appropriately publicised if it is to have any effect, and data on its operation need to be maintained in order to determine the effect, if not the effectiveness, of the initiative. The model should also provide counselling to women experiencing unwanted pregnancies...

Later in the paper, it continues:

Within this context, however, it is suggested that safe haven laws, baby hatches and/or anonymous birth may serve to empower women who find themselves dealing with an unwanted pregnancy. They may also, if carefully implemented and audited, have a beneficial, albeit probably limited, impact on the Australian child welfare and criminal justice landscape.

On the basis of this evidence and our analysis of the bill since the time the house last considered it, the Liberal Party will be supporting the bill and commends the honourable member for bringing it forward.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: As the Hon. Stephen Wade said, I handled this for the Liberal Party prior to it dropping off the Notice Paper. I thank him for his contribution; I know that he is more than capable of handling it on our behalf. I want to take this opportunity to thank the Hon. Ann Bressington for bringing this to the parliament. I would like to commend the work of John Gardner, the member for Morialta, our shadow on this issue. I had a number of discussions with the member for Morialta and I am pleased that he did extremely good work in ensuring that our position was to support the Hon. Ann Bressington.

This could certainly be a difficult decision for some people to make. I, for one, could not understand what would be going through the mind of a woman who was in this situation. This will give somebody the option of safely looking after a newborn child, rather than the disastrous alternative we saw some time ago where a newborn child, sadly, was found, I think in a dumpster near the TAFE building in Adelaide. That one circumstance alone helped me, in my conscience, pursue this issue. Again, thanks to those involved; I congratulate the Hon. Ann Bressington for bringing this to the house and I urge members to support it.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: I would like to very briefly place on the record my strong support for this bill. The Hon. Mr Wade has talked about the fact that baby safe havens, if implemented, would probably be somewhat limited in their use. It does not strike me as terribly important how much these measures would be used because, at the end of the day, they are just one more option for would-be parents and families to consider when considering this very important issue of childhood and parenthood.

I can recall being somewhat distressed, when we first discussed this bill, at the contributions of some members who seemed to suggest that we either prevent parents from giving up their children at all or we have baby safe havens. I certainly believe that we can do both and that we as a society and, indeed, a parliament, have a duty to ensure that all viable and respectful options are available to those who need them and that those options are enshrined and protected in law. To that extent, I strongly support this bill and thank the Hon. Ms Bressington for her work on this.

Clause passed.

Remaining clauses (2 to 4) and title passed.

Bill reported without amendment.

Third Reading

The Hon. A. BRESSINGTON (17:54): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.