Commissioner for Children and Young People Bill

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. S.G. WADE (17:30): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to establish a Commissioner for Children and Young People; to make related amendments to the Freedom of Information Act 1991; and for other purposes. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. S.G. WADE (17:31): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I table this bill to establish a Commissioner for Children and Young People. The children and young people of South Australia deserve every opportunity to fulfil their potential and strive for their dreams. Every child has the right to a safe, loving environment in which to grow. Families, government and the wider community need to work together to ensure that children and young people are given the best possible chance in life. The bill seeks to do this by promoting the wellbeing of children through the establishment of a Commissioner for Children and Young People. It is the fulfilment of a Liberal Party policy commitment at the 2014 election. Our policy stated:

We will move quickly to appoint a Commissioner for Children and Young People with investigative powers, to escalate child protection to the top of a Marshall Government agenda and advocate for the rights of all children and young people in South Australia.

The Commissioner for Children and Young People will help our state ensure that child safety and development is systematically and effectively pursued across government, in particular in our education and family services. We all want South Australia to be a better and safer place for children and young people. The Liberal team said that we would move quickly to appoint a Commissioner for Children and Young People, and we have. This commitment stands in stark contrast to the approach of the Weatherill Labor government.

The Hon. Robyn Layton QC first recommended that the Labor government appoint a Commissioner for Children and Young People in her report, 'The State Plan for Child Protection', in 2003. Over 10 years later, despite numerous platitudes, the Weatherill Labor government is yet to establish a Commissioner for Children and Young People. For a good portion of this time, Premier Weatherill was the relevant minister who failed to deliver.

In 2012, the Labor government released a discussion paper on child development legislation proposing an advisory council and formal community networks. Neither the discussion paper nor a draft bill released in July 2014 provided for a commissioner. The consultation response was so strong in favour of a commissioner that a revised bill released in October 2013 provided for a commissioner, albeit a watered down form of commissioner.

The bill to legislate for Labor's Commissioner for Children and Young People was never introduced into the parliament, in spite of a commitment that we would see it by Christmas. The bill that I table today draws on the government's latest draft bill, dated 3 October 2013. The parts of the draft bill relating to the Child Development Council (Part 5) and the child development alliances (Part 6) have been removed for the following reasons. First, stakeholders called for the commissioner role to be established in a standalone statute. Second, the Child Development Council and the child development alliances have been removed. A number of key stakeholders urged that these bodies should not be established at all. One, the AMA, said that there is a lot of work to be done on the interaction of bodies and it is preferable not to prescribe what should happen at this stage.

Let me highlight the key points in which Labor's proposed commissioner is inadequate and which are addressed in this bill. First, Labor's commissioner would not be independent. The Law Society criticised Labor's commissioner model, saying that:

The commissioner is not independent and accordingly will not be able to truly safeguard the rights and best interests of children and young people.

Secondly, stakeholders and child protection experts see Labor's proposal as inadequate in that it lacks investigative powers. Under the Liberal bill, which I have tabled, the commissioner will:

be the voice of all children and young people in this state;

promote the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in all areas of community life;

monitor the decisions of government and non-government agencies in terms of their inclusiveness in considering the rights and interests of children and young people;

conduct ongoing research and provide suggestions to government about ways to strengthen the rights of children and young people in South Australia;

ensure that all agencies of government that deal with children are implementing and following best practice policies on child protection matters;

have full investigative powers be a truly independent statutory officer; and

produce an annual report and be fully accountable to parliament;

Recent disturbing child protection incidents in South Australia highlight that the risk to children and young people increases when the government fails to put in place appropriate processes to ensure transparency in the protection of young people.

The need for a commissioner was highlighted by the recent case of Chloe Valentine. The Adverse Outcomes Event Committee and the Child Death and Serious Injury Review Committee are both fundamentally reviews of departmental documents. The Coroner undertakes inquests into a small number of deaths each year and, at this stage, we do not know whether he will hold an inquest into the death of Chloe Valentine. Now, more than two years after Chloe's death, her family has not been engaged to seek their perspectives on the case.

The commissioner will not replace these bodies but, with full investigative powers and a broader scope, the commissioner will be able to complement the established institutions and consider the value of investigation in the particular circumstances of each case. The first case a new commissioner for children and young people could investigate is the tragic death of Chloe Valentine. We need, and the family needs, a complete understanding of all the circumstances that gave rise to the tragic death of Chloe, including the performance of Families SA, because we need to make sure that we provide better protection for children in similar circumstances in the future. The longer the Weatherill government delays in establishing a commissioner for children and young people, the greater potential risk that children experience in circumstances similar to Chloe Valentine.

I conclude by thanking all the children and young people, and the range of adults and organisations supporting them, who have provided input into the evolution of this bill, particularly through the consultation on the government's child development bill. The Liberal team has considered a wide range of input and developed what we think is a strong bill, but it will not be perfect. I indicate to the wider community and to all elements of the parliament, including the government, that we would be delighted to work with them to consider possible enhancements to the bill, so that South Australia can have the best form of commissioner as early as possible and the children and young people of South Australia can have the best level of care possible. I commend the bill to the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. A.L. McLachlan.