Working with Children Checks

The Hon. C. BONAROS (15:48): Thank you, Mr President. I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Attorney a question about working with children checks.

Leave granted.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: The McKell Institute this month released a report commissioned by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association titled 'Safety not guaranteed: preventing young workers from experiencing predatory behaviour'. As noted in an article from today's print of The Advertiser, the release of the report has prompted calls for the national implementation of safety police checks for adults working in the fast food, hospitality and retail sectors. The 'Safety not guaranteed' report details many situations where children work alongside adult supervisors in hospitality and retail industries and suggests that no state or territory has a bail framework that adequately protects children from convicted or charged offenders in the workplace.

However, it does go on to include an entire passage under the heading South Australia is Leading the Way on Defining 'Child-Related Work', wherein the actions this parliament took to bar child sex offenders from applying for workplaces which hire underage employees are held up as a model to be replicated throughout the commonwealth, and indeed one which will be promoted as such amongst other jurisdictions. In light of this report and subsequent public pressure and appeal, my questions to the Attorney are:

1. What, if any, updates can the Attorney provide on police checks for employers who hire minors?

2. Has the Attorney held discussions with his state and commonwealth counterparts on this issue?

3. Is this state government willing to commit to a national approach to working with children checks in these instances?

4. What actions are the Attorney-General and his state and commonwealth counterparts taking to ensure that states and territories develop a harmonised comprehensive bail framework that adequately protects children from convicted or charged offenders in the workplace, but of course also in relation not just to bail, where we are leading the way, but working with children police checks specifically?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:50): I thank the honourable member and I thank her for her advocacy in this area. We are seeing some very sensible changes made, which have had a very large contribution from the Hon. Connie Bonaros, on protecting children in the workplace.

In relation to working with children checks, I won't go into great detail as they fall under the Department of Human Services with my colleague the Hon. Nat Cook and her similar colleagues who have responsibility interstate, although I will talk about it in relation to the default restriction on accused child sex offenders and convicted child sex offenders working with children in the workplace.

These are Australian-leading laws. I note that a report that was released from the SDA union by the McKell Institute entitled 'Safety not guaranteed' recommends all jurisdictions adopt those laws. It is certainly something that I will be happy to advocate with my colleagues around Australia after that to occur and to adopt what we have done in South Australia. I am always keen to look at further ways, as we have done already in this parliament, to increase the safety of children in the workplace.