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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-06-17 Daily Xml
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Ministerial Statement

CHILDREN IN STATE CARE INQUIRY

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Families and Communities, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Housing, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Disability, Minister Assisting the Premier in Cabinet Business and Public Sector Management) (11:30): I seek leave to make a brief ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: I refer to the Premier's remarks that we have just heard concerning the response to the report of the Children in State Care Inquiry and, of course, I concur with those remarks. As foreshadowed by him, I now table the response.

The inquiry report makes 54 recommendations. This government accepts 49 of them. Four require further consideration and only one, involving the extension of our innovative Sexual Behaviour Clinic in prisons to all child sexual offenders at any point in their sentence, is not accepted. We will continue to target the clinic to those prisoners assessed as at risk of reoffending, and provide it to them in the two years before they are released into the community.

Given that the inquiry related to children in state care, the majority of the recommendations apply to the Department for Families and Communities, and we accept all of them. As the Premier has just stated, the recent budget committed an extra $190.6 million expenditure over four years on keeping children safe. From this substantial investment we will implement measures to place children in care more appropriately and better support children in care and their carers.

As the Premier has just stated, we will put in place a range of measures to meet the recommendations, including additional resources to the Guardian for Children and Young People, expanded screening processes and strengthened child safe environments, assertive specialised therapeutic services and secure care for children in care, a pilot scheme to fast-track trials involving child complainants of sexual abuse, free counselling and support services for those who were sexually abused while children in state care and a task force to examine redress schemes.

I now table the response to the Children in State Care Commission of Inquiry Report—Allegations of Sexual Abuse and Death from Criminal Conduct, as required by section 11A of the Commission of Inquiry (Children in State Care and Children on APY Lands) Act 2004.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!


[Sitting suspended from 11:33 to 14:00]


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