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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-11-14 Daily Xml
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CHILD PROTECTION

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:09): My question is again to the Premier. Is it the case that, when the rape of an eight year old occurred at a western suburbs school, there was no education department policy to inform parents when a public school employee is charged and/or convicted of child sex offences; and is it the case that such a policy was only created three months after this incident?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Minister for State Development) (14:10): As soon as we were aware, of course, of some of the differences in perspective that had been put by different government agencies in relation to this matter, we established an inquiry. We made an impeccable choice to undertake that inquiry, former Supreme Court Justice Debelle, and he will undertake—

Mrs REDMOND: Point of order, Madam Speaker.

The SPEAKER: What is your point of order?

Mrs REDMOND: The point of order is the relevance of the answer. The question was about whether there was a policy in the education department at the time of the rape, which was two years ago, not whether they have created some way of dealing with it now.

The SPEAKER: You have made your point, but there is no point of order. The Premier is answering the question.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Madam Speaker, of course, that is one of the inquiries that the relevant inquiry will undertake, because what we do know from the material is that it appears the relevant school council indeed was informed about the arrest and removal—

Mr GARDNER: Point of order, Madam Speaker: 98. It goes to the substance of the question which was about the education department policy which was introduced in February 2011.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. I think you need to listen to the Premier's answer before you take a point of order. No point of order.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: What we, in fact, know is that the agency was on a trajectory to send a communication to parents. Now, why that did not happen is the very subject of the inquiry that will be undertaken by former Supreme Court Justice Debelle. They must have believed that they were acting pursuant to a policy to advise parents because that is exactly what they were in the process of doing. It is just that some advice intervened which was interpreted as not telling parents, and so the school governing council were deprived of that opportunity because of the advice that was tendered. Now, how that happened, why it happened, is the very thing that will be the subject of the inquiry by former Supreme Court Justice Debelle.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

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