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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-09-22 Daily Xml
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Child Protection

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (14:40): My question is to the Minister for Child Protection. Has the minister asked her office if it has ever received any email, minute or telephone call notifying her office about the rape of a 13-year-old girl?

The Hon. R. SANDERSON (Adelaide—Minister for Child Protection) (14:40): I find it incredible that the opposition isn't concerned about what the department is doing to stop this in the future, and—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: Point of order, sir.

The SPEAKER: The minister will resume her seat. The member for West Torrens on a point of order.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS: I would ask the member to withdraw that accusation that we don't care about what the department is doing to rectify a child being abused in the minister's care.

The SPEAKER: On the point of order, this theme seems to have been a theme of the day, to some extent. There has been occasion for two earlier rulings on this point. I have indicated to members that the practice of the house is that in relation to any reflection on an individual member it is for that individual member to take issue with it. Where an observation is made more generally, there is a test as to the use of parliamentary language or the imputation of improper motives. I hear the point of order, and I will listen carefully to the minister. The minister has the call.

The Hon. R. SANDERSON: Thank you, Mr Speaker. The important point here is what are we doing to stop this from happening in the future and what have we done to protect this child and to put the services around her, and I have clearly indicated that in my ministerial speech. But I can assure the house that this is an issue that concerns all parents, all carers, and that is that online safety is the emerging area where perpetrators are no longer at the bus stop or harassing a child on their way to school—they are in their phone, they are in their room, they are in their home.

So procedures and policies are where—I have looked at our policies; they were updated in 2019. I am satisfied that they are there to protect our young people and, in fact, it is proof that they work because that is how the carers found out about this online activity and discovered it and reported it to the police. That is their protocol. They acted swiftly. Wraparound services were put around the child.

What I have been doing since then, as I have also mentioned already in this house, is I have met with the children's commissioner, Helen Connolly, to look at what we can do for all children in our state to improve their online safety. I have spoken to the Minister for Education, and I have a full list of all of the online and e-safety information, which I am surprised to see starts at reception even, and there are different amounts of information for all the differing years of schooling, because this is such an issue for all children and young people.

Also, I have a phone meeting with the eSafety Commissioner later today to look at what extra strengthening and security can be put in place for online websites and apps, such as MyLOL, which are used by teenagers. Apparently, there are a lot more regulations for other dating services used by adults—regulations, restrictions and oversight supervision. So I am looking at how we can improve things going forward for the future, and I will continue to work hard every day to protect children in care.

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