Page 3116 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 9 November 2021

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meaningful lives and not commit yet more crimes. Whatever the pathways, the focus must remain on building communities, not prisons. This is the heart of justice reinvestment.

The Transitional Release Centre and the planned reintegration centre are critical pieces of the puzzle to reduce recidivism. Transitional accommodation provides a very important stepping stone to properly prepare detainees to successfully reintegrate into the community. We know that supporting people and preventing the drivers of crime, which are often complex health, social and economic factors, is far better achieved in the community than inside the prison. The timing for the opening of the Transitional Release Centre and the progress on the reintegration centre also need to be included in this discussion.

Finally, Minister, I was buoyed by your confirmation at the recent estimates hearing that we should be doing everything we can to encourage applications and support people accessing the transitional centre and the transitional release program, as well as your acknowledgement of the tremendous amount of work that has been put into the plans for the reintegration centre. Thank you for that. I greatly look forward to hearing updates about the justice reinvestment projects in the future.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Amendment Bill 2021

Mr Rattenbury, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement and a Human Rights Act compatibility statement.

Title read by Clerk.

MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong—Attorney-General, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Gaming and Minister for Water, Energy and Emissions Reduction) (11.42): I move:

That this bill be agreed to in principle.

I am pleased to introduce the Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Amendment Bill 2021. This bill will provide improved consumer protections for Canberrans by regulating the use of sunset and delayed development clauses in off-the-plan property sale contracts.

As members will be very aware, the housing market in Canberra is continuing to see rapid growth. For many Canberrans, entering this market can be a challenging experience and one which has been further exacerbated by the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the last few months I have heard from numerous community members that some property developers have decided to take advantage of the rising market conditions and have rescinded existing contracts for off-the-plan property purchases then re-listed these properties for significantly higher sale prices. This is a devastating


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