Page 342 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 23 February 1993
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MR WOOD: Madam Speaker, I have not seen that, no doubt, fine publication, but I have no doubt that Ms Szuty has given an accurate reflection of what it says, as I have knowledge of the background that would have brought that about. We have close to 100 schools in the ACT. Each school has its own school board and, as part of the composition of that board, as Mr Cornwell knows, there is a departmental nominee. That nominee is any person from the community who seeks to bring to the board a view that is not a teacher view, not a parent view, and not necessarily a department view, even though they go there as a departmental nominee.
Mr Kaine: And ACTEW employees are particularly well qualified for this?
MR WOOD: I do not have a deep knowledge of the processes operating this year, but I have a general knowledge because many years ago it was my job to sit at a desk and find departmental nominees for those boards. So I am more than familiar with it. The process is simply that we search out interested people in the community, and any person of good interest and repute is a fine person to serve on those boards. A request often goes around the departments saying, "If you have a mechanism for advising people, please do so". I expect that that is what has happened on this occasion.
We need to find 100 people every year. It is an interesting job but it does take up people's time. It is an imposition that many hundreds of people over the years have willingly accepted. Perhaps there are some members of this Assembly who have served on school boards in the past. I take the opportunity offered by the question to pay credit to those people who have served as departmental nominees on the boards; they have done an excellent job over many years. I invite anybody who happens to hear this answer to give me their name if they are desirous of serving on a board.
Women - Protection from HIV
MRS CARNELL: My question is to the Chief Minister in her capacity as Minister responsible for the status of women. The Women's Budget Statement states at page 146:
The increasing incidence of HIV amongst bisexual men is another source of HIV infection for women.
Given that statement, and taking into account the results of a study carried out by the National Centre for HIV Social Research at the Macquarie University that 71 per cent of bisexual men practise unsafe sex with their female partners, what action is the Chief Minister taking to protect from HIV ACT women whose partners are bisexual?
MS FOLLETT: I will take the question on notice, Madam Speaker.
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