Page 526 - Week 02 - Thursday, 9 March 2006
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We are saying here that that principle should not be given paramountcy once young people have offended, because there is a range of competing interests, but I do not think we disagree at all about the need for services such as shelters. If you look at what happens at Quamby you will see that magistrates use it only as a last resort. You can see that that is the case simply by the number of young people who spend time there. The average, I would say, is around 20 young people for the territory. Unfortunately, we have much more than 20 young people offending in the territory. There is a range of options which the courts do look at.
I guess the concern around not being able to support this amendment is that, if we were to put the best interests principle for young people as the paramount consideration, we would be putting their rights above a whole range of things that need to be looked at once a young person has offended, including whether a magistrate would be in a position to send somebody to Quamby. There are questions around whether, if paramount consideration has to be given to the young person’s best interests, taking away one’s freedom is necessarily in line with that. I think that it could bring into question the whole way that we deal with detaining people at our juvenile detention centre.
I think that this is a disagreement about how the legislation needs to be framed for consideration by the courts. It is not about how we deal with young offenders: the fact that they need support and the fact that there needs to be a range of options for young people. I think there is agreement around the Assembly about that. But we will be opposing this amendment.
Amendment negatived.
Clause 10 agreed to.
Remainder of bill, by leave, taken as a whole.
MS GALLAGHER (Molonglo—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Children, Youth and Family Support, Minister for Women and Minister for Industrial Relations) (11.25): I seek leave to move together amendments Nos 1 to 7 circulated in my name.
Leave granted.
MS GALLAGHER: I move amendments Nos 1 to 7 circulated in my name [see schedule 2 at page 608]. I table a supplementary explanatory statement.
Amendment No 1 removes the requirement for a mandated reporter to report abuse or neglect of a child or young person if the reporter reasonably believes that another person has made a report to the chief executive about the same child or young person and the same abuse or injury. The current reporting regime requires all mandated reporters to report their suspicions of non-accidental physical injury and sexual abuse. Consultations identified that this can result in many mandated reporters in the same setting being required to report identical concerns for a child or young person.
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