Page 364 - Week 02 - Thursday, 8 March 2007
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I bring that to the attention of the Assembly and the minister. It may be a loophole; it may not. I just want to get some clarification from the minister that she is comfortable that that is not going to prevent searches in some circumstances where there is an imminent threat and a need for a search and where some of these provisions may not be able to be complied with in the circumstances. I bring that to the attention of the Assembly and the minister. I look forward to seeing the standing orders and will look at them very closely. We need to get this right.
I conclude by saying that I think that much more is going to be needed than just this piece of legislation. The legislation is a good start. It may need to be amended in small ways down the track, but it seems as though it seeks to get the balance fairly right, and does get the balance fairly right, in terms of protecting young people who are in custody, protecting the community generally and protecting employees. I commend all of the work that went into preparing this legislation. The opposition will be supporting the bill, but we look forward to seeing the standing orders as soon as possible so that we can look at them very closely.
MS GALLAGHER (Molonglo—Minister for Health, Minister for Disability and Community Services and Minister for Women) (11.58), in reply: I thank members for their contribution to the debate and for their support for the Children and Young People Amendment Bill 2006 (No 2). As other members have said, the bill introduces prenatal reporting to allow the chief executive to receive and respond to reports of concerns of anticipated abuse and/or possible neglect. The bill also revises the search and seizure scheme for Quamby Youth Detention Centre.
Prenatal reporting is outlined in clauses 6 to 9 of the amendment bill. The bill introduces prenatal reporting to allow the chief executive to receive and respond to voluntary prenatal reports during a woman’s pregnancy and removes ambiguity about the legal status of such reports on information currently being received from community members.
Prenatal reporting gives effect to one of the key recommendations of the recent Murray-Mackie study into the near-deaths and deaths of children in the ACT. The bill has been assessed as compatible with the Human Rights Act on the basis that it does not interfere with a pregnant woman’s human rights or liberties, particularly the right to privacy.
Any assessment or intervention that may occur following a prenatal report can be undertaken only with the freely informed consent of the pregnant woman. The bill does not confer any legal rights onto the child before its birth. Instead, it allows a supportive response at the earliest possible stage to prevent harm that might otherwise occur after the child’s birth and to provide support to the mother during the pregnancy to ensure that any issues that may result post the birth because of lack of support during the pregnancy are picked up earlier than they would otherwise be.
A number of other Australian jurisdictions have introduced prenatal reporting to address these complex issues—namely, Queensland, New South Wales and, most recently, Victoria. Experience there and elsewhere confirms the need for prenatal reporting to ensure that adequate attention is given to the future needs of children at the earliest opportunity.
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