Page 1574 - Week 05 - Thursday, 8 May 2008
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the Children and Young People Act 1999 with references to the Children and Young People Act 2008. The amendments will also update various definitions, such as the definition of “childcare centre”, across territory legislation.
The bill amends and updates various territory acts and regulations, such as the Mental Health (Treatment and Care) Act 1994, to reflect new provisions relating to parental responsibility under the Children and Young People Bill 2008. The bill also makes consequential amendments to territory legislation to implement the reforms contemplated by schedule 1 of the Children and Young People Bill 2008 to reflect the application of the Crimes (Sentencing) Act 2005, the Crimes (Sentence Administration) Act 2005 and the Court Procedures Act 2004 to children and young people. Consequential amendments further reflect the consolidation and modernisation of provisions that govern the court procedures for matters involving children and young people, through the Magistrates Court Act 1930. I commend the bill to members.
Debate (on motion by Mr Smyth) adjourned to the next sitting.
ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal Bill 2008
Mr Corbell, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement and a Human Rights Act compatibility statement.
Title read by Clerk.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (10.51): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
Mr Speaker, the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal Bill 2008 is the first of two bills dealing with the establishment of a consolidated ACT tribunal. I will table the second bill, which will make a range of consequential provisions, shortly. But first I would like to turn to the issue of background and the need for reform in this area.
Over the past three decades, many dispute and decision-making processes within the civil justice system in the ACT and other Australian jurisdictions have been dealt with by transferring the work to stand-alone tribunals. In the ACT it has proven difficult to resource these tribunals adequately. Despite strong commitment from members, some of our tribunals have struggled to discharge their statutory obligations. Indeed, some of our tribunals have been unable to pay tribunal members for the time they have so selflessly given.
Against this historical background, in 2006 the Department of Justice and Community Safety commenced a study of ACT tribunals. In this study, the department examined the role of ACT tribunals generally and how they are currently structured, recent changes to tribunal structures in other jurisdictions, ways of increasing efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and options for improving tribunal structures.
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