Page 3831 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 25 August 2010
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The nature of this topic is both emotive and sensitive and, as such, the bill has attempted to maintain confidentiality and de-identify data used by the committee. It is well understood that we are a small jurisdiction and therefore the committee must ensure that the children and young people deaths register is accessed only by committee members, staff who are assisting in the administration of the committee as outlined in section 727G, or someone authorised by the committee to have access to the register. The bill proposes that a record of any access must be kept and publicised as a notifiable instrument.
The bill also proposes that the committee must report annually to the minister on the number of deaths of children and young people; the age and sex of the child or young person who died and if under the Children and Young People Act 2008 this child or young person has been in need of care and protection within a three-year period before their death or is a sibling who has been identified as being in need of care and protection within a three-year period before their death; and the patterns or trends identified in relation to the death of children and young people in the ACT.
The committee may also include in the annual report: its recommendations about legislation, policies, practices and services for implementation by the territory and non-government bodies to prevent future deaths of children and young people; information about the implementation of any previous recommendations of the committee; and any other matters considered relevant.
The annual report ensures the information is available to the community and is a way of engaging the broader community in the implementation and monitoring of the recommendations made in the report.
The development of a child and young people deaths register allows us to develop a comparative picture of the ACT compared to national data available and other jurisdictions. It is important to note that every other state and territory—excluding Tasmania, which is in the process of establishing one—do have a child death review team or committee. They are able to sit at a national table to also share this information and to be able to analyse and look at emerging trends. At the moment we are not able to participate at the level that the other jurisdictions are able to.
The establishment of a child and young people death review committee is a way to ensure that we are engaged in a process of continuous improvement and innovation in policy and practice. This will mean that our work to keep all children and young people safe and well is based on relevant and meaningful evidence.
I call upon all parties to provide support for this bill that will cement our commitment to a mechanism that will help to prevent future deaths of children and young people in the ACT. I look forward to talking to my colleagues in other parties in the next couple of months, or next month, around this issue.
I think there is some confusion about the role of this committee and other mechanisms in the ACT. I need to be quite clear: this does not duplicate other mechanisms. It is recognised nationally that this is about building on those mechanisms. It is about
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