Page 548 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
1 July 2011. We understand that it does take time to identify people and to appoint them, but we hope that this work can commence as soon as possible.
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (10.04): The Canberra Liberals will support this amendment which fixes the commencement of the legislation by the minister’s written notice rather than by notification. This enables the administration to ensure that the processes are developed and in place before they have to be used. I note that the legislation will commence after six months if the minister has not done so before that time.
Amendment agreed to.
Clause 2, as amended, agreed to.
Clause 3 agreed to.
Clause 4.
MS BURCH (Brindabella—Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services, Minister for Children and Young People, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Women) (10.05): I move amendment No 2 circulated in my name [see schedule 1 at page 681].
Ms Hunter’s amendment bill proposes that a function of the committee will be to undertake to review child deaths in a way that will avoid the duplication of existing resources. The bill proposes that a function of the committee will be to keep a register of child deaths. The ACT government supports this, as a register maintains a record of children and young people and assists with analysis of information. The government proposes some amendments about the register which I will address at some time.
The bill identifies several functions of the committee. Function (b) is:
… to identify patterns and trends in relation to the deaths of children and young people …
This is supported by the government, as this is a function that is not met by current individual child death review mechanisms. Function (c) is:
… to undertake research that aims to … prevent or reduce the likelihood of the death of children and young people …
This is supported by government. Function (d) is:
… to identify areas requiring further research by the committee or another entity in relation to the deaths of children and young people …
This is supported by the government, with an amendment at section 727B(d), as stated previously. This clarifies that the further research arises from identified patterns and trends in relation to the deaths of children and young people. Without the government amendment, this function in the bill could have the effect of people researching a very broad range of issues and using significant resources of the government and other
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video