Page 4273 - Week 10 - Thursday, 22 September 2011
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I am pleased to present the Working with Vulnerable People (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2011.
The Working with Vulnerable People (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2011 amends legislation arising from the working with vulnerable people background checking legislation. This bill makes amendments to the ACT Teacher Quality Institute Act 2010, the Children and Young People Act 2008, the Public Sector Management Act 1994 and the Spent Convictions Act 2000. The bill complements and builds on existing legislation and replaces current checking requirements across a range of regulated activities.
I will now discuss each consequential amendment.
The ACT Teacher Quality Institute Act 2010 established the ACT Teacher Quality Institute as a territory authority with responsibility for teacher registration, accreditation of pre-service teacher education programs, and certification of teachers against national standards.
The Teacher Quality Institute Act requires a person to provide evidence of any criminal history; however, the act does not require a person to hold current working with vulnerable people registration when applying for registration as a teacher or for a permit to teach.
The amendments to division 4.1 and sections 32, 33, 35, 51 and 53 align the Teacher Quality Institute Act with the Working with Vulnerable People (Background Checking) Bill, resulting in a person being required to hold current working with vulnerable people registration when applying for full or provisional registration as a teacher and when seeking a permit to teach.
The Children and Young People Act 2008 provides for the safety and wellbeing of children and young people. Once the working with vulnerable people background checking legislation commences, relevant suitable entities and authorised persons working or volunteering with children and young people will be required to hold working with vulnerable people registration.
To align the Children and Young People Act with the working with vulnerable people background checking legislation, a new section is being added to section 63 which will compel relevant suitable entities to hold working with vulnerable people registration. The consequential amendment to section 438 adds a note to this section providing for authorised assessors to be registered under the working with vulnerable people legislation.
Section 68 of the Public Sector Management Act 1994 provides for appointments to the public sector. Section 68 also provides for consideration of specific criteria, including a person’s criminal convictions, during the appointment process.
The consequential amendment to section 68 notes that if a person is to be appointed to a position related to a regulated activity which is accessed by vulnerable people, the
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