Page 2338 - Week 06 - Thursday, 10 May 2012
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Secondly, the concerns raised relating to the use of strip searches and body searches to maintain good order at a youth detention centre are also addressed in the amendment bill. As it currently stands, strip searching of a young detainee can only be undertaken when the director-general suspects on reasonable grounds that the young detainee has an item concealed that is prohibited or that poses a risk to personal safety, or for security or good order at a detention place as outlined in section 258 of the Children and Young People Act.
Current body searches of young detainees can only be undertaken when the director-general reasonably suspects that a young detainee has ingested or inserted something that may be harmful to themselves or that the young detainee has a prohibited item concealed in their body that may be and poses a substantial risk to security, or for good order at a youth detention place as outlined in section 262 of the Children and Young People Act.
The use of strip searches was considered by the Human Rights Commission as part of its review of the ACT youth justice system. Given the impact strip searches have on young people, especially young people who have been the subject of abuse or trauma, the commission recommended the removal of good order as it applies to strip searches. The government agreed with this recommendation.
The proposed amendments will remove references to good order being a basis to conduct a strip search. Further, the government has extended this amendment to the removal of good order as a reason for body searches under the Children and Young People Act.
These amendments protect the rights and interests of children and young people by limiting the grounds on which strip searches and body searches may take place.
Apart from acting on the two key recommendations of the Human Rights Commission’s review, this bill addresses the issue of revoking general parental authorities for foster carers and residential care services when they no longer provide or intend to provide care to children and young people.
Sections 519 and 520 of the Children and Young People Act enable the director-general to authorise foster carers and residential care services to exercise daily care or long-term parental responsibilities for any child or young person for whom the director-general has daily or long-term parental responsibility.
Sections 523 and 524 enable the director-general to revoke a carer’s authorisation when the carers have failed to perform their responsibilities or where the person has sought to have the authority revoked. The act does not include a provision enabling the director-general to revoke the authority when the carer or entity is no longer available to provide care or where the carer or entity has not provided care during a period of time. Without the capacity to revoke such authorities, carers and entities remain authorised when no longer providing or intending to provide care for children and young people.
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