Page 1233 - Week 04 - Thursday, 21 March 2013
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amendments which were received outside the 24 hours, which means that they are in accordance with standing orders. I thank them for that. I can foreshadow that the opposition will be supporting those amendments also.
The Children and Young People Amendment Bill 2012 deals with two recommendations arising from the Human Rights Commission review of the ACT youth justice system and a number of technical amendments relating to other issues covered by the Children and Young People Act.
The key changes in this bill are as follows: requiring the director-general to give notice to a doctor or nurse when using force in relation to a detainee at Bimberi—this is instead of providing the young person with the option to see a doctor or nurse after the event—removing the ability to conduct strip and body searches in the maintenance of good order; enabling the revocation of general parental authority from foster carers or residential care services when they are no longer providing or intending to provide care; and amending the legislation to ensure that entries to the child death review register will not be made until any coronial inquest or review is completed.
By making some technical or legislative fixes, the main focus of the bill is to enhance the protection of young people at Bimberi who are often some of our most vulnerable. As such, the opposition will support this bill and the proposed amendments. I will speak to the amendments when they are moved by the minister.
MS BERRY (Ginninderra) (12.07): I rise to support this bill and the changes it seeks to make, as outlined by Minister Burch. The four amendments provide for important changes to the Children and Young People Act 2008 to improve the interpretation of the act and the provision of services to children, young people and their families. The minister has set out the detail of these amendments but I would like to talk about the context in which these changes sit.
The first two amendments, relating to the use of force and searches of young people in detention, are a reflection of the ACT government’s commitment to continuous reform towards building a youth justice system that is high performing and effective. A measure of such a system is that all practices and procedures that support its operation are compatible with human rights. This, of course, includes practices and procedures within places of detention.
The government bill ensures that a young person’s treatment in the youth justice system is consistent with human rights standards and practices. The changes also reflect our obligation around the care and protection of children and young people, especially their rights and interests, regardless of where they are in our community.
These changes are part of a larger process of continuous improvement to make sure we have a youth justice system that provides the best chance to bring lasting change into young people’s lives and to make our community safer. The ACT government has made significant progress in implementing recommendations made by the Human Rights Commission in its review of the ACT youth justice system.
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