Page 1197 - Week 04 - Thursday, 26 March 2015
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Title read by Clerk.
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for Planning, Minister for Roads and Parking, Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations, Minister for Children and Young People and Minister for Ageing) (11.24): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
The purpose of this bill is to make changes that will reduce the amount of time and resources that the ACT Children and Young People Death Review Committee spends on administrative functions. The changes are minor. However, I can assure the Assembly that the proposed changes will have a positive impact on the ability of the committee to do its work. The committee has a number of important functions, including establishing a register of deaths of children and young people, identifying patterns and trends in relation to the deaths of children and young people, and determining further research that would be valuable in this area.
Each year the ACT Children and Young People Death Review Committee annual report provides the community with information on the deaths of children and young people that occur in the ACT as well as the deaths of ACT children and young people that occur outside the ACT.
As the proposed amendments relate to administrative matters, they will have little direct effect on the important work of the committee. The changes will, however, enhance the ability of the committee to do its work by making it possible to meet in the absence of the chair by providing for the appointment of a deputy chair to avoid sudden cancellation of meetings; reducing the administrative burden of notification of meetings; providing more flexibility for the minister when choosing new members, including consideration of the diversity of experience and expertise of the committee as a whole; and increasing the likelihood of meetings being quorate by reducing the quorum to half of the membership plus the chair.
I formally commend the Children and Young People Amendment Bill 2015 to the Assembly. I am confident that this bill will enable the more efficient operation of the Children and Young People Death Review Committee and allow the committee to focus on working towards preventing future child deaths in the ACT.
Debate (on motion by Ms Lawder) adjourned to the next sitting.
Public Accounts—Standing Committee
Reference
MR SMYTH (Brindabella) (11.26): I move:
That this Assembly:
(1) notes the:
(a) significant contributions by the clubs sector to the ACT community and economy;
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