Page 655 - Week 02 - Thursday, 18 February 2016
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alone as chair of the education committee, by order of the Assembly. CIT is the ACT’s largest public provider of vocational education. It has done and can do amazing things. I want our committee’s final report to be able to endorse the great work that CIT does. We can only do that when we know the results of the ASQA audit and we see what CIT does with it.
The growth of our city depends enormously on the quality of the tradespeople CIT train, but they must own up when things are not right. This report can only be interim, as much as the departing chair might wish otherwise, because we have not yet got all the answers. We need to see the ASQA audit and we need to understand what CIT and the new minister for training does with it.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Powers of Attorney Amendment Bill 2015
Debate resumed from 19 November 2015, on motion by Mr Corbell:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
MR HANSON (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (4.44): The Canberra Liberals will be supporting this bill in principle but we will be moving an amendment in the detail stage. The bill will amend the Powers of Attorney Act 2006 to allow people with impaired decision-making capacity to take part in medical research trials that could assist them with new treatment options which are not usually available to them by removing barriers to allow substitute decision makers authorising medical decisions on their behalf.
The explanatory statement states that the Powers of Attorney Amendment Bill will amend the Powers of Attorney Act 2006, firstly, to allow a person—that would be the principal—to authorise their attorney to make decisions about medical research matters involving ethically approved research; secondly, allowing enduring attorneys to make decisions about medical research matters involving ethically approved research when the power of attorney does not include medical research matters but permits the attorney to make decisions about healthcare matters; thirdly, to introduce safeguards by way of a two-tiered process that must be followed; fourthly, it empowers the ACT ACAT to assist the attorney to make decisions and review an attorney’s decision.
The bill also amends the Guardianship and Management Property Act 1991 to introduce the same tiered process for decisions about medical research matters made by a guardian and prohibits health attorneys from making decisions about medical research matters other than decisions involving low-risk research.
The ACT Law Society advises that the proposed draft appears to contain sufficient safeguards for principals and a reasonable, clear pathway. The society also suggested to JACS that it consider the inclusion of a review clause in the draft legislation to monitor the implementation of the amendments. The Bar Association made no comments, and I note that similar legislation has been introduced in other jurisdictions.
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