Page 2097 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 6 June 2018
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MS STEPHEN-SMITH: The ACT Children and Young People Death Review Committee annual report provides the community with information each year upon the deaths of children and young people that occur in the ACT, as well as deaths of ACT children and young people that occur outside the ACT. This annual report covers the period from 1 January to 31 December 2017. As well as covering 2017, the annual report provides an overview of data on the deaths of ACT children and young people over a five-year period from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2017.
The committee, which was established in 2011, has a number of functions, including maintaining a register of deaths of children and young people in the ACT; identifying patterns and trends in relation to the deaths of children and young people; and determining research that would be valuable in this area. The role of the committee is not to apportion blame but to identify what may be learnt from the circumstances of a child’s or young person’s death. The committee is able to make recommendations about legislation, policies, practices and services for implementation by government and non-government bodies, with the aim of preventing avoidable deaths, reducing the number of deaths of children and young people in the ACT, and improving services.
It is important to note that the Children and Young People Death Review Committee does not investigate individual deaths. Its role is to monitor general trends and inform the public about the number and nature of deaths in age cohorts. For this reason the report does not discuss cases where the death of a child is being investigated by a coroner.
There are currently 15 child death cases being investigated by the Coroner’s Court. These matters are particularly complex and sensitive, and require the court to obtain and consider extensive evidence to determine the manner and cause of death. In addition, where the coroner suspects that the death may have been connected to, or the result of, a criminal offence, the coroner must pause their investigation and refer the case to the Director of Public Prosecutions. In these circumstances, the coronial investigation may be paused for a significant period of time while the criminal matter is investigated and prosecuted and charges finally decided.
The government is focused on improving the coronial system to ensure that cases are finalised as quickly and as sensitively as possible and that the benefits to the community of coronial recommendations for public health and safety improvements are realised effectively. The government recently announced that the 2018-19 budget will provide $3.1 million in funding over the next four years to appoint an eighth full-time resident magistrate. The Chief Magistrate has indicated that she will consider utilising the additional judicial resource to dedicate one magistrate to coronial work part time.
The chapters in this year’s report cover a number of specific cohorts, including all children and young people who have died in the ACT in the 12-month period of the report or who normally reside in the ACT but died outside the ACT during the period; ACT residents only over the five-year period; and two chapters on specific populations: neonates and infants, and vulnerable young people.
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