Page 2635 - Week 07 - Thursday, 2 August 2018
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facilitate appropriate engagement with them to inform our responses to those challenges. The youth interACT initiatives I have mentioned give young people the opportunity to take a leading role in the community and in decision-making processes. The government’s strategy facilitates direct engagement with young people to inform how we govern and provides resources to young people so that they can lead their own communities and explore their own solutions to social problems.
Canberra’s young people have shown that, when given the right tools, they can be genuine advocates, genuine entrepreneurs and genuine leaders. We need look no further than the evidence that the Youth Coalition gives at many of our inquiries and hearings. We need also look no further than the 2018 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year winner, Ms Dhani Gilbert. She is an exceptional role model in our community. Ms Gilbert, a proud Wiradjuri woman, was awarded the 2018 Young Canberra Citizen of the Year award for her community work, her academic pursuits and her advocacy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Most recently she was also named the ACT NAIDOC awards young person of the year. I have not got that name right, but members get the drift.
Canberra’s young people have genuine contributions to make. It is important that government ensure that these opportunities are not lost. I look forward to seeing how the next round of youth interACT grants will benefit our community. I am also especially excited to see the outcomes of the youth assembly, which will bring us real and considered opinions of young people in our city.
Building—code compliance
MR PARTON: My question is to the Minister for Planning and Land Management. Minister, you have repeatedly assured the ACT community that you are confident in the safety of the ACT’s buildings and that significant reforms in our building compliance codes over the past five years have improved the quality and compliance of our buildings, including residential buildings. What have you done to ensure that the Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate are issuing a certificate of occupancy only for buildings that are compliant with the building code of Australia, fire standards and other relevant construction standards?
MR GENTLEMAN: I thank Mr Parton for this important question. It is, of course, important that ACT residents feel safe in their properties. The government is aware of some of the detrimental effects on the community and industry of poorly designed and constructed buildings. That is why the ACT government has implemented and continues to implement a series of reforms arising from a review of the ACT building regulatory system. There has been one review. We are not starting a new review; we will continue with the reform program that I announced in June 2016, which was funded in this year’s budget. We will also consider the outcomes of the current inquiry that the economic development and tourism standing committee is undertaking.
The reforms aim to ensure that our legislation, administration and regulatory systems are effective and relevant to the industry and the community, are wide reaching and
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