Page 381 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 19 February 2019
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environments and in protecting the human rights of their students. This legislation strengthens the processes that keep children safe and ensures greater coordination across the system between the Education Directorate, TQI and both government and non-government schools. The Greens support these changes and are pleased to support the bill in the Assembly today.
MR PETTERSSON (Yerrabi) (11.18): There has been a lot of talk in this place lately about keeping children and young people safe. What is clear is that the government is getting on with the job. This bill is a further demonstration of our commitment to the safety and wellbeing of Canberra’s students.
I am proud to support this bill. I would like to focus on two areas of the bill. The bill reinforces the government’s commitment to driving change in response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse by ensuring that the non-government education sector takes seriously and acts on its relevant recommendations. The ACT community expects the government to direct change in this area and, through amendments to the Education Act, the bill will ensure that the government has the necessary power to do so.
The bill provides for this by allowing regulations to supplement the criteria for registration as a non-government school and the conditions for maintaining registration. Children and young people are entitled to special protection because of their vulnerability to exploitation and abuse. We must give their safety and welfare a high priority. Education settings are built on trust and parents should have confidence that there are robust protections in place to safeguard their child at school.
My colleague Minister Berry has shown an unmistakable willingness to make change and work towards matters of principle on the basis of genuine dialogue with those affected. This bill is, of course, no exception. The approach in the bill was developed through a process of explicit consultation with the education sector. Using regulations will allow for ongoing implementation of the royal commission’s recommendations over time and allow for sustained engagement, participation and collaboration with the non-government sector as implementation occurs.
Alongside implementation of the royal commission’s recommendations, the bill leads among Australian jurisdictions in allowing for appropriate information sharing about a child or young person’s enrolment status in the ACT. This amendment reflects findings of the Glanfield inquiry and other related reports.
It is an important amendment because schools are one of very few key contact points that children and young people must have with society outside their family. Schools provide system protection. This amendment will ensure that it is lawful to share information about a student unenrolled from a school across state boundaries where there are significant welfare concerns about the student. The framework for this in the bill is appropriately balanced by the right to privacy and the rights of the family.
Alongside these amendments, the bill continues our demonstrated commitment to the teaching profession in the ACT through amendments that support a robust teacher registration scheme. I join my colleagues in commending this bill to the Assembly.
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