Page 3715 - Week 10 - Thursday, 19 September 2019

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Ms Stephen-Smith: The answer to the member’s question is as follows:

1. Yes. An amendment to a Care and Protection Order, or a provision of a Care and Protection Order, may be sought under section 466 of the Children and Young People Act 2008. Such an application can be made when a person believes on reasonable grounds that the amendment is in the best interests of the subject child, and the person has the leave of the Childrens Court to file the application. Examples of when an amendment might be sought include:

a. Seeking that an enduring parental responsibility provision be substituted for an existing long-term parental responsibility provision.

b. Adding a drug use provision for a parent.

c. Amending a contact order to include a specific contact provision.

d. Amending a parental responsibility provision to share parental responsibility between a parent and the Director-General of the Community Services Directorate.

2. All parties to the original proceeding can, with leave of the court, make an application to amend, extend or revoke a care and protection order as outlined in Section 466 subsection (2) of the Child and Young People Act 2008.

The party who seeks to amend a care and protection order will file an originating application and supporting material with the ACT Childrens Court. These documents are served on any other party to the previous proceedings. The parties will be notified of the date and time of the first return of the application. During the first attendance at the Childrens Court, the Court will then determine the manner in which the litigation will be conducted.

3. After careful consideration of the question, and advice provided by my Directorate, I have determined that the information sought is not in an easily retrievable form, and that to collect and assemble the information sought solely for the purpose of answering the question would be a major task, requiring a considerable diversion of resources. In this instance, I do not believe that it would be appropriate to divert resources from the provision of direct services, for the purposes of answering the Member’s question.

4. Please see answer to Question 3.

Children and young people—care and protection
(Question No 2633)

Mrs Kikkert asked the Minister for Children, Youth and Families, upon notice, on 2 August 2019:

(1) How many children and young people are currently covered by a voluntary care agreement.

(2) For each of the past five years, how many voluntary care agreements have been initiated by each of the following (a) the Director-General, (b) the child or young person, (c) the parent/s of the child or young person, and (d) the carer of the child or young person.


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