Page 1553 - Week 06 - Thursday, 2 July 2020
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
people scheme aims to reduce the risk of harm or neglect to vulnerable people in the ACT and requires those who work or volunteer with vulnerable people, including children, to have a background check and be registered.
The bill continues to deliver the government’s commitment to providing strong safeguards in our community, particularly for children and people living with disability. It makes the strongest possible statement that the best interests of vulnerable people are the paramount consideration in any decisions taken within the scheme and that decisions must take into account the safety, welfare and protection of vulnerable people.
The bill’s amendments were prompted by the ACT government’s commitment to implementing agreed national standards for working with children checks, NDIS worker screening and key recommendations made by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. This bill implements these commitments in the ACT while also refining how the scheme applies to individuals seeking to work with children or in the NDIS.
The amendments introduce additional measures to prevent people who present as an unacceptable risk of harm from engaging in work with children and vulnerable people. These additional measures introduce disqualifying offences to the act. The offences are categorised as class A or class B offences and are separated based on severity. For example, the bill sets out a framework for making decisions about whether a person who has been convicted of or charged with certain disqualifying offences should be registered to work with children under the working with vulnerable people scheme.
Specifically, a person will be automatically excluded from participating in a regulated activity involving children or an NDIS activity if they have committed a class A disqualifying offence. Class A includes offences such as murder, culpable driving causing death, or sexual offences against vulnerable people. In addition, a person will be excluded unless they have exceptional circumstances that justify their registration, if they have an outstanding class A offence or a conviction or finding of guilt of a class B offence. Class B offences include manslaughter, neglect of a child or robbery offences.
Due to the introduction of disqualifying offences a small number of individuals currently registered under the working with vulnerable people scheme may be deregistered, refused registration or will have conditions placed on their registration. I am confident this bill strikes the right balance between protecting children and vulnerable people while ensuring that excluded individuals are not unjustly deprived of work. It is expected that this disqualifying offences will be restricted to a small group of people in the ACT and will not prevent this group from seeking employment in other sectors. However, I cannot overstate the importance of the identification of individuals who pose a risk to children and vulnerable people and ensuring their exclusion from the scheme.
The COVID-19 public health emergency has delayed some national work to harmonise worker screening across the country, as well as affecting the operations of Access Canberra. As agreed nationally, the amendments will not commence until
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video