Page 1725 - Week 06 - Thursday, 30 July 2020

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space work in a challenging, tough and complex environment. Equally important is that keeping children and young people safe in their families and communities is not just the responsibility of child and protection services; it is a whole-of-community responsibility.

The committee wishes to thank all of those who have contributed to its inquiry by making submissions and/or appearing before it to give evidence. The committee also particularly thanks the statutory organisations, peak bodies, advocacy and support groups, professional associations and other community sector organisations that participated in this inquiry. Many of these groups also contributed to the ACT government review of child protection decisions in the ACT. The committee acknowledges that these groups have all been strong advocates in child protection over many years and genuinely thanks them all for sharing their wisdom, expertise and experience with this inquiry. The wide-ranging experience of these organisations and their commitment to serving children, parents and families was reflected both in the breadth and in the quality of their contributions.

The committee also acknowledges and thanks all individuals who made written submissions. The committee recognises that many participants to its inquiry shared deeply personal experiences and that contemplating and preparing their submissions would not have been easy. The committee sincerely thanks all inquiry participants for taking the time and personal energy to contribute to an inquiry of this nature. The committee is grateful that it was able to draw on a broad range of wisdom, expertise and experience in its deliberations.

In its report, the committee has based many of its recommendations on suggestions by inquiry participants. The committee has made 44 recommendations in relation to this inquiry into the ability to share information in the care and protection system in accordance with the Children and Young People Act. I will not take the time now to talk about any of the recommendations. I am sure my fellow committee members will do that for me.

As chair, I would like to thank my fellow committee members, Mrs Vicki Dunne and Ms Caroline Le Couteur, for their time, their contributions and the collaborative way the committee has worked through some wide-ranging and very challenging issues. Through these collaborative efforts, we have been able to deliver a unanimous report. I commend the report to the Assembly, and I wait to hear the comments of my committee colleagues. Thank you.

MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (11.45): I will begin where my colleague, the chair of the committee, Ms Cody, left off, by paying tribute to the members of the committee who worked so collaboratively together, Ms Cody and Ms Le Couteur; to our outstanding secretary, Dr Andréa Cullen; and to the people who presented to this committee on some taxing, troubling but ultimately very important issues.

I think, in the context of some of the discussion that we have had already today, it is worth highlighting some of the contemporary issues that we have dealt with and it is worth highlighting that, for instance, the ACT performs very poorly in care and protection when it comes to Indigenous people. There are 91.9 Aboriginal or Torres


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