Annual Report to Children and Young People 2020-2021

This submission outlines some of the minimum amendments that need to be made to get the Children and Young People (Safety and Support) Bill up to ‘standard’, building upon the Commissioner’s previous submissions and recommendations made by both the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People and the Guardian for Children and Young People.

The Bill, in its current form, will be ineffective to turn the tide on the overrepresentation of Aboriginal children and young people in care. It is inconsistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The Commissioner recommends that the Select Committee on the Children and Young People (Safety and Support) Bill:

  1. Strengthen the foundations of the Bill.
  2. Introduce comprehensive principles of child participation.
  3. Make the best interests of the child the paramount principle and consideration in decision making.
  4. Establish a stand-alone principle of placement with order of priority.
  5. Require the standard of ‘active efforts’ for all children.
  6. Ensure consistent application of the terms ‘harm’ and ‘significant harm’.