Background Checking Legislation Amendment Bill 2022

I had the opportunity to resume debate on the Background Checking Legislation Amendment Bill 2022, which seeks to amend the Children and Young People and Working with Vulnerable People (Background Checking) Acts in ways that primarily align with recommendations made by the Royal Commission on Working with Children Checks almost 8 years ago. Other amendments resolve technical and operational issues that have come to light since the commencement of the original Act. Although these amendments are long overdue, I was please to finally commend them to the Assembly.

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Thank you, Madam Speaker. I am thankful for the opportunity to speak to the Background Checking Legislation Amendment Bill 2022, which the I and the rest of my Canberra Liberal colleagues will be supporting today. This Bill amends the Children and Young People and Working with Vulnerable People (Background Checking) Acts in the following ways:

• Firstly, it extends the application of the Working with Children Checks and the NDIS Worker Screening Check so that disqualifying offences correspond with equivalent interstate offences and historic offences.

• Secondly, it removes access to the external merits review provision for applicants with Class A disqualifying offences.

• Thirdly, it provides the Director-General with the ability to defer the Working With Vulnerable People registration requirement for approved carers in exceptional circumstances.

• And lastly, the Bill addresses a number of other technical and operational issues so that procedures are consistent, effective and an efficient use of public resources.

Building on the Background Checking Legislation Amendment Bill from 2020, several of the amendments proposed in this Bill are a delayed response to recommendations made by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Although the Final Report to the Royal Commission’s five-year inquiry was published in December 2017, final recommendations made by the Royal Commission on Working with Children Checks were released almost 8 years ago in August 2015. Other amendments made to resolve technical and operational issues of the Working with Vulnerable People scheme will certainly help clarify processes and improve procedure efficiencies in running the scheme. For example, by removing access to external merits review for applicants with Class A disqualifying offences, the administration and efforts spent applying for the review and processing such an application will be spared – as there is no merits review available when an applicant is not eligible for registration to the scheme in the first place. I sought a ministerial briefing on this Bill late last year, and I was advised that in practice, this issue has indeed occurred before – where an applicant who had committed a Class A disqualifying offence applied to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal for merits review of their rejected application to the Working With Vulnerable People Scheme. I also enquired about the extra powers provided to the Director-General to defer the Working With Vulnerable People registration requirement for approved carers in exceptional circumstances. I was interested in the kind of criteria that guides these types of decisions, and was advised that in practice, registration requirements are deferred in cases where a carer who is otherwise suitable is unable to provide the necessary identity documents to be registered. Making sure that our background-checking procedures are unified across the country, up-to-date and in line with the Royal Commission recommendations is critical in the effective operation of our Work With Vulnerable People scheme so that our children and young people, as well as other at-risk members of the ACT community are supported by people who promote and prioritise their safety. Currently as the legislation stands, there are operational issues that unnecessarily exhaust public resources, and it is about time they were addressed. I look forward to seeing the improved operation of the scheme following the implementation of the legislative improvements being proposed today. I am pleased to commend this Bill to the Assembly. Thank you.