Tasmanian Bills Clause Notes Tasmanian Bills Clause Notes[Index] [Search] [Download] [Bill] [Help]
CLAUSE NOTES
Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act
Amendment Bill 2009
Clause 1: Short Title
This clause provides that the Act is to be referred to as
the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Amendment
Act 2009.
Clause 2: Commencement
This clause provides that the Act commences on a day
or days to be proclaimed.
Clause 3: Principal Act
This clause provides that the Principal Act amended by
this Bill is the Children, Young Persons and Their Families
Act 1997.
Clause 4: Section 3 amended (Interpretation)
This clause amends section 3 by inserting the following
additional definitions:
"Community Based Intake Service" which describes
the single entry point to access community services;
"information sharing entity" describes those
individuals and organisations to whom the information
sharing provisions of the Act potentially apply; and
"significant person" describes persons considered
significant in the life of a child for the purposes of
sections 18 and 53B.
Clause 5: Section 13 amended (Responsibility to prevent
abuse or neglect or certain behaviour)
This clause amends section 13 to enable the Secretary
to accept reports relating to `unborn' children. As
with current provisions relating to children, section 13
Page 1 of 7
of the Principal Act is amended to place an onus on all
adults to seek to prevent the actions of an expectant
mother or other persons who will or are likely to
reside with the mother from impacting upon the child,
either in utero or after birth.
The clause also requires that the person providing the
information to provide reasons for their belief or
suspicion.
Clause 6: Section 14 amended (Informing of concern
about abuse or neglect)
This clause provides that, in addition to matters already
in the Act, a prescribed person who believes, suspects
or knows that there is a reasonable likelihood that an
`unborn' child, may suffer abuse or neglect or be killed
after birth, or may require medical or other
intervention as a result of the behaviour of the mother
or another person, that prescribed person must inform
the Secretary or a Community Based Intake Service.
Clause 7: Section 15 substituted
This clause extends existing protections from civil and
criminal liability to information provided regarding
`unborn' children.
Clause 8: Section 16 amended (Confidentiality or person
informing of knowledge, belief or suspicion of
abuse or neglect)
This clause extends the existing protections afforded
to notifiers under section 16 to cover those persons
making notifications about `unborn' children. The
clause ensures that the identity of parties who make
notifications remains confidential.
Page 2 of 7
Clause 9: Section 17 substituted
This clause replaces the existing section 17 and gives
the Secretary and a Community Based Intake Service
discretion not to take any action in relation to
notifications in certain circumstances following initial
inquiries.
Clause 10: Section 17A Inserted
This clause inserts a new section after section 17 of the
Act which allows the Secretary to refer a notification
to a Community Based Intake Service where the
Secretary deems it appropriate, in the circumstances,
to do so.
This will provide the capacity for family services to
respond to reports which do not require a child
protection response.
Clause 11: Section 18 amended (Assessment by Secretary)
This clause improves the Secretary's capacity to
request information from any person as part of an
assessment under section 18 of the Act. The clause
extends the scope of the information which can be
requested for the purposes of assessment to include
parents or caregivers (e.g. step parents, grandparents
etc) and information relating to the family
circumstances more generally, as they impact upon the
best interests of the child. This increased capacity will
allow for a more holistic assessment to be made on the
family situation as it relates to the child, resulting in
better outcomes.
Such information may be provided orally (as well as in
writing) to ensure timely information collection.
The clause enables the Secretary to require written
confirmation of relevant information provided orally.
It contains a penalty for parties who do not comply
with requests for information. The decision on
whether a penalty is pursued is to rest with the
Secretary.
Page 3 of 7
Clause 12: Section 42 amended (Care and protection
order)
Section 42 provides that a Court may make orders for
a care and protection order for a child at risk.
This clause creates a distinction between care and
protection orders made for a period of less than
12 months, and care and protection orders made until
the child attains the age of 18.
The clause also amends section 42 of the Act to
include criteria that the Court must satisfy itself of
before granting long-term orders, including that all
other avenues have been exhausted and that the
wishes of relevant persons (including those of the
child) have been duly considered.
Clause 13: Section 48 amended (Variation, revocation,
suspension and end of care and protection order
or interim care and protection order)
This clause amends section 48 to limit the way in which
applications for variation orders can be made in
situations where a child is subject to a long-term
guardianship order under section (42)(4)(d). The
rationale of the amendment is to promote stability and
permanency of placements where reunification with
the birth family is not an option. The clause will
prevent re-litigation of matters where long-term
orders in the best interest of a child have been made.
Parties, other than the Secretary or the appointed
guardian of the child, will only be able to apply to the
Court to vary orders made where:
· there has been a change in circumstances since the
order was made; and
· the Court has given leave to apply.
Page 4 of 7
Clause 14: Section 49 amended (Effect of order granting
custody or guardianship)
This clause amends section 49 of the Act to give effect
to the amendments made to section 42.
Clause 15: Parts 5A and 5B inserted
This clause creates two new Parts within the Act to
clarify information sharing requirements and establish
Community Based Intake Services.
Part 5A (Information Sharing)
New sections 53A and 53B provide that the Secretary
may share and / or request relevant information from
identified information sharing entities. It also allows
information sharing entities to share information with
the Secretary and other entities.
Section 53B(4) provides protections for professionals
sharing information with the Secretary in good faith.
Part 5B (Community Based Intake Service)
The new section 53D allows the Secretary to enter
into an agreement with an organisation, so that it can
carry out the functions of a Community Based Intake
Service. Such intakes are intended to divert less
serious cases from the statutory child protection
system to family support services.
The functions of a Community Based Intake Service are
set out in the new section 53E, and include the ability
to:
· accept referrals from the Secretary and to make
referrals to relevant agencies; and
· undertake preliminary inquiries to determine
whether a child is at risk or need; and
· promote and facilitate collaborative working
arrangements within local service networks.
Page 5 of 7
Community Based Intake Services are also granted
some information sharing power by the new
section 53B, provided that the sharing of such
information is necessary for the Community Based
Intake Service to perform its functions and duties as
described.
The new section 53F provides that the Secretary may
issue guidelines for the administration, procedures and
practices of a Community Based Intake Service.
Clause 16: Section 71 amended (Review of circumstances
of child under long-term guardianship of the
Secretary)
This clause amends section 71 of the Act to
accommodate the amendments made to section 42.
Clause 17: Section 79 amended (Functions of
Commissioner)
This clause amends section 79 of the Act to allow the
Commissioner for Children to advocate on behalf of
young persons under the Youth Justice Act 1997 who
are detained at Ashley Youth Detention Centre.
This amendment will strengthen the role of the existing
Residents' Advocate undertaken by the Office of the
Commissioner for Children, with regard to Ashley
Youth Detention Centre.
Clause 18: Section 110A inserted
This clause inserts a new section 110A to recognise
the capacity for the Department to offer pre and
post-natal services in the interests and welfare of born
or unborn children
Clause 19: Sections 111A and 111B inserted
The new section 111A protects information provided
by an information sharing entity from disclosure by the
Page 6 of 7
Secretary or a Community Based Intake Service under
the Freedom of Information Act 1991.
The new section 111B also recognises that the Personal
Information Protection Act 2004 applies to information
received and provided under the Principal Act to the
extent that it is not inconsistent with the provisions of
the Principal Act. It also provides that a Community
Based Intake Services is a personal information
custodian for the purposes of the Personal Information
Protection Act 2004.
Page 7 of 7