CHILDREN’S RIGHTS
which enhance the wellbeing of children and young people; monitoring the wellbeing of children and young people generally in the community; inquiring into any matter affecting the wellbeing of children and young people, and considering and making recommendations on laws, policies, programs and services affecting children and young people.24
Further, the Act requires the Commissioner to give priority to the interests and needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people; children and young people who are vulnerable or disadvantaged. A third priority is that the Commissioner must have regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.25
The Committee notices that the Act provides a strong basis to ensure that the best interests of children and young people are given paramount consideration in Western Australia. However, the Committee must now consider whether the Act enables the Commissioner to carry out a complaints function in a way that will complement and strengthen the functions listed above. It is a weighty consideration but one that falls squarely within the accountability and oversight role of the Committee. At the outset, the Committee is very interested to assess if a new function would impact on the three priority areas: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people; children and young people who are vulnerable or disadvantaged, and the Commissioner’s ability to have regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is the Committee’s view that these areas must continue to be given precedence; perhaps even greater emphasis in any new iteration of the Act. The Committee is continuing its examination and aims to report its findings to Parliament in October 2015.
The Act
contemplates other principles that must be observed in the administration of the Act, including that “
...children and young people are entitled to live in a caring and nurturing environment and to be protected from harm and exploitation.”
References: 1
The NSW Parliamentary Committee on Children and Young ended on the 6 Mar 2015 (Committees of the 55th Parliament (2011-2015) have expired). Committees of the 56th Parliament will be appointed shortly and it is expected another like Committee will
The recruitment process for a permanent Children’s Commissioner
be established. 2
is currently underway. 3
Hon. Barbara Scott, MLC, Western Australia, Legislative Council, Parliamentary Debates
(Hansard), 4 June 2008, p3435. 4
Griffith, Gary, Parliament and Accountability: The Role of Parliamentary Oversight Committees, Briefing Paper No. 12/05, NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service, Parliament of New South Wales, np, November 2005. Available at:
http://www.parliament.nsw.gov. au/prod/parlment/publications.nsf/ key/ ParliamentandAccountability:Th eRoleofParliamentaryOversightCom
mittes. Accessed on 7 May 2015. 5
Ibid., p20.
Established Pursuant to Section 51 of the Commissioner for Children and Young People Act 2006 (WA).; the first Committee was established in June 2008 and met only once in
6
the 37th Parliament; was re-formed in the 38th Parliament in November 2008 and in the 39th Parliament in
22 May 2013. 7
For example, the Commissioner developed guidelines to assist departments in reviewing the impacts of legislation on children, which was one of the first functions that the Committee maintained a watching brief on to see if it was developed in accordance with the function contemplated under the
Commissioner’s Act. 8
2006 (WA). 9
Section 57 of the Commissioner for Children and Young People Act
Section 19(k) of the Commissioner for Children and
Young People Act 2006 (WA). 10
Section 19(l)of the Commissioner for Children and
For example, in addition to making recommendations to the Treasurer on the Commissioner’s budget on a number of occasions, in 2009, the Committee referred to the Commissioner the Parliamentary Commissioner Amendment Bill 2009 and the Child Exploitation Material and Classification legislation Amendment Bill 2009 for her consideration and comment. In 2010 it referred the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department Discussion Paper, Should the Australian National Classification Scheme include an R18+ Classification Category for Computer Games. In October 2012 the then Committee referred to the Commissioner particular written laws, national and international reports, and certain practices and procedures insofar as they were relevant to the sexualisation of children. The Committee then requested the Commissioner consider and make recommendations as to any specific actions required to be taken by the Government of Western Australia in relation to these matters in order to better secure the wellbeing of children
Young People Act 2006 (WA). 11
and young people in Western Australia. 12
Section 64 of the Commissioner for Children and
Young People Act 2006 (WA). 13
Public Sector Commission,
Review of the Commissioner for Children and Young People Act 2006, Government of Western
Australia, May 2013, p3 14
The report St Andrews Hostel Katanning: How the system and society failed our children (the Blaxell Inquiry Report) was tabled in Parliament on 19 September 2012
by the Premier of Western Australia. 15
Hon. Peter Blaxell, St Andrews Hostel Katanning: How the system and society failed our children, Government of Western Australia,
November 2011, p340. 16
Mr
C.J.Barnett, Premier, WA, Legislative Assembly, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), 19 September
2012, pp6137b-6142a. 17
December 2017. 18
The Royal Commission is currently due to release its findings in
The statutory review identified that the term ‘one stop shop’ used by Blaxell may be misleading by creating an impression that the Commissioner would have a role in investigating individual complaints of child abuse, so, to counter this, the review identified the term ‘child abuse complaints support’ function as appropriate to describe the role
contemplated by Blaxell. 19
for the reference. 20
This is a significant report by the Commissioner. See note below
Reports to these organisations are only included in the data if they are also referred to the responsible department. Jenni Perkins, A/ Commissioner for Children and Young People WA, The State of Western Australia’s Children and Young People - Edition Two, Perth,
Western Australia, July 2014, p141. 21
ibid.
Section 3 Commissioner for Children and Young People Act
22
2006 (WA). 23
2006 (WA). 24
Section 4 Commissioner for Children and Young People Act
Summarised from section 19 Commissioner for Children and
Young People Act 2006 (WA). 25
Section 20(1)(a)(b)
Commissioner for Children and Young People Act 2006 (WA).
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