Rachel Stephen-Smith MLA, ACT Minister for Families and Community Services, will introduce the Children and Young People Amendment Bill 2023 into the ACT Legislative Assembly today.

“Modernising the Children and Young People Act 2008 is a priority reform under Next Steps for Our Kids 2022-2030, the ACT strategy for strengthening families and keeping children and young people safe,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.

“The introduction of this Bill is another step towards a modern, accessible Act.

“The Bill underpins the Government’s systemic reform of the child protection system and the closer engagement between the statutory system and broader child and family support service system.

“Our child protection workers play a vital role in supporting children and young people who are at risk of harm, but engagement with the statutory system should be a last resort for vulnerable children, young people, and families.

“Through the Next Steps strategy, we are changing the way our services work and rewriting the legislation with a focus on providing earlier support for families.

“Critically, we are working to address the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in our child protection system, guided by the Our Booris, Our Way review and its Implementation Oversight Committee.”

Subject to passage and commencement, the Bill will enable the ACT’s child protection system to provide better and earlier support to families at risk, Ms Stephen-Smith said.

It will also fully embed the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle into legislation, implementing a key recommendation of the Our Booris, Our Way review.

A further tranche of legislative reform in early 2024 will consolidate this set of amendments into a new Act, delivering the Government’s commitment in full.

For more on child and youth protection, visit: https://www.communityservices.act.gov.au/children-and-families/child-and-youth-protection