At its meeting on Thursday, 16 May 2019, the Assembly passed the following resolution:

"That this Assembly:

(1) notes that:

(a) the 2004 Vardon report raised concerns from community members that the ACT's care and protection system lacked 'effective external scrutiny' to remedy 'unlawful or incorrect administrative actions or decisions', and also mentioned the need for 'transparency and accountability in decision making';

(b) the 2016 Glanfield inquiry recommended, as one of four key outcomes, the 'improved quality of, and transparency in ... decision making and practices' in the ACT's care and protection system;

(c) in its 2016 Response to Family Violence, the ACT Government stated that:
(i) 'increased transparency and the building of trust is particularly necessary in child protection cases' ;
(ii) the Territory's care and protection system 'must adopt a culture of transparency'; and
(iii) 'the ACT Government accepts that proper accountability enhances community confidence in public administration, especially in complex areas such as statutory child protection services' ; and

(d) the ACT Government recently released a discussion paper on options for the review of child protection decisions in the ACT for public consultation;

(2) also notes that:

(a) a 2018 Court of Appeal decision, reported in The Canberra Times on 17 February 2019, set aside previous Children's Court and Supreme Court decisions in relation to the children's need for care and protection; and

(b) a number of prominent Canberrans, including legal practitioners, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community leaders, and a former ACT Chief Minister, have publicly called for an inquiry into this matter;

(3) refers the following matters to the Standing Committee on Health, Ageing and Community Services:

(a) analysis of the case referred to in (2)(a) to identify potential systemic issues that may need to be addressed, and report to the Assembly no later than March 2020; and

(b) inquiry into the ability to share information in the care and protection system in accordance with the Children and Young People Act 2008, with a view to providing the maximum transparency and accountability so as to maintain community confidence in the ACT's care and protection system, and report to the Assembly on a date to be determined by the Committee, but no later than July 2020; and

(4) requests the Committee to observe the following in relation to the inquiries established at (3):

(a) that the Committee take evidence and hold documents in ways that will not allow for individual people to be identified without their express consent; and

(b) to the extent that people providing or hearing evidence related to the inquiries are traumatised, that appropriate supports are referred or provided."

View committee hearings transcripts

Go to current public hearings schedule

Public hearings:

28 January 2020

29 January 2020

4  February 2020

5  February 2020

25 February 2020

Media release - Report on inquiry into information sharing in the ACT Care and Protection System (30 July 2020)