Terms of Reference
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On 4 March 2003
the Senate referred the following inquiry to the Senate Community Affairs
References Committee.
On 1 December 2004 the Senate agreed to the Committee's
recommendation that the reference, not disposed of at the end of the 40th
Parliament, be re-adopted with a reporting date of 17 March 2005.
1. That the following matters be referred to the Community Affairs
References Committee for inquiry and report by 3 December 2003:
(a) in
relation to any government or non-government institutions, and fostering
practices, established or licensed under relevant legislation to provide care and/or
education for children:
(i) whether any unsafe, improper or unlawful care or treatment of
children occurred in these institutions or places,
(ii) whether any serious breach of any relevant statutory obligation
occurred at any time when children were in care or under protection, and
(iii) an estimate of the scale of any unsafe, improper or unlawful
care or treatment of children in such institutions or places;
(b) the
extent and impact of the long-term social and economic consequences of child
abuse and neglect on individuals, families and Australian society as a whole,
and the adequacy of existing remedies and support mechanisms;
(c) the
nature and cause of major changes to professional practices employed in the
administration and delivery of care compared with past practice;
(d) whether
there is a need for a formal acknowledgement by Australian governments of the
human anguish arising from any abuse and neglect suffered by children while in
care;
(e) in
cases where unsafe, improper or unlawful care or treatment of children has
occurred, what measures of reparation are required;
(f) whether
statutory or administrative limitations or barriers adversely affect those who
wish to pursue claims against perpetrators of abuse previously involved in the
care of children; and
(g) the
need for public, social and legal policy to be reviewed to ensure an effective
and responsive framework to deal with child abuse matters in relation to:
(i) any systemic factors contributing to the occurrences of abuse
and/or neglect,
(ii) any failure to detect or prevent these occurrences in
government and non-government institutions and fostering practices, and
(iii) any necessary changes required in current policies, practices
and reporting mechanisms.
2. In undertaking this reference, the committee is to direct its
inquiries primarily to those affected children who were not covered by the 2001
report Lost Innocents: Righting the
Record, inquiring into child migrants, and the 1997 report, Bringing them Home, inquiring into Aboriginal
children.
3. In undertaking this reference, the committee is not to
consider particular cases under the current adjudication of a court, tribunal
or administrative body.
4. In undertaking this reference, the committee is to make
witnesses and those who provide submissions aware of the scope of the inquiry,
namely:
(a) explain the respective responsibilities of
the Commonwealth and the states and territories in relation to child protection
matters; and
(b) explain the scope of the committees
powers to make recommendations binding upon other jurisdictions in relation to
the matters contained in these terms of reference.
In
accordance with the terms of reference, the Committee emphasises that during
its examination of the subject of children in institutional care, the Committee
cannot deliberate on cases of particular individuals that are under
consideration by courts, tribunals or other bodies which may grant some remedy
to those individuals.
The
Committee will hear the details of individual cases, but will only use these in
its deliberations to build a picture of the problems of institutional life and
to assist in the identification of remedies to deal with these problems. The
Committee will not recommend remedies for any particular person. This is
because the federal Parliament has only limited power to deal with child
protection, which is primarily the responsibility of State parliaments.
The
committee may make recommendations suggesting remedies for the general problems
that it identifies, however it cannot force the Commonwealth or State
parliaments to adopt those remedies nor make recommendations that are binding
on other jurisdictions.
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For further information, contact:
Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia