Motion - Elected Members - Working with Vulnerable People Card

Tuesday 21 March 2023

Elected Members - Working with Vulnerable People Card

[12.47 p.m.]

Ms ARMITAGE (Launceston) - This motion is a simple one.  Mr President, I move -

That the Government gives strong consideration to make it compulsory that all elected members of state and local government obtain and keep a current Working with Vulnerable People card.

On many occasions, elected members of both state government and local councils find themselves in situations where people around them have the appropriate registration to work with vulnerable people, but the councillors or the members of parliament do not.  Therefore, the question arises, why are they not also required to be properly registered?

The answer in my mind is simple.  Members of state and local government should have a Working with Vulnerable People registration.  Elected members of both these tiers of government regularly attend numerous functions including: concerts; sports days; sports nights; end-of-year assemblies; awards days/nights; and meetings on all manner of things.

To me, this is to avoid people slipping through the cracks.  People can be vulnerable for a whole range of reasons - for example, children, aged care homes, disability, hospital patients and the like.  There is currently an imbalance and this is an extra layer of protection and an extra check and balance for those we represent.

Whilst immersing themselves in their community, members of parliament and council regularly come into contact with children and vulnerable people.  They are often called upon to help these people.  Presently, unless they come under the categories where Working with Vulnerable People registration is required, there is no need for these elected members of state or local government to have a Working with Vulnerable People card.

I can provide a whistlestop history of Tasmania's progression to appropriate legislation to support and protect vulnerable people in our state.

In January 2005, the then Commissioner for Children in Tasmania, David Fanning, released a consultation paper entitled Screening of Individuals who Work with Children in Tasmania.  This screening process included all people who work with children in a volunteer or paid capacity, in both the private and public sector.

Fast forward to 2010, and the then Minister for Human Services, Lin Thorp, released a discussion paper entitled, A Working with Children and Other Vulnerable People Checking System for Tasmania.  The foreword to the document states, and I quote:

The Tasmanian Government is committed to the support and protection of vulnerable people in Tasmania.  As part of this commitment, the Tasmanian Government will establish a centralised background checking and risk assessment system for people working with vulnerable people to reduce the risk of sexual, physical, emotional or financial harm or neglect.

At the time of this discussion paper, it was estimated that up to 10 per cent of the adult Tasmanian population would be subject to background checking and there would be a rejection rate of around 0.2 per cent.

The basic premise of background checking then and now is that the past behaviour of an individual provides an indication of the possible future behaviour of that individual.  Examples of patterns of abuse or inappropriate behaviour can sometimes be evident in the information available for assessment, such as an individual's criminal history or employment history.  The Registration to Work with Vulnerable People Act obtained royal assent on 13 December and, a month later, the 2013 Tasmania's Registration to Work with Vulnerable People scheme started.

Section 2A sets out the object of the act and it notes:

         The object of this Act is to protect vulnerable persons from the risk of harm by  -

(a)          preventing certain people from engaging in regulated activities; and

(b)          requiring persons engaged in regulated activities to be registered; and

(c)          requiring risk assessments to be undertaken -

(i)            in relation to persons wishing to be registered to engage in regulated activities; and

(ii)         in certain circumstances in relation to persons who are registered to engage in regulated activities.

Section 5 sets out the definition of engage in a regulated activity and gives examples of some types of capacity in which a person can engage in an activity, and I wonder whether that would include a councillor or member of parliament carrying out some of their community work.  I will not continue to trawl through the 61 sections of the act, as it is readily accessible to us all, but I have mentioned it to give some indication of its history and its purpose.

Every community has its vulnerable population, and it is the responsibility of the people, the community and the government to ensure that these people are not harmed sexually, physically, emotionally, or otherwise manipulated, coerced, or bullied out of their rights.  I am certain we in this Chamber all believe that, and I am confident that the Government will give my motion strong consideration.

We are asking numerous other members of the population to obtain a Working with Vulnerable People registration to work or volunteer in their chosen field.  Why should we not, as councillors or members of parliament, also be required to be registered accordingly, especially considering the work we do with numerous organisations, clubs, schools, sporting associations, and other organisations, many of which require their workforce to obtain registration to work with vulnerable people.  It is a simple motion to what I believe has a simple answer.  If it is good enough for our volunteers, then it should be good enough for our elected officials.