ACT Minister for Children and Young People Joy Burch has welcomed the Federal Government’s release today of the proposed draft National Standards for Out-of-Home-Care, which the ACT has endorsed.
Ms Burch said the territory’s current standards and legislative provisions put the ACT in good stead to implement the draft National Standards, as it already met several of the 14 standards proposed in the draft report.
“The ACT has been working towards improved out comes for children proposed in the draft standards,” Ms Burch said.
“For example, the new Children and Young People Act ensures the best interests of children are paramount and we are working with carers to improve outcomes in the sector. The recently launched Charter of Rights for Children and Young People also demonstrates our commitment to the wellbeing of children in care.”
Ms Burch said the draft Standards have overarching principles and these include the best interests of children, the opportunity for children in out of home care to be heard, that carers are stakeholders and partners in the system and that outcomes for children are measured, monitored and reported.
“The ACT is well placed having many of these principles in legislation, policy and practice. Ongoing improvements are also being made to the way this information is measured and reported.
“Just last month I launched the ACT Children’s Plan 2010-14, which reinforced the ACT Government’s commitment to listening to children in all aspects of our decision-making.”
In the 2010-11 ACT Budget the ACT Government invested an additional $5.65 million over four years in the out-of-home care sector, to ensure that the ACT through its community partners continues to deliver a high level of services and support to our community’s most vulnerable children.
The draft Consultation Paper is available on the Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services website for information and comment to inform the ACT Government of further improvements to the Draft national Standards.
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