The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: I rise to speak to the Children and Young People (Safety and Support) Bill. This is a bill that the government has brought to this place today after the required five-year post-commencement review of the current act. The current act was somewhat controversial and indeed was the subject of a select committee itself.

I have to reflect on some parts of the minister's contribution with regard to the potted history of that particular bill, which of course came largely from a royal commission, and largely with that focus on the terrible death of Chloe Valentine. The original attempts of that bill also had some quite concerning elements that were picked up in a select committee process.

In this week where we have had the inaugural Voice to Parliament of the First Nations people, I will remind members of the council who were here and those who are new that at that time the then Minister Rau bill contained a provision where Aboriginal children could choose to deidentify as Aboriginal to somehow reduce the numbers of Aboriginal children in state care in this state. That was a horrific provision in the original version of that bill that was only picked up through the diligence of this council and a select committee process.

I will start by saying that yet again here we are reviewing a brand new act that was required to have a review process five years in, which was a massive overhaul of our previous child protection system, that clearly has current problems with its workings that do need to be reasonably urgently overhauled. To quote the minister—probably quoting the minister—'It is very important that today we do not let form override substance.

With that in mind, I note that, contingent on the Children and Young People (Safety and Support) Bill being read a second time, I shall move:

1. That the bill be referred to a select committee of the Legislative Council for inquiry and report.

2. That this council permits the select committee to authorise the disclosure or publication, as it sees fit, of any evidence or documents presented to the committee prior to such evidence being presented to the council.

I do so because this bill before us is not fit to be debated today. It has taken a long time to get this bill to this place. It was a much-needed review. It was a mandated review that the parliament asked for at the time of the passage of that initial establishing legislation that this council has had to push the government on to actually comply with that requirement, and we get here today and it is still half-baked. The bill still has, I believe, many unintended consequences that might be well meaning, but again it is important that we do not let form override substance.

I note—and the Hon. Laura Henderson has made this contribution already—that I am sure that members of this particular place who hold this portfolio or are on the crossbench and therefore hold most of the portfolios, have received an extraordinary amount of correspondence. I also do acknowledge that, yes, there has been a very long process to get to this place that the government has undertaken themselves. In the words of the second reading explanation, nearly 1,000 people engaged in the review of the current act—1,000 people—in public forums, across metropolitan and regional locations, online surveys, written submissions and targeted discussions.

To me, 1,000 people participating in a review process does not indicate that all is fine with this bill and with this act as it currently stands. We know that there are problems with the current working of the child protection system, and we also know that many of the problems can be drawn back to that legislation. Indeed, potentially that legislation that trod a new path has set up new legal precedents and has created a system that we are currently finding, I think, somewhat unworkable and, certainly in many cases, unpalatable and that is not necessarily supporting children and young people, carers, families or the people of South Australia.

I am certainly interested to know that that extraordinary amount of feedback that the government took on has not seen a lack of feedback come to us today, as crossbenchers or members of the opposition, asking us for more changes to the piece of legislation that we see before us. I am not naive enough to believe that the opposition, the Greens, SA-Best, One Nation and the Independent the Hon. Frank Pangallo will all have the same view on every single clause and how it needs to be amended, but what I do know is that we do not have enough information and enough transparency and that the process has not actually been done to the point where we are ready to debate this today.

However, I also note that there is some urgency to reform and so I note that, with that contingent notice of motion that I have now moved, it would be my intention that the select committee report back by 4 February 2025. That is the very next non-optional sitting day of this parliament, which in itself is actually quite a fast process for a parliament. Indeed, I do not think we would be getting through this bill today in its entirety anyway.

So in terms of actually whether or not it impedes the progress of the bill, I think the select committee will come back with recommendations and the resources of the parliament to ensure proper consultation, a thorough investigation clause by clause that is much needed, to ensure a proper informed debate, not a debate where form overrides substance, which is, unfortunately, what I think we would get today should we try to proceed through this.

I also reflect on what is an unprecedented piece of correspondence that certainly I think members of the Legislative Council, if not all members of parliament, have received this week. That has been sent to us from South Australia's Guardian for Children and Young People, the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People and the Commissioner for Children and Young People.

They are the three commissioners in this sphere, those who I think would be at the top of the tree to be consulted with, all of whom have written to the Legislative Council with regard to the Children and Young People (Safety and Support) Bill asking that, while they are not wholly unsupportive of this bill and they can see good changes and a vision and a desire for children and young people to grow up safe and supported with their families connected to community and culture, the Legislative Council must urgently set up a parliamentary select committee. To quote the three commissioners, Helen Connolly, Shona Reid and April Lawrie, this is:

…because the intent and scaffolding for reform is evident—but the Bill is simply not ready, and further consultation is required.

It is as simple as that. The three commissioners, the three people you would think would have been most at the government's door providing their feedback, say this bill is not ready.

I note the words of the Commissioner for Children and Young People on 6 November in correspondence to me, noting that she had provided in September of this year feedback on the draft bill that would strengthen the child's voice as well as provide help for children and families earlier to stem the unprecedented number of children entering into the system since the introduction of the 2017 act. She goes on to say in that piece of correspondence that these were largely ignored. That is highly concerning that the Commissioner for Children and Young People's feedback to this review process was largely ignored.

However, she is not alone in that. I note that the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People has provided not just feedback on this particular review process but an entire report called Holding on to Our Future. That is still awaiting government response and the recommendations of that report have not been incorporated into this bill.

It is an extraordinary set of circumstances that the government would ignore the voice of the Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People in this debate. It is a quite thorough and, I believe, very useful report with recommendations that have been provided not just for government but for this parliament that should have informed the debate on this bill today. It was simply ignored, yet it is the week of the inaugural First Nations Voice to State Parliament, where in fact in his contribution Mr Leeroy Bilney noted that the Voice wished to have more of an input into this very bill. A select committee will give that First Nations Voice the opportunity for that input not just to government but indeed to the parliament through this council.

I could go on. I note that the South Australian Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation Network has also written to all members of the Legislative Council raising their concerns with the consultation, raising their issues with the processes, and indeed noting that they repeatedly requested access to the draft bill to assess how their member input was incorporated and found that a frustrating process that was not treated respectfully. That is signed off by the acting Chief Executive Officer of SAACON, Mr Darren Harris.

They are not alone. Connecting Foster and Kinship Carers South Australia urged—and I was happy to support that—the review process to have brought a bill to this place much earlier than has happened and I know they will welcome a debate that is not dragged out but that is indeed fully supported by an appropriate parliamentary review process, another layer of transparency that hopefully will see a bill come back in February with amendments that improve it.

I thank the work of those such as The Carer Project, the Reily Foundation and so many stakeholders that many people of this place know that will be not just undertaking their ongoing work
in supporting the young people and children of this state or strengthening families or supporting that important child protection work but indeed given that opportunity over the next few months to have their voices heard in this debate in a proper and considered manner, not in a way where form overrides substance and we see the government literally have to suspend standing orders, try to rush through a bill without even doing a second reading speech in this place, and bring us a bill today, the last proper sitting day of parliament, that is half-baked and where form has overridden substance.