CIVIL LIABILITY LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE ACTIONS) BILL 2017

Committee

Resumed from 27 March. The Deputy Chair of Committees (Hon Robin Chapple) in the chair; Hon Sue Ellery (Leader of the House) in charge of the bill.

Clause 6: Act amended —

Progress was reported after the clause had been partly considered.

[Speeches and comments from various members]

Hon ALISON XAMON: I rise to make some comments on the amendment on the amendment. I first thank the government for being prepared to put a review clause into this legislation. That is a very important and good addition. I have been thinking about the merits of a three-year or five-year review. I can see merit on both sides. However, I want to put on the record some of my concerns. I can see the merit of a three-year review, because early in the operation of legislation, issues may arise that we want to have addressed sooner rather than later. I note the important matter that was spotted by Hon Nick Goiran and subsequently included. That goes to the fact that sometimes we do know the full implications of a piece of legislation and how it will unfold. On the other hand, I can see merit in a five-year review, because there may be unforeseen complexities as a result of appeal decisions. Appeal decisions may take several years to come to the fore, and it is often only at that time that people become aware of problems that have emerged in the operation of legislation. I can see an argument for both three and five years. With three years, we would be able to pick up immediate obvious problems that were just unforeseen, and with five years, we would pick up the more complex matters that would come out at a later date.

The minister has said during the debate in committee, and I was also advised during the briefings that I received on this legislation, that the Attorney General will be keeping a very close eye on the implementation of this legislation and not just after three years. I understand that it is intended to be an ongoing process to see how it is rolled out to ensure that we do not have unforeseen consequences. Before making a decision on either of the amendments, I suppose I am asking for a little more detail on how those informal review processes will be undertaken. If there is an obvious problem that needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency along the lines of the concerns that have been raised by Hon Nick Goiran, I want some sort of indication of how swiftly the government intends to address those sorts of issues. I agree that if we were to wait for five years, we would effectively be talking about holding over justice for people who are waiting to finally get justice.

[Speeches and comments from various members]

Amendment, as amended, put and passed.

Clause, as amended, put and passed.

Bill again reported, with an amendment.

Report

By leave, reports of the committee adopted.

As to Third Reading — Standing Orders Suspension — Motion

On motion without notice by Hon Sue Ellery (Leader of the House), resolved with an absolute majority —

That so much of standing orders be suspended so as to enable the bill to be read a third time forthwith.

Third Reading

Bill read a third time, on motion by Hon Sue Ellery (Leader of the House), and returned to the Assembly with amendments.

(Full debate at http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Hansard/hansard.nsf/0/b5d89c4d5fd9bff248...$FILE/C40%20S1%2020180329%20p1435b-1448a.pdf)

Portfolio Category: 
Parliamentary Type: