Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Since this House last sat, the government released its response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Can the Prime Minister please update the House on the implementation of the important recommendations of the royal commission which will help address the wrongs suffered by the survivors of child sexual abuse and help keep children safe in the future?

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Commonwealth has accepted all of the recommendations that relate to it from the royal commission. The tragic events of recent times in the Northern Territory, and particularly the assault on the young girl at Tennant Creek, are heartbreaking. The protection of children is our most sacred duty. I will ask the Minister for Social Services to go into more detail about precise measures that we're undertaking in the Barclay area, but I want to say that we recognise, as the Chief Minister, Michael Gunner, has said to me, that we're dealing with very dysfunctional families facing enormous challenges of substance abuse. The Chief Minister recognises—as indeed the acting Chief Minister acknowledged quite explicitly—that the Territory government has failed these children. There is a need, as he's acknowledged, to have more senior child protection officers working in the community, who have greater confidence, to intervene earlier. Also, it is vitally important to ensure that people with cultural authority—and particularly speaking about Indigenous communities—are engaged so that the child protection agencies are working with the Aboriginal communities and people with cultural authority to ensure that support is provided both from government and from the community when families are failing their children. I will ask the minister to add to some of the more specific measures that we're adopting.

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Minister for Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the Prime Minister has said, there are specific recommendations which we are working on with the Northern Territory government, the most important of which is a joint review of children and families funding and services. We are establishing a tripartite commission. That commission will meet in the coming weeks. We are finalising the terms of reference of that tripartite commission with the Northern Territory government. Obviously, we are trying to expedite those terms of reference as quickly as we possibly can. I use this opportunity to say to the Northern Territory government that we look forward to the first meeting of that tripartite committee in the coming weeks, so that we can get on with implementing all of the important recommendations that were made by the royal commission.