John Watson (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Standing Committee on Regulations and Ordinances, I give notice that, eight sitting days after today, I shall move:

That the Investigation Principles 2007, made under subsection 96-1(1) of the Aged Care Act 1997, be disallowed. [F2007L01117]

I seek leave to incorporate in Hansard a short summary of the matters raised by the committee.

Leave granted.

The document read as follows—

Investigation Principles 2007

These Principles specify the process that the Secretary to the Department of Health and Ageing must undertake in investigating complaints or information regarding the responsibilities of a residential or community aged care provider.

Subsection 16A.5(3) of these Principles states that an informant may ask the Secretary to the Department of Health and Ageing to keep confidential the identity of the informant, the identity of a person included in the information supplied to the Secretary, or any other details included in the information. Section 16A.9 requires the Secretary to comply with any request for confidentiality except where the Secretary considers that certain criteria are present. The section does not indicate whether the informant is to be notified that the request for confidentiality will not be complied with.

Senator Bob Brown to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)   notes that:

(i)   Australia is experiencing a period of record economic growth, and

(ii)   the 2007-08 Federal Budget provided tax cuts to those earning more than $75 000, at a cost of $3.5 billion per year; and

(b)   calls on the Government to invest approximately $3 billion per year to lift the aged pension by $60 per fortnight.

Senator Stott Despoja to move on the next day of sitting:

That the Senate—

(a)   notes that:

(i)   the week beginning 19 August is Hearing Awareness Week 2007,

(ii)   currently one in six Australians are deaf or hearing impaired, and

(iii)   this is projected to increase to one in four Australians by 2050;

(b)   further notes that:

(i)   since 1 July 2007, the Film Finance Corporation (FFC) requires captioning on all FFC financed films,

(ii)   it is 4 years since the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and the Australian free-to-air television industry agreed to increase captioning to 52 per cent of total programming by 31 December 2007,

(iii)   only 10 cinemas in Australia screen captioned movies,

(iv)   promotional material, community service announcements, repeats and daytime sporting events are usually not captioned, and

(v)   digital multi-channels do not provide captioning; and

(c)   calls on the Government to:

(i)   implement annual targets for the free-to-air channels over the next 3 years to achieve 100 per cent captioning by 31 December 2010,

(ii)   remove the exemption from captioning requirements from digital multi-channels, and

(iii)   explain what it is doing to ensure that nearly four million deaf and hearing-impaired Australians will be able to access cinemas to see the movies the FFC is ensuring are captioned.

Senator Abetz to move on the next day of sitting:

That, if the Senate is sitting at midnight on Thursday, 16 August 2007, the sitting of the Senate shall be suspended till 9.30 am on Friday, 17 August 2007.

Senator Abetz to move on the next day of sitting:

That, on Tuesday, 11 September 2007:

(a)   the hours of meeting shall be 2.30 pm to adjournment; and

(b)   the routine of business shall be:

(i)   questions without notice, and

(ii)   the items specified in standing order 57(1)(b)(iii) to (xii).