Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I will just indicate briefly that I cannot support these amendments. I can understand the constructive intent, I think—to borrow from Senator Evans’s contribution—behind the Australian Greens amendments, but I believe that there ought to be the highest possible standards applied when it comes to checking the background of people who are trusted to work with our children. I think the amendments would go against the grain of what this legislation is intending to achieve.

Whilst the amendments seek to moderate the legislation in terms of various privacy concerns, I am concerned that there may be circumstances where the intent of the legislation and its effectiveness could, in some circumstances, be compromised by these amendments. I know that is not the intent of Senator Ludlam in relation to this, but I think the litmus test for me is: as a parent, wouldn’t you want to know if someone previously convicted of an illegal activity, even if the conviction were spent, quashed or pardoned, were working closely with your child?

I think it is important that we keep what the government has proposed intact. If there are problems in what is being proposed, if unfair circumstances arise, I am sure that that is something that can be the subject of review by the appropriate Senate standing committee. But I think it is important to err on the side of caution and leave the bill in its current form because I think that is the best way forward in terms of having a regime in place that enhances the protection of children.