Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the government’s response to the President’s report of 25 June 2009 on government responses outstanding to parliamentary committee reports and the government’s response to the report of the Community Affairs References Committee on its inquiry on the progress of the implementation of the recommendations of the Lost innocents and Forgotten Australians reports and seek leave to have the documents incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The documents read as follows—

GOVERNMENT RESPONSES TO PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE REPORTS

RESPONSE TO THE SCHEDULE TABLED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE ON 25 JUNE 2009

Circulated by the Leader of the Government in the Senate

Senator the Hon Chris Evans

25 November 2009

A Certain Maritime Incident (Senate Select)

Report on a Certain Maritime Incident

The government response is being considered.

Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (Joint Statutory)

Inquiry into law enforcement integrity models

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Examination for the annual report of the Integrity Commissioner 2007-08

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Australian Crime Commission (Joint Statutory)

Review of the Australian Crime Commission Act 2002

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Examination of the annual report for 2004-05 of the Australian Crime Commission

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Inquiry into the manufacture, importation and use of amphetamines and other synthetic drugs (AOSD) in Australia

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Inquiry into the future impact of serious and organised crime on Australian society

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Examination of the Australian Crime Commission annual report 2006-07

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Inquiry into the Australian Crime Commission Amendment Act 2007

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Examination of the Australian Crime Commission annual report 2007-08

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Climate Policy (Senate Select)

Report

The government response is being considered.

Community Affairs Legislation

Compliance audits on Medicare benefits

The government response was tabled in the Senate on 29 October 2009.

Community Affairs References

Lost Innocents and Forgotten Australians revisited – Report on the progress with the implementation of the recommendations of the Lost Innocents and Forgotten Australians reports

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Community Affairs Standing

Funding and operation of the Commonwealth State/Territory Disability Agreement

The response is being considered following development and commencement of the new National Disability Agreement on 1 January 2009.

Highway to health: better access for rural, regional and remote patients

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

National Health Amendment (Pharmaceutical and Other Benefits – Cost Recovery) Bill 2008

The Bill was reintroduced into the Parliament on 12 May 2009 and was passed with amendments on 16 June 2009.

Towards recovery: Mental health services in Australia

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Excise Tariff Amendment (2009 Measures No. 1) Bill 2009 [Provisions], Customs Tariff Amendment (2009 Measures No.1) Bill 2009 [Provisions] and the impact of the tax on ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages

As the Bill has passed the Parliament there will be no further response.

Grasping the opportunity of Opal: Assessing the impact of the petrol sniffing strategy

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Corporations and Financial Services (Joint Statutory)

Report on the regulations and ASIC policy statements made under the Financial Services Reform Act 2001

A number of recommendations outlined in the report have been addressed, while others overlap with reviews/reports currently in progress.  The government will take appropriate action once these reviews are completed.

Review of the Managed Investments Act 1998

Some issues raised overlap with other reviews/reports in progress and could be considered in those contexts.  The government will take appropriate action once these reviews are completed.

Inquiry into Regulation 7.1.29 in Corporations Amendment Regulations 2003 (No. 3), Statutory Rules 2003 No. 85

The key issues in the report overlap with reviews/reports currently in progress.  The government will take appropriate action once these reviews are completed.

Money matters in the bush: Inquiry into the level of banking and financial services in rural, regional and remote areas of Australia

The government does not intend to respond to this report.  There have been significant changes to banking and financial services regulation since the inquiry.

Report on the ATM fee structure

This report is a subsidiary report to Money Matters in the Bush. The government does not intend to respond to this report.

Corporations Amendment Regulations 7.1.29A, 7.1.35A and 7.1.40(h)

The key issues in the report overlap with reviews/reports currently in progress.  The government will take appropriate action once these reviews are completed.

Corporate responsibility: Managing risk and creating value

The government is considering the report and will respond in due course.

The structure and operation of the superannuation industry

The government is considering the report and is preparing a response for tabling in due course.  The government announced the details of a review into the governance, efficiency, structure and operation of Australia’s superannuation system on 29 May 2009.

Better shareholders – better company – Shareholder engagement and participation in Australia

The government is continuing to consider the recommendations in this report. 

Opportunity not opportunism: improving conduct in Australian franchising

The government response was presented out of sitting in the Senate on 5 November 2009. Tabled in the Senate on 16 November 2009.

Corporations and Securities (Joint Statutory)

Report on aspects of the regulation of proprietary companies

The government response was presented out of sitting in the Senate on 16 July 2009. Tabled in the Senate on 11 August 2009.

Economics Legislation

Tax Laws Amendment (2009 Budget Measures No. 1) Bill 2009 [Provisions]

The Bill received Royal Assent on 29 June 2009.  Therefore no further action is required.

Economics References

Consenting adults deficits and household debt – links between Australia’s current account deficit, the demand for imported goods and household debt

The government is considering the report and will table a response in due course.

Economics Standing

Reserve Bank Amendment (Enhanced Independence) Bill 2008 [Provisions]

The government response is being considered.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Fair Bank and Credit Card Fees) Amendment Bill 2008

The government response is being considered.

Lost in Space? Setting a new direction for Australia’s space science and industry sector

The government response was tabled in the Senate on 19 November 2009.

The need, scope and content of a definition of unconscionable conduct for the purposes of Part IVA of the Trade Practices Act 1974

The government response was presented out of sitting in the Senate on 5 November 2009 and tabled in the Senate on 16 November 2009.

Matters relating to the gas explosion at Varanus Island, Western Australia

The government response was tabled in the Senate on 19 November 2009.

Trade Practices Amendment (Cartel Conduct and Other Measures) Bill 2008 [Provisions]

The Bill received Royal Assent on 26 June 2009.  Therefore no further action is required.

Exposure draft of the legislation to implement the Carbon Pollution Scheme

The government response is being considered.

Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References

DEEWR tender process to award employment services contracts

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Standing

Building and Construction Industry (Restoring Workplace Rights) Bill 2008

Response is not proposed as the government currently has an Amendment Bill before the Senate.

Fair Work Bill 2008 [Provisions}

A response was provided on 13 March 2009 however the Committee advised that no government response was required

Higher Education Legislation Amendment (Student Services and Amenities, and Other Measures) Bill 2009 [Provisions]

No government response is required as the government is no longer pursuing the Higher Education Legislation Amendment (Student Services and Amenities, and Other Measures) Bill 2009.

Fair Work (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Bill 2009 [Provisions]

A response was provided on 25 May 2009 however the Committee advised that no government response was required.

Electoral Matters (Joint Standing)

Civics and electoral education

Interim response was tabled on 30 October 2008.  Final government response is being prepared and will be provided in due course.

Report on the 2007 federal election electronic voting trails – Interim report of the inquiry into the conduct of the 2007 election and matters related thereto

The government response was tabled on 17 September 2009.

Report on the conduct of the 2007 federal election and matters related thereto

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Advisory report on the Commonwealth Electoral (Above-the-Line Voting) Amendment Bill 2008

The committee made no recommendations.  No response required.

Employment, Workplace Relations and Education Standing

Workforce challenges in the transport industry

The government response was tabled in the Senate on 19 November 2009.

Environment, Communications and the Arts Standing

The effectiveness of the broadcasting codes of practice

The government response was tabled in the Senate on 20 August 2009.

Sexualisation of children in the contemporary media

The government response was tabled in the Senate on 20 August 2009.

Management of Australia’s waste streams (including consideration of the Drink Containers Recycling Bill 2008)

The government response is being considered.

Renewable Energy (Electricity) Amendment (Feed-in-Tariff) Bill 2008

The government response is being considered.

Commonwealth Radioactive Waste Management (Repeal and Consequential Amendment) Bill 2008

The government response is being considered.

The operation of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 – First report

The government response is being considered in the context of the Independent Review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

The operation of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 – Second and final report

The government response is being considered in the context of the Independent Review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

The reporting of sports news and the emergence of digital media

The government awaits input from an industry roundtable (which was held on 13 November 2009) before a response is tabled.

Environment, Communications and the Arts References

Living with a salinity – a report on progress: the extent and economic impact of salinity in Australia

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

About time! Women in sport and recreation in Australia

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Standing

Conserving Australia–Australia’s national parks, conservation reserves and marine protected areas

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Finance and Public Administration Legislation

Plebiscite for an Australian Republic Bill 2008

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Finance and Public Administration References

Staff employed under Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Matters relating to the Gallipoli Peninsula

The government response was tabled in the Senate on 19 November 2009.

Government advertising and accountability

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Finance and Public Administration Standing

Transparency and accountability of Commonwealth public funding and expenditure

The government response was presented out of sitting to the Senate on 10 August 2009, and tabled in the Senate on 11 August 2009.

Annual reports (No. 2 of 2007)

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Annual reports (No. 1 of 2008)

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Annual reports (No. 2 of 2008)

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Item 16525 in Part 3 of Schedule 1 to the health Insurance (General Medical Services Table) Regulation 2007

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Additional estimates 2008-09

The government response was tabled in the Senate on 20 August 2009.

Annual report (No. 1 of 2009)

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Residential and community aged care in Australia

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (Joint Standing)

Review of the Defence annual report 2006-2007

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Inquiry into Australia’s relationship with ASEAN

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Sealing a just outcome – Report from the inquiry into RAAF F-111 deseal/reseal workers and their families

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Standing

Australia’s involvement in peacekeeping operations

The government is finalising its response.

Reforms to Australia’s military justice system: Fourth progress report

The government response was tabled in the Senate on 20 August 2009.

Fuel and Energy (Senate Select)

The CPRS: Economic cost without environmental benefit –

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Housing affordability in Australia (Senate Select)

A good house is hard to find: Housing affordability in Australia

The government response was presented out of sitting to the Senate on 14 October 2009 and tabled in the Senate on 26 October 2009.

Intelligence and Security (Joint)

Review of the re-listing of Ansar al-Islam, AAA,IAA,IMU, JeM and LeJ as terrorist organisations

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Review of the re-listing of Hizballah’s External Security Organisation as a terrorist organisation

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Legal and Constitutional Affairs Standing

Unfinished business: Indigenous stolen wages

The government is considering its response.

Stolen Generation Compensation Bill 2008

The government response is being considered

Effectiveness of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 in eliminating discrimination and promoting gender equality

The government response being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Disability Discrimination and Other Human Rights Legislation Amendment Bill 2008 [Provisions]

The government response is being considered

Legal and Constitutional Affairs References

Reconciliation: Off track

Minister Macklin wrote to the committee on 17 October 2009 advising no response would be made to the report.

The road to a republic

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Men’s Health (Senate Select)

Report

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Migration (Joint Standing)

Negotiating the maze – Review of arrangements for overseas skills recognition, upgrading and licensing

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Temporary visa...permanent benefits: Ensuring the effectiveness, fairness and integrity of the temporary business visa program

The government response was tabled on 10 September 2009.

Immigration detention in Australia – A new beginning – Criteria for release from detention

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Immigration detention in Australia – Community-based alternatives to detention

The government response to these recommendations is still being considered.

Ministerial Discretion in Migration Matters (Senate Select)

Report

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

National Broadband Network (Senate Select)

Another fork in the road to national broadband – Second interim report

Two interim reports have been tabled, and a final report is expected to be tabled in the Senate on 23 November 2009.  The government response will take into account the findings of the final report.

National Capital and External Territories (Joint Standing)

Inquiry into the Immigration Bridge proposal

The government response being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Public Accounts and Audit (Joint Statutory)

Report 413 – The efficiency dividend and small agencies: Size does matter

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Report 414 – Review of the Auditor-General’s reports tabled between August 2007 and August 2008

The government response being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Publications (Joint Standing)

Printing standards for documents presented to Parliament

The government response was tabled on 10 September 2009.

Regional and Remote Indigenous Communities (Senate Select)

Second report

The government is considering its response.

Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References

Iraqi wheat debt – repayments for wheat growers

The government response is being considered.

Implications for the long-term sustainable management of the Murray-Darling Basin system

The government response being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Import risk analysis for the importation of Cavendish bananas from the Philippines – Final report

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Meat marketing – Final report

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Standing

Australia’s future oil supply and alternative transport fuels – Final report

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Meat marketing – Interim report

The Primary Industries Ministerial Council has established a working group to examine the interim report’s recommendations. The government response to the interim report will be incorporated with the response to the final report.

Administration of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) and related matters

The government response was tabled in the Senate on 10 September 2009.

Water management in the Coorong and Lower Lakes (including consideration of the Emergency Water (Murray-Darling Basin Rescue) Bill 2008)

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Climate change and the Australian agricultural sector – Final report

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

State Government Financial Management (Senate Select)

Report

The government is considering the report and will table a response in due course.

Treaties (Joint Standing)

Report 91 – Treaty tabled on 12 March 2008

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Report 94 – Treaties tabled on 14 May 2008

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Report 95 – Treaties tabled on 4 June, 17 June, 25 June and 26 August 2008

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Report 99 – Treaties tabled on 3 December 2008 and 3 February 2009

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Report 100 – Treaties tabled on 25 June 2008 (2)

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Report 102 – Treaties tabled on 12 and 16 March 2009

The government response is being considered and will be tabled in due course.

Australian Government Response to The Senate Community Affairs References Committee Report

Lost Innocents & Forgotten Australians Revisited

Report on the progress with the implementation of the recommendations of the Lost Innocents and Forgotten Australians Reports, June 2009

November 2009

INTRODUCTION

The Australian Government welcomes the Senate Community Affairs References Committee’s report on the Lost Innocents and Forgotten Australians Revisited Inquiry and thanks the Committee members for their efforts in bringing to light the tragic accounts of past care practices and community attitudes that led to the systemic neglect and abuse of many former child migrants and Forgotten Australians.

Those Australians who identify as Forgotten Australians are generally now aged from around 40 years of age and older. They are the survivors of the estimated 500,000 children who found themselves in orphanages, Homes or other forms of out-of-home care in the last century.

Former child migrants were unaccompanied children generally under the age of 16 years who were brought to Australia from the United Kingdom and Malta under government approved child migrant schemes during the 20th century. It is estimated around 7,000 child migrants were sent to Australia from the early 1920s to the late 1960s, with more than 3,000 child migrants arriving in the post-war period 1947 to 1967. The children were placed in charitable and religious institutions in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.

The vast evidence submitted to the Committee can leave no doubt that many children in institutional care were treated appallingly. It is also evident that the effects of this treatment, the lack of love, affection and emotional support, the deprivation of food, education and healthcare, have left an indelible mark on them now as adult survivors and on their families, with some struggling to lead happy and productive lives.

The compelling testimonies to the Committee from Forgotten Australians and former child migrants tell a moving story of the pain and suffering they experienced and how the effects of childhood abuse and neglect have had life long impacts on them and on their families.

There is evidence that the effects on some adult survivors include life long risk and incidence of mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, dissociation and personality disorders, being at higher risk of suicide, self harm and substance abuse and other dangerous behaviours such as, poor family relationships, difficulty forming and maintaining loving and trusting relationships, difficulty in parenting effectively and generally being at a higher risk of poor health, housing, education and employment outcomes.

In addition, many former child migrants experienced a loss of cultural identity and connection to their heritage as well as loss of contact with their natural families. Trauma and feelings of loss, abandonment and alienation due to removal from their birthplace and family have impacted on adult survivors and their ability to lead productive and rewarding lives.

While Forgotten Australians and former child migrants may have shared similar experiences of abuse and neglect as well as facing similar problems later in life, the Australian Government acknowledges the unique circumstances they encountered.

Central to the Australian Government’s response to the Committee’s Report is the national apology to Forgotten Australians and former child migrants, delivered by the Prime Minister, on behalf of the nation on 16 November 2009.

The national apology was a significant step in the healing process for many Forgotten Australians and child migrants by acknowledging that what happened was real and wrong. It celebrated the strength of those who survived and remembered those who did not.

It has also helped the community to understand the experiences of more than half a million Australians and the lifelong pain and suffering they continue to endure.

The Australian Government is funding the National Library of Australia and the National Museum of Australia to host two key history projects to assist scholars, support organisations, the public, Forgotten Australians and former child migrants and their families better understand, reflect on and remember the experiences of those involved.

These projects will chronicle, through the public sharing of items, pictures, memories, voices and other historical information, this period. Not only will this provide poignant recognition and a reminder of the past, but also an expression of hope for a better future.

All children have the right to be safe, to receive loving care and support and have access to the services they need to enable them to succeed in life. This basic right is fundamental to the wellbeing of a child and his or her healthy development and is no different now from when former child migrants and Forgotten Australians were in institutional care but who were cruelly d