Ms CARNEY - 2006-06-14
How many of the reports in indigenous communities regarding children with sexually transmitted diseases have translated into prosecutions of offenders? There is a difference between the number of children who are reported as having sexually transmitted diseases with the prosecution rate. What initiatives will you implement to ensure that the prosecution rate matches the rate of sexually transmitted infections?
ANSWER
Mr Acting Speaker, I do not have those figures at hand, neither do I believe we would have them at hand through Justice or the child protection area. I am certainly happy to see if we do have those figures. The issue that is at the heart of the Opposition Leader’s question is an important one. The fact that we do have children with STIs is alarming in the first place. The minister has just given the figures that we do have, and that area of 14- to 15-year-olds is, of course, a worrying one. It is worrying when anyone has STIs, whether they are adult or child.
The work has been done and I have just outlined the work of the task force. A lot of resources have been put into that area. As I said in the answer to the last question, when you have police and child protection working together, you get much more effective outcomes. We have moved that one step forward now. We have said the informal arrangement of police working with child protection will now be formalised into a task force. I believe that, when we can take much more effective action on reports of child sexual abuse and any potential STIs, then, particularly with the involvement in the first instance of police, we will see that translated into more prosecutions where appropriate.
ANSWER
Mr Acting Speaker, I do not have those figures at hand, neither do I believe we would have them at hand through Justice or the child protection area. I am certainly happy to see if we do have those figures. The issue that is at the heart of the Opposition Leader’s question is an important one. The fact that we do have children with STIs is alarming in the first place. The minister has just given the figures that we do have, and that area of 14- to 15-year-olds is, of course, a worrying one. It is worrying when anyone has STIs, whether they are adult or child.
The work has been done and I have just outlined the work of the task force. A lot of resources have been put into that area. As I said in the answer to the last question, when you have police and child protection working together, you get much more effective outcomes. We have moved that one step forward now. We have said the informal arrangement of police working with child protection will now be formalised into a task force. I believe that, when we can take much more effective action on reports of child sexual abuse and any potential STIs, then, particularly with the involvement in the first instance of police, we will see that translated into more prosecutions where appropriate.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016