We heard overall support for the proposed stage 2 changes to the Children and Young People Act 2008 (CYP Act).

But we also heard you want more detail about some changes and more consultation. This is to make sure we get the detail right so it delivers the outcomes needed to strengthen families, keep children and young people safe and connected, and ensure everyone involved is best able to perform their important roles.

We have listened and have adjusted how we will do this work.

We have reduced the stage 2 changes and will conduct further consultation to talk more with you about the remaining changes and your feedback so far.

We need to get this right. We want a consultation and legislative process that responds to the changing needs and realities of child protection and family support in the ACT.

We will keep working with you so we deliver the right change for the ACT’s children, young people and families.

The smaller stage 2 will include certain changes you told us you agreed with. These changes are also ones the Government said it would do.

These will see positive change in our child protection system and for the people involved with it.

These changes will go to the ACT Legislative Assembly for approval in March 2024. These changes will:

• create an external merits review mechanism in the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal for child protection decisions - this will provide a better way for people to get help if they disagree with a decision made by child protection
• mandate and expand support for care leavers to the age of 21 years
• embed the ACT’s three existing charters into the CYP Act and provide a consistent way for how charters are developed and maintained. The existing charters are:
  
  • Charter of rights for kids in care
  • Charter of rights for young people in Bimberi Youth Justice Centre
  • Charter for Parents and Families involved with ACT child protection services.

We will look at the remaining changes no longer in stage 2 as part of our next steps. We will also look at feedback we heard from you during the stage 2 consultation.

We intend to release draft amendments for further consultation before the end of August 2024.

We are committed to delivering the full scope of necessary change to see the right legislation introduced for the ACT community.

We are confident this change of approach and continuing to work with you will get us there.

You can read more about what we heard from you in our listening report.

You can also read our factsheet about our listening report and new approach.

If you want to read our original stage 2 documents, including the information paper and supporting factsheets, go to our stage 2 page.