Project status: Closed

What we looked at

The ACT Government is reforming child and family services to ensure we strengthen families and keep children and young people safe and connected. Legislative change is one part of this plan for reform.

The ACT Government has made a commitment to establish a responsive, high-functioning legal framework for the ACT's child protection and family support system. This reform will align the Children and Young People Act 2008 (the CYP Act) with Next Steps for Our Kids 2022–2030 – the ACT’s strategy for strengthening families and keeping children and young people safe. It will also address recommendations from key reviews and reports regarding the ACT's child protection and family support system requiring legislative change.

Modernising the CYP Act will allow the ACT Government to enable reform to the child protection and family support system.

Due to the complexity of this reform, legislative amendments are happening over 2 stages:

How you had YourSay

Stage 1 consultation on the Children and Young People Amendment Bill 1 2023 has closed. This consultation ran from June to July 2023 and involved capturing your views through an online survey and submissions in response to our discussion paper.

The discussion paper:

  • set out the key proposed changes in stage 1
  • explained what the proposed changes would mean if the draft Bill is enacted
  • provided a brief explanation of the policy inputs that have guided the direction of the draft Children and Young People Amendment Bill 1 2023.

You can still access the discussion paper from our document library.

In addition to our YourSay activities, we also had conversations with various stakeholders, including:

  • Public Advocate and Children and Young People Commissioner
  • Human Rights Commissioner
  • SNAICC
  • Our Booris, Our Way Implementation Oversight Committee
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Co-Design network
  • The Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Office within the Community Services Directorate
  • Children, Youth and Families Division within the Community Services Directorate
  • ACT Courts and Tribunals.

Our YourSay activities enabled us to hear from the broader Canberra community and further key stakeholders on the issues raised in our discussion paper.

A listening report of what we heard from you through all our consultation activities is available in the document library. We thank everyone who contributed to this consultation. Your feedback and insights have been instrumental in shaping and refining the details of the Children and Young People Amendment Bill 1 2023.

The Children and Young People Amendment Bill 1 2023 was introduced to the ACT Legislative Assembly in late August 2023 and is currently under consideration.

Work on Stage 2 has commenced, and you can learn more about it at CYP Act - Stage 2.

  • About the CYP Act reforms

    Find out more about these important legislative reforms, including why they are needed, what they aim to achieve and what has informed them.

    Learn more about these reforms