Clarity needed on child safety laws, says Liberty

New laws aimed at improving child safety need better provisions, the human rights group Liberty Victoria warned today.

The laws set up a regime to allow a range of professionals to share information about children to promote their safety. They include child protection workers, teachers and health professionals.

“Liberty Victoria’s view is that the proposed regime needs to be amended to ensure that the range of information that can be stored is more clearly defined,” said Liberty president Jessie Taylor.

“Children must have the opportunity to give consent wherever possible and there should be greater clarity about the types of people who are able to gain access to the information.”

She said the planned laws, which Liberty supports in principle, have the capacity to erode the rights of already vulnerable children and may need stronger safeguards against use for improper purposes.

Full comment on the Children Legislation Amendment (Information Sharing) Bill 2017 here.