Radio Interview – ABC Radio Brisbane, Mornings with Steve Austin

E&OE

Subjects: National Continuous Checking Capability; Working with Children Checks; Illicit Tobacco; Disability Discrimination Act Review.

STEVE AUSTIN, HOST: Well, as you've been hearing this morning on ABC Radio News, a national system to continuously monitor the criminal history of those with a Working with Children Check will be established, but there won't be a deadline for the states and territories to sign up to it. Today in Brisbane, the nation's Attorneys-General are meeting together. The pilot of the National Continuous Checking Capability program will receive $37 million from the Federal Government over the next five years, more than a decade after the Royal Commission into child sexual abuse called for such a system.

So, the Federal Attorney-General, Michelle Rowland is here in Brisbane. I spoke to her earlier this morning and asked her to explain to me what the new continuous checking capability will mean at the coalface for protecting children.

MICHELLE ROWLAND, ATTORNEY-GENERAL: Well, what this will enable is near real-time updating for Working with Children Checks around Australia. The Commonwealth is investing $37 million in this capability because we understand the need to ensure we've got national consistency when it comes to Working with Children Checks, which ultimately is about keeping our children safe. So, what this will mean is that the states and territories will be able to plug their systems into this capability. It's essentially a very complex IT build, but what it will ensure is that we've got that near real-time monitoring of national changes to criminal history information, for example, on Working with Children Check holders. This is all part of the pathway and the timeframes to have a much better national approach to working with children checks and improve the safety of children.

AUSTIN: It's a federation. Each of the states is responsible for their own system. In Queensland, here we have a blue card system. What will this national database do that the current state databases don't do?

ROWLAND: It's an excellent question. The short answer is that the current state databases don't talk to one another, so they are discrete as between their own jurisdictions. In some cases those databases are not run by the Attorney-General of that state or territory. They're done, for example, by the Minister responsible for community services. So, you have entirely different departments and different IT systems. What we are seeking to do with this capability is ensure that they're interoperable so they can talk to one another and make sure that we've got that near continuous real-time monitoring. That's really going to strengthen the safeguards around children and young people, and the good news is that states and territories will actually be able to onboard to the NCCC pilot before the end of this year. It is an incremental build, but it's happening.

AUSTIN: Was there a particular case that prompted the Federal Government to get moving on this particular one? I mean, tragically, there've been a number of high-profile cases, one of them particularly here in Queensland. But for you as Australia's top law officer, Michelle Rowland, was there a particular case that stands out in your mind as to how this will prevent it from happening again?

ROWLAND: Well, certainly the situation that we saw in Victoria, where I think the accused there has been described as Australia's worst paedophile, that obviously is harrowing. But there's been equally harrowing cases, as you know, that have taken place in NSW and also in Queensland. But if I take a step back, I just want to reassure your listeners that there is no higher priority for this government than keeping our most vulnerable safe, and that's our children.

I think that your listeners should also be aware that, yes, there was a recommendation for this work to be undertaken 10 years ago by the Royal Commission that looked into this. Australians have been let down by successive governments, but I can assure all of your listeners that this work is now happening at pace. We had our first meeting of the Standing Council of Attorneys-General for this Parliament in August this year where we made a commitment to have a ‘banned in one, banned in all’ regime up and running by the end of the year. We are on target to meet that.

So, for your question about what particular cases, I think we also need to be aware that whilst this will go a long way to ensuring better safety in those systems that governments administer, we need to be continuously vigilant, and the cases that we've seen will continue to horrify Australians. But we must do everything we can as governments to ensure that we've got the systems and processes in place that are keeping our kids safe.

AUSTIN: I know you're meeting with other state Attorneys-General, with state Attorneys-Generals in Brisbane today, but has Queensland given you any, any indication as to whether we will opt in to your, to your national database?

ROWLAND: Well, I'm looking for agreement. I'll be seeking agreement today on some of those next steps. But certainly at our last meeting in August, there was a clear consensus from the states and territories, including Queensland. I commend all of my colleagues right around Australia who have all not only worked hard in these meetings, but there is so much work, Steve, that occurs outside of this. I set up a special dedicated unit within my own federal department that has been working for around the last five months or so to ensure that we've gotten to this point where we can say we're on target for that ‘banned in one, banned in all’. There's certainly more work to do and I think that by the federal government demonstrating leadership in investing that $37 million in implementing this National Continuous Checking Capability, I think that demonstrates that the Federation is working when it comes to what I think is the highest priority of government.

AUSTIN: My guest is the Federal Attorney-General of Australia, Michelle Rowland. This is 612, ABC Brisbane. Steve Austin's my name. Monitoring and running a database on your own citizens is quite a big move. Who is responsible for the efficacy and maintaining the database? Is it the Federal Police? Is it your staff? Who is responsible for this database?

ROWLAND: The Commonwealth will be undertaking that. But, I should also stress that as this is an IT system, it's going to require input from the states and territories as well. So, if your listeners can imagine this, not necessarily as one big computer, but a network of networks that talk to one another, that's what we term a capability in IT speak. But this is one that will have input and will be continuously operating as between the states and territories. The importance of this is to ensure that we do have that consistency and it is a big task. We've got some states and territories that are operating on legacy systems that are quite old and in order to make sure that they are able to have that continuous monitoring, it is Steve about lifting everyone. No state is being asked, and no one wants to lower their standards when it comes to those kinds of criteria for determining how someone actually gets a Working with Children Check or how they get to keep it and what informs other states about the need to potentially lose it as well. So, I don't want your listeners to think it's one big computer. This is an IT system that certainly has input from all respective states and territories.

AUSTIN: Governments can make mistakes, of course. If someone's name is wrongly flagged in this system, is there any ability to have it removed or corrected?

ROWLAND: I'm sure that will be dealt with. As I said, we've got that onboarding happening before the end of this year on the NCCC pilot and that's exactly what large IT transformation projects need to examine. So, for example, the efficacy of the data, making sure that it's up to date, making sure that we've got security around it as well. As you can imagine, this is highly sensitive information. So, all of those are necessary components of the build.

AUSTIN: My guest is Australia's Attorney-General Michelle Rowland who's in Brisbane today for a meeting of Australian Attorney-Generals. Just a couple of quick questions and I'll let you go. Are you as the Attorney-General of Australia happy with what's being done to try and tackle organised crime and their apparent now control of the illegal tobacco market, which is booming in Australia?

ROWLAND: Look, it's a huge challenge and I don't think any of your listeners would underestimate the fact that it's not new, it's not a problem isolated to Australia, but it can be seen. As a government, we've invested almost $350 million in combating this illegal trade. The states and territories, including Queensland, are enacting their own laws in this area, making sure that they're enforced at a retail level as well. But I think that across both the Commonwealth and state governments, the message is very clear to organised crime syndicates who are driving this illicit trade. The states and territories who have primary responsibility for law enforcement, they are coming after you. So, I think we need to be united again as a federation on this and ensure that these criminal syndicates aren't dictating what we're doing in this area and that they are appropriately cracked down on.

AUSTIN: And finally, today is the last day of the consultation period for the review of the disability provisions in the Anti-Discrimination Act. What happens next?

ROWLAND: Well, firstly, I'd like to thank everyone who's contributed to this. I think it's really important, as a result of the Disability Royal Commission, that we actually act on its recommendations. One of them was ensuring that the Disability Discrimination Act is fit for purpose, and look at those submissions. We'll consider them all. They'll be presented to me next year. But I do want to, again, ensure your listeners get that message, that working with the disability community to uphold the rights of Australians living with a disability and ensuring that there's adequate protections to combat discrimination is fundamentally important. I know that people who were impacted by this want to make sure that we address, as a Commonwealth, some of those areas where they have been discriminated against, because this is how we ensure the greatest participation in our society. I look forward to the outcomes.

AUSTIN: Attorney-General Michelle Rowland, thanks very much for your time.

ROWLAND: My pleasure.

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