CHILD PROTECTION ACT 1999 - SECT 159B Principles for coordinating service delivery and sharing information

CHILD PROTECTION ACT 1999 - SECT 159B

159B Principles for coordinating service delivery and sharing information

The principles underlying this chapter are as follows—

(a) the State is responsible for ensuring that children in need of protection receive protection and care services that ensure their safety and promote their wellbeing;

(b) the State is responsible for ensuring that children and families receive the family support services that they need in order to decrease the likelihood of the children becoming in need of protection;

(c) the chief executive has the primary responsibility for investigating, assessing and responding to allegations of harm to children, including by making plans for their protection and care;

(d) the chief executive, authorised officers, prescribed entities and service providers should contribute, within each entity’s own sphere of responsibility, to assessing and meeting the protection and care needs of children and supporting their families;

(e) children in need of protection, and children who may become in need of protection, and their families should receive coordinated services that meet their needs in a timely and effective way;

(f) the entities mentioned in paragraph (d) should work collaboratively and in a way that respects the functions and expertise of each of the entities;

(g) whenever safe, possible and practical, consent should be obtained before—

(i) providing, or planning to provide, a service, help or support to a child or a child’s family to decrease the likelihood of the child becoming a child in need of protection; or

(ii) disclosing personal information about a person to someone else;

(h) because a child’s safety, wellbeing and best interests are paramount, the child’s protection and care needs take precedence over the protection of an individual’s privacy and the principle mentioned in paragraph (g) ;

(i) before disclosing information about a person to someone else, an entity should consider whether disclosing the information is likely to adversely affect the safety, wellbeing and best interests of a child or the safety of another person.