Erica Stanford: Abuse in Care response Lead Minister on the Government's new law changes designed to prevent abuse in care

The Government's taking steps towards preventing any more abuse in care going forward.

It's introducing a bill tomorrow prompted by the Abuse in Care inquiry, after the Prime Minister's national apology.

The bill includes a ban on strip-searching children - and stronger regulations on who can work with children. 

Minister-in-Charge Erica Stanford says the Government is looking to utilise full-body scanners in the future to prevent young people from being strip-searched.

"Instead, we'd be putting in place individual search plans  where young people knew what was going to happen and they had more control over how it happened."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So the apology for past abuse and state care is tomorrow,
but before that, today, the government's announced a bunch of
law changes which are designed to protect people in state
care right now. So they'll banned strip searches of children
and youth justice facilities, create harsher restrictions for people who
work with kids, and enforce better recordkeeping by government agencies. Also,
and wants to classify disabled people as vulnerable adults, meaning

(00:20):
they'll have access to better services now. Erica Stanford is
the lead Coordination Minister for the government's response to abuse
and state care and with us.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Hey Erica, Hey, good afternoon, Erica.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
I appreciate that the point of this thing is to
try to keep kids safer, but isn't there a case
for strip searching some of these kids, given some of
them will be quite serious offenders.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
One of the things that the Royal Commission talked about
in some of the stories that it went through was
the indignity of the searchers and how inappropriate and rough
they were, potentially with members of the wrong sex and
all sorts of things. It was not good. It only
actually happens a very few cases, but it was something
that we wanted to move to make sure that it

(01:01):
wouldn't happen in the future and instead would be putting
in place individual search plans where young people knew what
was going to happen and they had more control over
how it would happen.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
So, what do you do in a case where you've
got a really serious young offender and some of them
are who has been taken into a youth justice facility
and there is a concern that they have had in contraband,
like a weapon or something in a place that they
can now not be searched, And what do you do.

Speaker 2 (01:27):
Well, in the future, Minister Chore and you can talk
to her more about this is looking to use full
body scanners, which would replace any reason to have to
do a search.

Speaker 1 (01:39):
Okay, how long are they? How far away are they?

Speaker 2 (01:43):
You have to ask her about the detail. Well, I'm
the overseeing minister. I don't have all of the detail of.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
Because because I mean, you run the risk at the
moment of doing something that looks good but actually puts
people at risk. Right.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Well, actually the bigger risk is people who are coming
in with contraband. So you'll see as part of the
changes in the legislation that we are moving to be
able to search people who are coming in, so staff
members and contractors and family members and people who are
coming in, because actually, in the last months they found
three hundred and fifty pieces of contraband, including weapons.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
So how do we know how the kids aren't the
ones taking the contraband including the weapons in.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
Well, we are only doing a handful at the moment
of those searches anyway, But just that alone is according
to the well, well we're looking at, you know, three
hundred and fifty pieces of contraband in the last six
months with the people who are coming in, and that's
going to make the biggest difference.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
Right, did your office? Was your office one of the
officers that complained about that newsroom. Do you know who's
banned today his behavior?

Speaker 2 (02:46):
No? I haven't made any complaints about mister smell.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
Do you know anything about his behavior? What is it
that's got everybody so worked up?

Speaker 2 (02:53):
Look, you're going to have to ask a Prime minister
about that. I just know that there was some behavior
that has happened on a number of occasions that has
been brought up with newsream that they haven't acknowledged or
done anything about. And that was just raised with a speaker.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
So this is like, is it like physical threats? Is
it stuff outside of the press conference?

Speaker 2 (03:10):
What is it? Look, it's not something that I've ever
been involved in or been around it. I just know
that there was some inappropriate behavior.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
Okay, hey, by the way, just kind of unrelated to this.
But because you're the immigration minister, I see Candice Owens,
who's that controversial speaker, has had her gig postponed. Do
you know where where where you guys are at with
her visa?

Speaker 2 (03:29):
I do know that her gig has been moved I
think to early next year. That means that the immense
pressure and Immigration New Zealand to look at it in
a speedy way is now off and they will just
process it and look, it is a matter for them.
They've got rules and processes that they worked her, and
it would be an appropriate for me to get involve.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Okay, but was it because of But was it because
of visa processing at our end? Not nothing to do
with Australia. But it was a New Zealand visa problem
that caused this to happen.

Speaker 2 (03:54):
The caused her to shift her I have not been
told that the reason that she's moved her her Greg
has got anything to do with the beta processing time too.

Speaker 1 (04:03):
All right, Erica, thank you. As always, it's Erica Stanford
Minister obviously read the State abuse care and also immigration.
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