New South Wales Consolidated Acts

CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS (CARE AND PROTECTION) ACT 1998 - SECT 16

16 General role of the Secretary

(1) Principal role The Secretary is to provide services and promote the development, adoption and evaluation of policies and procedures that accord with the objects and principles of this Act.

Note : This role may include--

• providing assistance to children and young persons

• involving children and young persons and their families in processes that affect them and making services and information available to them

• consistent with the care and protection of children and young persons, promoting the raising of children and young persons within families

• supporting communities involved in the care and protection of children and young persons

• regularly reviewing action

• implementing procedures to assess the suitability of people having contact with children and young persons

• undertaking or encouraging research, education or training.

(2) Interagency procedures and protocols The Secretary is to promote the development of procedures and protocols with government departments and agencies and the community sector that promote the care and protection of children and young persons and to ensure that these procedures and protocols are implemented and regularly reviewed.

(3) The objects of the procedures and protocols referred to in subsection (2) are--

(a) to promote the development of co-ordinated strategies for the care and protection of children and young persons and for the provision of support services directed towards strengthening and supporting families (including the provision of prioritised access to support services to children and young persons at risk of significant harm and to their families), and

(b) to co-ordinate the provision of services for assisting young persons leaving statutory out-of-home care, and

(c) to co-ordinate the early provision of alternative dispute resolution processes for children and young persons at risk of significant harm and their families who wish to participate in those processes.

Note : Section 37(1A) requires the Secretary, on determining that a child or young person is at risk of significant harm, to offer these processes to the family of the child or young person (subject to certain exceptions) before seeking care orders.