As a member of the NSW Parliament's Committee on Children and Young People, I spoke on the release of the Committee's2020 Review of the Annual Reports and other matters of the Office of the Advocate for Children and Young People.

Ms JODIE HARRISON(Charlestown) (12:53:39):I speak as a member of the Committee on Children and Young People. It has been my honour to serve on this committee and to take part in overseeing the Office of the Advocate for Children and Young People. The tabling of this report demonstrates the accountability of the office of the advocate to this Parliament and, in turn, to the people of this State. As the deputy chair mentioned, it became clear in the course of the committee's review that the advocate was fulfilling its functions as set out by statute. From the outset, I thank the outgoing advocate, Mr Andrew Johnson, for coming before the committee and for what he has achieved so far in this space. Mr Johnson certainly brought enthusiasm to the role of inaugurating the office and establishing it firmly as a voice for children and young people. I thank the acting advocate, Zo Robinson, who fronted the committee only shortly after her appointment. I look forward to working with Ms Robinson into the future. In future the Government should not allow Mr Johnson's and Ms Robinson's hard work to go to waste. Governments around the world face major barriers to engaging with children and young people. Young people often feel their voices are not heard and that their concerns are not taken seriously.

There is a deficit of trust in institutional authority and young people do not believe they have a place in government or a voice in our Parliament. It is not that young people and children do not want to be involved. In recent years, we have seen repeatedly that young people are passionate advocates for a variety of causes like marriage equality, climate change and racial equality, with causes like Black Lives Matter. As lawmakers, we owe it to children and young people to take their views seriously, particularly on matters that concern them. We owe it to them to take into account what they have to say when making decisions that impact their lives.

The establishment of the Advocate for Children and Young People presented a major opportunity for the New South Wales Government to bridge this gulf and to build trust in our institutions among young people. As a member of the committee, I was pleased to learn that the advocate has heard from more than 10,000 young people in face-to-face interactions. After being launched with much fanfare at the Sydney Opera House in 2016, the NSW Strategic Plan for Children and Young People expired last year. Ahead of the launch, then Minister the Hon. John Ajaka told the upper House that the Government would:


continue to work with [young people] to make New South Wales a great place for children and young people to live in and grow ensuring that the voices of children and young people are strongly reflected in the forthcoming NSW Strategic Plan [and]the Governmentwillalsobe ensuring that their voices are heard in the work being done in the interests of children and young people across all portfolios.


Unfortunately, the Government has taken its eye off the ball, allowing the strategic plan to expire without being replaced or reported on. It is essential that the Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services evaluates the expired plan and develops a new one as a matter of priority. We need to ensure that all agencies charged with implementing the plan are called to report on their progress. It was a groundbreaking plan and it worked across government. It is important that all agencies actually report on the progress. Our children and young people are an extraordinary resource and we have the opportunity to harness that resource. We cannot squander that opportunity. I reiterate the committee's recommendations. We need a new strategic plan, we need stronger accountability measures built into its implementation, and we need to do right by our State's children and young people.