Restrictions on Clearance Notices for People with Mutual Recognition Negative Notices
Care and Protection of Children Amendment (Worker Screening) Bill 2025
Topics
background checks child safety clearance notices criminal history domestic violence information sharing
Introduced by: The Hon Robyn Cahill OAM, MLA (CLP)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Robyn Cahill CLP
“Madam Speaker, I present a Bill titled Care and Protection of Children Amendment (Worker Screening) Bill 2025, Serial 49, and table the explanatory statement. I move that the Bill be now read a first time.”
Chanston Paech ALP
“Madam Speaker, this Bill amends the working with children clearance scheme to allow for interjurisdictional information sharing and mutual recognition of negative notices across states and territories. At its core this Bill is about closing loopholes and strengthening child safety.”
Jo Hersey CLP
“Madam Speaker, I support the Care and Protection of Children Amendment (Worker Screening) Bill and make it clear that protecting children is a top priority of our government. The safety of children is not negotiable and should not be political, nor is it something we can afford to get wrong.”
Tanzil Rahman CLP
“Madam Speaker, I support the Care and Protection of Children Amendment (Worker Screening) Bill. It is heartening to speak on Bills like this which clearly have multi-party support for enacting positive reforms that will ensure children are safer and we have better social outcomes.”
Khoda Patel CLP
“Madam Speaker, I support the Bill, which delivers on a clear commitment to strengthen child safety and better protect vulnerable children in the Northern Territory.”
Laurie Zio CLP
“Madam Speaker, the Care and Protection of Children Amendment (Worker Screening) Bill 2025 is significant and goes to the heart of what our government is working for--keeping our children safe, protecting the vulnerable and ensuring that those who seek to harm or exploit children are stopped not just in the Northern Territory but anywhere in Australia.”
Matthew Kerle CLP
“Madam Speaker, I support this Bill which is an important brick in the framework of child protection. There are many other parts and, like many masonry constructions, they all have to work together. This is an important one that fixes a gap which, unfortunately, was left there when this framework was first instituted more than 15 years ago.”
Clinton Howe CLP
“Mr Deputy Speaker, the people of Drysdale wholeheartedly support this Bill. I thank the minister for her work in this area, which will be a large area of reform. I cannot think of a better person to be driving this. I think this would be the first time in a long time that a minister has a genuine desire to put the child at the centre.”
“Mr Deputy Speaker, the Care and Protection of Children Amendment (Working Screening) Bill delivers on the CLP government’s commitment to strengthen child safety and protect vulnerable children in the Northern Territory. It aligns with the national reforms agreed at the August 2025 Standing Council of Attorneys-General meeting to ensure consistency in working with children checks.”
Andrew Mackay CLP
“Mr Deputy Speaker, I commend the Minister for Child Protection and the opposition for agreeing to the passage of this Bill. It is a nice thing to do. This is about keeping Territory kids safe. I am proud to be part of a government and an Assembly that recognises that we need to protect our children.”