Both houses of Parliament returned for the first sitting week of 2024 from the 6th to the 8th of February, here’s what they got up to.

Legislative Council (Upper house)

Report by the Child Development Council South Australia on South Australia's Outcomes Framework for Children and Young People was tabled by Hon. Kyam Maher MLC (Attorney-General). The framework was developed in 2019 and the 2023 report is the fourth report on outcomes for children and young people under 18 in SA. The report is available here.
A Bill to amend the Child Offenders Registration Act 2006 to include ‘businesses or undertakings in which children are employed’ into the Act’s definition of ‘child-related work’ passed the second and third readings and has been sent to the Lower House for deliberation.
A Bill to amend the Education and Children’s Service Act 2019 that would establish a requirement for non-government schools that receive public funding to provide a report within 6-months of the end of a financial year that would include: details of fees charged by the school, an audited statement of income and expenditure of the school, rate of students attending the school, composition of a school’s workforce, any complaints received by the school in relation to staff conduct, communication by the school, provision of services by the school or school policies as well as any reportable incidents.

Debate was adjourned on a motion to establish a committee to inquire into and report on young people seeking assistance for gender dysphoria in South Australia. Due to the Greens and Labor members in the Upper House, along with Hon Michelle Lensink MLC from the Liberal party intending to vote against the motion it doesn’t have the votes to progress further at this stage.

House of Assembly (Lower house)

The Child Sex Offenders Registration (Child-Related Work) Amendment Bill 2023 was received from the Upper House, introduced and read a first time.