The position of Northern Territory Children’s Commissioner is established the Care and Protection of Children Act (the Act), which was passed by the Legislative Assembly in November 2007. Significant amendments to the Act pertaining to the functions of the Children’s Commissioner, were passed by the Legislative Assembly in April 2011 and commenced on 1 July 2011. The present Commissioner officially took up his position in June 2008 and was subsequently re-appointed for a further term of five years from June 2012.
Under the Act, the Commissioner has responsibility for six core functions:
- The investigation and resolution of complaints about services provided to vulnerable children (including the monitoring of how service providers respond to the resultant reports).
- The investigation of matters on the Commissioner’s own initiative that may form the grounds for making a complaint (irrespective of when the matter occurred and whether or not a complaint was made).
- Monitoring the implementation of any government decision arising from the Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse (aka. the Little Children are Sacred report).
- Monitoring the administration of the Act as it pertains to vulnerable children.
- Receiving and processing submissions about recommendations arising from the Board of Inquiry into the Child Protection System of the Northern Territory.
- Reporting to the Minister on a matter relating to the Commissioner’s functions as requested by the Minister.
In addition to the formal functions under the Act, the Commissioner is also appointed as Convenor of the Child Deaths Review and Prevention Committee and his office provides the secretariat functions for this Committee. The Commissioner is also called upon to respond from a Northern Territory perspective to a range of national policy issues, either independently or in collaboration with the Children’s Commissioners and Guardians from other Australian jurisdictions.
The Commissioner provides an annual report on his activities to the NT Legislative Assembly through the Minister for Children and Families.
DR HOWARD BATH
Children’s Commissioner for the Northern Territory
Dr Howard Bath took up his appointment as Children’s Commissioner in June 2008 and has subsequently been re-appointed for a further five years from June 2012.
Trained as a Clinical Psychologist, Dr Bath has a long history of providing consultancy, clinical and training services relating to the needs of children and young people. For a number of years he provided consultancy services for the NT Government and in 2007 he undertook an audit of responses to high risk clients by programs of the then Community Services Division of the NT Department of Health and Community Services.
Dr Bath has been a youth worker, manager, clinician and Agency Director. He was the inaugural Chair of the Child and Family Welfare Association of Australia, the peak body for service providers representing all states and territories.
From 1999 to 2008 he was Director of the Thomas Wright Institute in Canberra which provided a range of consultancy, training and clinical services for organisations working with young clients who have complex needs and challenging behaviours. His particular clinical interests have included work with young people who have experienced developmental trauma, those with problems around aggression and sexuality, and those with developmental disorders such as autism.
In 2010, he was co-chair of an Inquiry into the child protection system in the NT which produced the 'Growing them Strong Together' report.
Dr Bath has had a long-standing interest in and involvement in services for children in child protection and youth justice systems.
