UNICEF Australia: National Children’s Commissioner

http://www.unicef.org.au/Media/Media-Releases/December-2011/Leading-NGOs-Join-Forces-in-Calling-for-a-National.aspx

SYDNEY, 22nd December 2011 – Nearly 40 of Australia’s leading national children and youth support organisations are today celebrating the release of an NGO Positions Paper on the role and functions of a National Children’s Commissioner.

The Australian Youth Affairs Coalition’s Executive Director, Andrew Cummings, said: “The Positions Paper is the culmination of several months of discussion between leading children’s and youth organisations. The high level of support and consensus in the sector demonstrates the strongly held view that Australia needs a National Children’s Commissioner, as has long been voiced by the huge number of organisations in Australia working with children and young people.

The paper is the result of a Roundtable of Non-Government Organisations that was initially convened in September 2011, co-hosted by AYAC and the Australian Human Rights Commission. The paper was officially submitted to the Federal Government this week, in response to a joint discussion paper by FACHSIA and the Attorney General’s Department.

AYAC, Save the Children and UNICEF are among the many organisations that developed and endorsed the Positions Paper. Together they congratulate the Federal Government for the discussion paper, as a sign of the growing support and recognition of the need for a Children’s Commissioner within Government.

“We look forward to working with the government in planning the next steps towards establishing the office of a National Children’s Commissioner”, Mr Cummings said.

To view the Positions Paper, please click here

For further comment, please contact:

Tim O’Connor, UNICEF Australia
(02) 8917 3247
0435 206 273
toconnor@unicef.org.au