ACT Children and Young People Death Review Committee Information Brochure
Information Brochure [PDF 92KB]
An independent multi-sectoral Ministerial Committee established under Chapter 19A of the Children and Young People Act 2008.
We are finding out what may be learnt from a child or young person’s death to help stop similar deaths from happening in the future.
Who are we?
The ACT Children and Young People Death Review Committee is a group of people who come together as an independent committee established under legislation to work towards reducing the number of deaths of ACT children and young people.
The legislation sets out the requirement for the Committee members to have experience and expertise in a number of different areas, including paediatrics, education, social work, child safety products and working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people.
What do we do?
About 23 ACT children and young people die each year from all causes, including prematurity. The ACT Children and Young People Death Review Committee aims to find out what can be learnt from a child or young person’s death to help prevent similar deaths from happening in the future.
To assist with this aim, we keep a register of all the deaths of ACT children and young people who die before they turn 18 and use the information on the register to learn more about why children and young people die in the ACT.
We can make recommendations about changes to legislation, policies, practices and services to both government and non-government organisations. Child Death Review Teams in Australia have made recommendations about policy and legislation such as swimming pool fencing, sudden cardiac deaths and low speed vehicle run-overs to help prevent or reduce the deaths of children and young people in the future.
The ACT Children and Young People Death Review Committee does not investigate or determine the cause of death of a particular child or young person. We do not place blame or seek to identify underperformance.
We do not look at a child or young person’s death if that death is currently being looked by the Coroner or in another review by the ACT – we wait until these reviews have ended before we include them on our register.
Where do we get our information from?
The ACT Children and Young People Death Review Committee has agreements with a number of government organisations who provide us with information for our register. This includes the ACT Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, the Community Services Directorate, ACT Policing and the Office of the Coroner.
We welcome information from other organisations and individuals who can contact us either by telephone or email.
Who can access the register
Access to the register is limited to a select and restricted number of people. These people have signed a confidentiality agreement undertaking not to share any of the identifying information that is kept on the register.
What do we do with the information on the register?
The ACT Children and Young People Death Review Committee provides regular reports to the Minister and Legislative Assembly on the deaths of ACT children and young people.
We also issue reports and fact sheets on different topics to help raise awareness or to spread prevention messages within the community.
We are committed to reporting sensitively and in a way that respects the rights and needs for privacy of the child or young person and their family. We will not provide information in our reports or fact sheets that may identify a child, young person or family members.
Copies of these reports and fact sheets can be found on our website.
The committee welcomes advice and feedback from all people in the ACT.