Laws relating to children must use "must" not "should"

Background

Laws involving children often uses the terminology of the word "should", which we believe leads to ambiguous expectations regarding professional responsibilities. We propose changing this language to "must," thereby establishing a clear legal duty for professionals within the child welfare sector.

Additional details

Transformation of Terminology: “must” conveys obligation while “should” implies no more than a strong recommendation. We must change all instances of "should" to "must" in current law relating to children, especially: 1. child protection legislation, ensuring that professionals are legally required to adopt a child-centred approach in their practice. This change must affect all future child protection laws to help establish clear legal obligations. 2. parental and carer rights legislation - amend the legislation to guarantee that parents and caregivers have unequivocal rights in legal circumstances, including the recognition that their voices "must" be heard.

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