By Sarah Schwager
A CASEY councillor’s bid to stop young people from getting body piercings has caused a stir among other councillors.
Councillor Steve Beardon put his push to council on Tuesday night “to protect kids from the dangers of body piercing”.
He asked that the council write to the Victorian Health Minister, the Opposition spokesperson and local MPs in support of recent New South Wales laws banning under 16s from having their tongues or belly buttons pierced without parental permission. and recom-mend Victoria enact simi-lar legislation.
He also wanted council officers to prepare a report on the feasibility of a local law on parental consent for body piercing by Casey operators should the State Government not act on the issue.
But councillors said they could not possibly act on the latter point, as a local law on piercings would be impossible to patrol.
Deputy mayor Kevin Bradford said it was ridiculous to try to police an industry that was already self -regulating.
“If we have a local law, how on earth are we going to police it?” he said. “Are we going to patrol the shopping malls asking people, ‘Are you under 16?’ and ‘Show me your piercings’?”
Other councillors who have children in their mid to late teens, including councillors Lorraine Wreford, Janet Halsall and Michael Farley, said Cr Beardon had a mindset that parents had no control over their kids.
In the end, the council decided to write to the State Government, the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) and Victorian Local Governance Association (VLGA) recommending similar legislation in Victoria as in NSW, but not to prepare a report on enacting a local law.
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