Page 3153 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 9 November 2021
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Bimberi headline indicators report 2020-2021
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Manager of Government Business, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Industrial Relations and Workplace Safety, Minister for Planning and Land Management and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (3.26): Pursuant to standing order 211, I move:
That the Assembly take note of the following paper:
Bimberi Headline Indicators Report 2020-2021.
MS DAVIDSON (Murrumbidgee—Assistant Minister for Seniors, Veterans, Families and Community Services, Minister for Disability, Minister for Justice Health and Minister for Mental Health) (3.26): I am pleased to present the eighth Bimberi headline indicators report. This report demonstrates the ACT government’s ongoing commitment to both transparency for the Bimberi Youth Justice Centre’s operations and performance and the safety, health and wellbeing of the young people detained there.
The eighth report provides data for the full 2020-21 financial year. It provides for continuing scrutiny of a range of indicators relating to the safety and care of the young people in Bimberi and provides trend data to monitor performance against operational indicators.
Pleasingly, due to a decrease in the number of young people detained in Bimberi, and strong staffing numbers, we have seen positive outcomes for young people across a number of measures. The number of young people in Bimberi on an average day in 2020-21 was nine, with the total number of days served by young people being 3,348.
When discussing the data around the number of days served at Bimberi, it would be remiss to not mention the nation-leading work that the ACT government is undertaking to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility. Only last month the Attorney General, the Minister for Health and I released an independent report on raising the age, led by Professor Morag McArthur, which charts a course for us in implementing this generational reform.
Data from the AIHW indicates that, here in the ACT, seven per cent to 10 per cent of the young people subject to youth justice supervision are 10 to 13 years. A very small number of these young people are actually detained. The neurological evidence is clear that young people in this age range are not capable of forming criminal intent. The McArthur report makes clear that this cohort overwhelmingly commit less serious crime and have experienced significant trauma and disadvantage. In addition, we know that those who experience the youth justice system are more likely to experience the criminal justice system. It is precisely for this purpose that our raising the age work is so crucial, to ensure that this cohort of young people receive the support they need.
We continue to see great interest in working at Bimberi; and, to maintain reliable workforce numbers, biannual recruitment processes will continue. Bimberi ran three
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