Page 3363 - Week 11 - Thursday, 11 November 2021
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The report makes 27 recommendations in relation to the operations of Bimberi and services delivered by the Community Services Directorate, the Education Directorate and Justice Health services. The ACT government has carefully considered these recommendations, and 21 recommendations are agreed in full, five recommendations are agreed in principle and one recommendation is not agreed.
Many of the recommendations made in the report had already been identified in previous reviews of Bimberi and by the Community Services Directorate as areas for improvement. Consequently, several actions were in progress at the time of the healthy centre review or have since commenced. Four of the agreed recommendations—recommendations 2, 13, 17 and 24—are considered complete, and work towards several of the other agreed recommendations is underway.
The ACT government has agreed in principle to five recommendations. Of these, one recommendation has legislative implications, and three recommendations have financial implications for the government. The intent of each of these recommendations is supported; however, it is recognised that full implementation cannot be achieved within existing resources, and funding of these recommendations will be subject to future budget considerations.
One recommendation, recommendation 9, is agreed to in principle, and the government agrees in principle with achieving the intent of this recommendation.
Over the last decade, Bimberi has been strongly oversighted and has been the subject of multiple reviews, resulting in many recommendations and ongoing system improvements. It is necessary that the 27 recommendations made by the inspector are considered in partnership with recommendations from the other reviews into Bimberi, particularly the 2019 Human Rights Commission’s commission-initiated consideration; and the independent review by Mr Peter Muir and the WorkSafe investigation, both undertaken in response to the August 2019 major incident in Bimberi.
Significant work has been undertaken by Bimberi in addressing recommendations made in these reviews, including the creation of new positions, extensive security infrastructure upgrades and enhancements to training and health and safety systems. This work is not complete; it continues to progress despite the interruptions of COVID. The recommendations from the inspector’s report have been considered in the context of this ongoing work and, where appropriate, will be incorporated into existing projects.
As the first review of its kind by the inspector, the report provides a benchmark for Bimberi against the ACT Standards for Youth Detention Places: safety, respect, purposeful activity and rehabilitation and preparedness for release. The recommendations from the report will be considered in collaboration with other reviews undertaken of Bimberi in recent years and will assist in continuing to improve services delivered to young people in the ACT youth justice system.
The inspector acknowledges the hard work and dedication of ACT government staff working in Bimberi to ensure the safe care and custody of young people. I would also
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