Page 4150 - Week 12 - Thursday, 1 December 2022
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work well in other jurisdictions but may need to be rolled out differently in the ACT. That is why I am so happy that this government makes funding decisions for a range of services for young people based on the analysis of our Office for Mental Health and Wellbeing as to where that investment could be most helpful and how best to roll it out.
Under the terms of the $38 million bilateral, we are expanding existing services that are helping young people in need, establishing new services where we know that there are gaps, and building on that through successive ACT government budgets.
I would like to focus for a moment on the work to establish a youth at risk program for young people experiencing trauma. It is a good example of the evidence-based decision-making processes for how best to invest limited resources to support young people’s mental health.
The 2020 Review of children and young people in the ACT, the children and young people in the “missing middle” report of 2022, the Standing Committee on Education, Employment and Youth Affairs inquiry into youth mental health in the ACT in 2020, and the McArthur Review of the service system and implementation requirements for raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility in the ACT final report of 2021 detail the importance of earlier support, the need to make services more accessible and integrated, and the current gaps in services for the 12 to 18-year-old age group in the ACT.
A six-month scoping project undertaken in 2021 provided detailed advice on an evidence-based response to meet the needs of young people identified in these reports. This scoping work included an environmental scan, evidence review and broad consultation across more than 70 ACT agencies.
In response, ACT government will develop a youth at risk program to deliver a territory-wide multidisciplinary response to trauma and fully coordinated responses to young people at risk of developing enduring mental illness. The service will support young people facing different challenges within our community as early as possible to ensure they are provided with the skills, care and support required to enable them to grow, learn and lead a meaningful and fulfilling life.
A key element of this program is an evidence-guided therapeutic approach that delivers integrated care through a new adolescent trauma service. The service will build sector partnerships and enhance flexible outreach. It will be delivered by multidisciplinary clinicians and engagement teams in both government and non-government agencies in partnership with young people, carers and families.
I spoke last week in response to Ms Castley’s motion on men’s health about the expansion of the Way Back suicide prevention and aftercare service provided in the ACT by Woden Community Service. This will make a real difference for young men and women experiencing suicidal crisis.
As I said last week, this investment is in addition to the ACT government’s investment in establishing a culturally appropriate Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander suicide prevention program to deliver community-based suicide
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