Page 500 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 June 1989
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referral arrangements, and improved linkages with other services. Services which deal with chronic homeless will be given priority in the allocation of resources. Priority will also be given to expanding medium and longer term accommodation and support services for young people.
Ministers agreed young Aboriginal people and young people in special needs groups need more community based, culturally appropriate services. In the area of accommodation for wards, the ACT, along with other States and the Northern Territory, will document and review the placement options that exist, particularly for adolescents. The intention is to identify areas of difficulty and gaps in present services so that priorities can be set for new services or programs.
The ACT will use this survey to continue developing a flexible range of alternative accommodation and care options. This will be done in consultation with the non-government sector. In the area of income support, the Commonwealth has agreed to consider further how to ensure young people are fully aware of their income support entitlements. When preparing its social justice strategy for youth, the Commonwealth will see whether more improvements are needed to the adequacy of, and access to, current programs for disadvantaged young people.
In the area of education and training and employment the Commonwealth will continue to examine how best to provide preliminary training, to improve young people's chances of completing formal structured training. Commonwealth Skillshare guidelines will be amended to include provision for specialised programs for homeless young people, although such programs may not have immediately measurable labour market outcomes. The Commonwealth will continue to develop coordination mechanisms between employment, training and accommodation services.
Recognising that children under statutory orders, including children in the juvenile justice system, have special needs both for security and support, and to enhance their development and independence as adults, Ministers agreed more work will be done in this area. The ACT, along with other States and the Northern Territory, will develop a clear statement about the nature and extent of our government responsibilities for children and young people under statutory orders. Such statements will focus on the challenge of offering attractive and appropriate services to young people who are moving towards independence and testing out authority - perhaps the sort of people who might be challenged by the move-on powers.
In addition, more emphasis will be given to ensuring a positive transition to independence for these young people. For example, before children are discharged from care they will in future have available to them suitable accommodation and support structures. The notion of prevention is central to much of the Burdekin report. Its
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