Page 584 - Week 04 - Thursday, 29 June 1989
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being confronted with when young children are unable to cope with their education needs.
It is important, I suggest, for adequate facilities to be made available for counselling facilities within schools. In some areas there are a limited number of counsellors available and they have to be shared amongst a number of schools. I suggest that this is a critical factor in a major area. Such counselling would assist and help our young people to cope with the rigours and problems of our very major lifestyle changes that have happened in the last number of years. I would urge the Minister responsible for education to look carefully at that area to ensure that these problems are coped with by some of the very hard-working teachers and counsellors in this area.
MR BERRY (Minister for Community Services and Health) (4.17), in reply: I have a few comments that I would like to make in response to some of the things that have been said, and on a well-received matter, as far as I can make out. First of all, I would like to welcome the support of Assembly members for the Federal Government's initiative. I must make a point of the fact that it is a Hawke Labor Government initiative, and I think that the Hawke Labor Government is to be congratulated on the effort that it has focused on the area of child homelessness. I think that it deserves the credit that goes with the effort that it has put into the program.
A member: I suppose it is never too late, is it?
MR BERRY: Indeed, it is not, and it is a good thing that non-Labor governments have worked with the Hawke Labor Government in the development of programs and in consultation with each other towards the assistance of our most valued resource - our youth. I was most impressed with Dr Kinloch's remarks about the need to treat this issue as one that concerns society. I agree wholeheartedly with his comments.
But it really comes back to a lot of the issues which - at the risk of appearing provocative - progressive parties concern themselves with in the area of health, welfare, education, housing and those other social requirements. I also note his comments in relation to the cultural sectors of the community comprising the Indo-Chinese and our Aborigines, and the need to focus on the area of youth homelessness which is dominated by those groups.
I think it is most important for politicians in this country to address those social issues which, in my view, give rise to the majority of homelessness. I think any assessment of the situation would find that homelessness amongst the young is predominantly in groups from the low income end of society. We all should join together to work to ensure that everybody has a reasonable income and the right to a roof over his head, as well as a strong public housing sector, a strong public education system, a strong
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