Page 2668 - Week 09 - Thursday, 9 August 1990
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ineptness in funding agencies. The debate itself has been dominated by emotional and admittedly confronting subjects such as family conflict, violence within the home, children's rights, and youth crime - a matter to which I will return later. Too often the theme of youth alienation and family breakdown has been represented as an expression of conflict between generations rather than as a community concern and a community matter in which we can all play a significant role.
Recently I have had the opportunity to visit some of the services we charge with dealing with the problems and issues of young people. I have been involved in community meetings called to resolve some of these problems and I will now take the opportunity to tell the Assembly what I have found.
The ACT has a network of youth centres and youth services that provide space for young people to meet and to be supported in the areas of employment, health, housing and information. The groups which provide these services are diverse and represent many different approaches and views, be they traditional organisations, such as the scouts and guides providing valuable and constructive recreational activities, or groups with a more specific purpose, such as the Red Cross youth health workers. The media would like to present some of this diversity as division, but I am sure that this diversity is necessary if we are to provide a comprehensive network of youth services in the ACT. We currently fund youth centres and youth workers, youth information services and youth health services, employment programs, recreational programs, accommodation and housing support services. The youth field in the ACT is quite extensive and well developed in the provision of services to young people.
I have been impressed with the commitment of the workers involved and their depth of understanding in trying to come to grips with the complex problems facing young people these days. The youth field incorporates not only those organisations providing immediate assistance and services to young people, but also includes Government areas such as housing, employment, education, welfare and justice. An answer to the problem of today's youth is not held by any one of these sectors of the Government or the community but will require cooperative work between all of them.
Recently I have visited some community child care centres. I see their role as an integral part in offering assistance to families in these days of high interest rates and other pressures of modern living. Support to families is essential if we are to find answers to more serious issues facing the community as a whole. Other members of the community have been involved in discussions which impinge directly on homeless young people. The police are a good example of a group in the community that is looking at its operations in line with the Burdekin report. Juvenile crime is an area of concern to the community at large.
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