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to demonstrate a commitment to providing outcomes for all young people. Services and programs will aim to meet the needs of young people through the provision of recreational and self-development opportunities, information support and assistance in accessing other services.

Services and programs which provide more opportunities for young people to be involved in sporting activities, including through improved access by community groups to school facilities, will be an area of development. I am concerned about the way in which youth services have been handled by the previous Government. This Government will be examining operations and consultation arrangements over the coming few months. In particular, I will be looking to develop a Youth Affairs Unit which will link youth services and schools, especially enhancing the role of school counsellors. Services and programs for sport and youth and schools will be new areas of development. I have established a Sport, Health and Physical Education Unit within the Department of Education and Training, and this unit will work closely with the youth unit of the bureau to establish new developments for young people in sport.

Another area of development will be the strengthening of links between youth services and programs, including school programs, which provide support networks to young people at risk. This will be of enormous benefit to the work of the behaviour management programs, the school counselling service and schools in general, and community agencies providing services to young people. Young people, especially those at risk, will be the beneficiaries of a well-coordinated youth policy that has regard to the full range of services provided to young people. The Adolescent Day Unit provides programs for emotionally and/or behaviourally disturbed young people - 12 to 15 years of age - who may also often have difficulty managing the mainstream school system. The specialised programs in the school system for adolescents in crisis, such as the adolescent development program at Dairy Flat, and the Adolescent Day Unit will coordinate their referral processes so that a wide range of program options is available when agencies are seeking appropriate support for children at risk.

The Child Health and Development Service is a multidisciplinary service which provides specialised community-based health and developmental assessment and intervention services for children who have developmental problems. This service will continue to develop its case management processes to make sure that children and families have access to coordinated and effective services. The service is offered from health centres, schools and community venues. Part of the new directions will be to review the delivery of these services to ensure that the most accessible, coordinated services are available for children and their families. A family focused model of service delivery recognising the collaborative role that family, parents and community play in enhancing children's development will be adopted.

The staff of the Early Intervention Service, located within the Department of Education and Training, including resource teachers in preschools, early intervention units and the itinerant teachers for children with disabilities and impairments, will notice benefits for students as the new structure is put in place. Another outcome will be the strengthening of the role of preschools in the education system and the strengthening of existing connections with local primary schools and Children's Day Care Services.

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