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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (26 June) . . Page.. 2245 ..

MR STEFANIAK (Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Housing and Family Services and Minister for Children's and Youth Services) (6.26): I thank members for their comments. Firstly, I will reply to just a few points Ms Tucker made. Yes; certainly, I would hope that the relevant departments and areas are helping you in that inquiry. If they are not, let me know, Ms Tucker. Obviously, that is a very important process, and we can get some very good outcomes from sensible deliberations and consideration. I note that when we took over government Family Services - and we concentrated a lot on that - did have some very unmet needs. Staffing, particularly, was down. I think they were about 12 to 15 positions down in April and May 1995. We moved very quickly to resolve that. Obviously, that has helped. It is a stressful area; it is an area where people can get burnout very quickly; and it is an area where we have some exceptionally dedicated staff who do a very difficult job in very trying circumstances. I certainly know quite a few staff there personally, and they do an excellent job. It is a hard area. I will come back to some of Ms Reilly's points.

Ms Tucker raised the issue of the report on increased violence and crime. There are two aspects, I suppose, to crime. A report I saw in the paper - it might have been the editorial - indicated that, in terms of the punishment side, they had not really analysed how effective the "three strikes and you are out" policy is. A criticism of our courts often is that they are too lenient; and sometimes a short, sharp, reasonably severe punishment at the right time can actually help someone and deter them from crime. I note, however, the report in the paper stated that an analysis of the States which have introduced that has not actually been done yet. From personal experience in the courts here, that certainly does, in some instances, seem to work.

However, one thing that is needed in terms of the bigger picture is jobs. People being actively engaged in employment or training that has a good likelihood of leading to employment is something that is going to be very beneficial indeed. This budget is a jobs budget and is especially aimed at youth and young people; it is especially aimed at giving people a chance in a very difficult situation in Canberra at present, with the Federal Government cutting jobs in the Federal Public Service.

Ms Reilly: They are not jobs; they are traineeships.

MR STEFANIAK: Look who is talking. One of the great criticisms of your previous Federal Government was that they were all traineeships and they did not lead to one single job. This Government, I think, has actually created a quite considerable number of jobs.

Mrs Carnell: It is 7,300 since last November.

MR STEFANIAK: It is 7,300 since last November. In terms of addressing some of the severe problems such as tendencies for people to get into crime and other things like that, if you are gainfully employed or have training that is going to lead to a chance of gainful employment, that is a very good long-term means of addressing a lot of problems. That is certainly something we have placed a lot of emphasis on.

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