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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 10 Hansard (25 September) . . Page.. 3462 ..

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It will also allow the Director, Family Services to transfer a detainee on the Director's own motion, where the Director has reasonable grounds to believe that the behaviour of the transferee places at risk the safety of the staff or of other detainees in an institution. This will greatly reduce the requirement to transfer a high security risk young offender to the Belconnen Remand Centre which is, at present, the only other secure facility in the ACT suitable for such offenders.

It is proposed, Mr Speaker, that the Belconnen Remand Centre may still be used for short periods of time to house juvenile offenders waiting for transfer to a NSW Institution. In this situation the Director, Family Services and the Director, Corrective Services will both have to approve the arrangement.

As I have said, the number of such young people will be small, but the fact remains, Mr Speaker, that the single ACT juvenile detention facility is unable to cope with the range of issues presented by the behaviour of some young offenders.

By way of contrast, NSW has nine juvenile detention centres with a range of security levels and treatment options. In that jurisdiction the Director of Juvenile Justice is able to match the proper placement of young offenders taking into account the particular qualities of the institution, the needs of the young offender and the well being of the other inmates.

In some instances the complex needs of particular young offenders exceed the capacity of our single institution to guarantee their safety and well being and the safety and well being of other inmates.

Recommendation 168 of the Royal Commission in Aboriginal Deaths in Custody will also be a consideration in the decision to transfer young people serving a custodial order.

The Recommendation indicates that "where possible, an Aboriginal prisoner should be placed in an institution as close as possible to the place of residence of his or her family".

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