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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 14 Hansard (9 December) . . Page.. 4702 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

and young people can all too easily disappear out of the system. Since the closure of the School Without Walls, I have been very concerned to see how little information the Minister has been able to provide to me about what has happened to some former SWOW students. SWOW was the last anchor in our community for some of those kids, and I am afraid the closure has created another crack to fall through.

There are also many issues impacting on families. Many families are experiencing increased stress due to the downsizing of the Australian and ACT public services and cuts to services in many areas. Canberra also has a high number of families who do not have extended families living nearby, reducing the support networks available to families experiencing stress.

There are recommendations in this report relating to housing, education, coordination of services, services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, family support, sexual assault services, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, carers, refuges and substitute care arrangements, mental health services and the justice system. There are also recommendations specifically about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. I noted members' claims in the debate in this place last week on the placing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags in the chamber. The statement was made that reconciliation was about services as much as, if not more than, it was about symbolic gestures. I look forward to seeing a positive response by all members here to the recommendations of this report.

No doubt concerns will be raised about the resource implications of some of these recommendations, but the fact is that if we do not invest in early intervention and preventive and supportive measures for these young people they are most likely in the long run to cost the community a lot more in economic and social terms. Most of the crime committed by young people in the ACT is drug related. It is very alarming when I hear the Minister for Police respond to this by suggesting stiffer sentencing. It is a frighteningly ignorant response, in my view. The facts are that if we take that path we will end up putting more and more of our young people in gaol, where the system will further add to their problems and to society's problems. When they are released back into society, it is hardly likely that they will be feeling good about themselves and looking forward to becoming contributing, positive members of our community.

Improving the juvenile justice system, of course, is very important; but this cannot be used as an excuse for allowing just a law and order response to this very important social issue. The committee did recommend the appointment of a specialised children's magistrate in the ACT. I quote from the foreword to Barbara Holborow's book Those Cracks on my Face:

Some of the most passionate and emotional dramas are played out in Australia's Children's Courts - the engine room of our juvenile justice system, where the pain and trauma of childhood and early adulthood are not confined just to those who are young. At some stage, just about every social issue and conflict will be addressed in a Children's Court.

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