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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 14 Hansard (9 December) . . Page.. 4705 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

In Mrs Littlewood's comments on housing, she states that young people may not require long-term rental accommodation, that the ACT provides long-term rental accommodation and that other options need to be looked at. I do not see how that is even an additional comment. That is why the committee made several recommendations regarding development of alternative housing. Mrs Littlewood said that the ACT Government is not aware that 20 young people shared a bed-sit at one point. Mrs Littlewood, that is why we have Assembly committee inquiries - to give the community, in this case a service provider, the opportunity to tell government and members - - -

Mrs Littlewood: But you did not prove it, Kerrie. You took hearsay evidence.

MS TUCKER: I hear Mrs Littlewood saying, "Prove it". I think Mrs Littlewood wants to turn our Assembly committee system into a court of law. Most people understand that the idea behind our Assembly committee system is to give the community an opportunity to tell government and members what is happening on the ground.

The background paper released this week, "Key Trends and Issues for Housing", shows that more than 30 per cent of the homeless were young people between the ages of 15 and 19. This background paper also shows that, contrary to the comments of the Minister for Housing during the Estimates Committee hearings, there are in fact not seven homeless people in the ACT. According to the supported accommodation assistance program data, at least 1,000 people accessed services for the homeless during the last six months of 1996. This demonstrates, I believe, the urgent need for action from government.

In conclusion, I would like to thank everyone who gave their time and energy to be part of this inquiry, particularly those who went to the trouble of writing submissions and visiting the committee. I would like to extend a very special thankyou to the committee's secretary, Judith Henderson, and to Fiona Clapin, the research officer, who both worked tirelessly to assist the committee in its production of this comprehensive report. Also, of course, I would like to thank Marion Reilly for her enthusiastic commitment to this work, and Mrs Littlewood.

MS REILLY (11.21): This report, as Ms Tucker has just said, is comprehensive. It has been introduced into the Assembly in the closing stages of the Third Assembly - something that we knew about when we started the inquiry and something that Assembly members were fully aware of when they agreed to the reference being given to the Social Policy Committee. This report highlights a number of issues in relation to children and young people in the ACT community. One of the underlying themes that came through in discussions and submissions is the role of children and young people in our community. This issue has come up in a number of inquiries this committee has undertaken. It was an issue in our inquiries into violence in schools, skateboards and their use, disability services and mental health services, and the School Without Walls. All related to children and young people in the ACT.

One of the quite frightening parts about the whole thing was the sort of Victorian attitude that came through at times that young people and children should be seen but they should not be heard; that in public places they should not be seen and they should not be heard. I think this makes it extremely difficult and contributes to the alienation that a number of

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