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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 8 Hansard (29 August) . . Page.. 2537 ..

MR SPEAKER (continuing):

MR SMYTH: Mr Speaker, I would have to refresh myself on the details of what happened there. If anything that we do is not appropriate or is not the best that we could have done, I often write and apologise for the staff not delivering a service as well as it could have been delivered. If there is something there that I should apologise for, I would have no hesitation at all in saying we got it wrong. I will have to look at it and get back to the Assembly.

MR WOOD: My question to Mr Moore, in his capacity as minister for youth, is about the Junction Youth Centre. This centre provides a good service. I would like to know, and others would like to know, why it has closed this week. I understand that Anglicare is to take it on. I would like to know when will that be, and really was it necessary for it to be closed down for a week or more.

MR MOORE: This matter is my responsibility and I thank Mr Wood for the question. Mr Rugendyke was at the Junction the other day when we celebrated one of the tasks it had undertaken, which was the production of a poster encouraging young women to have Pap smears. Although the ACT has the highest percentage of women in Australia who have Pap smears, only 49 per cent of women between the ages of 22 and 24 have them and the Junction had produced a poster that encouraged young women to do that.

I use that little anecdote as an illustration of the sort of work that has been done by the Junction over the last few years. It has provided an integrated youth health service-an extraordinarily positive thing. The Youth Coalition of the ACT has run the service since its inception in 1998. The service was set up by-it is unusual for me to mention names but I think it is appropriate in this case-Miss Simone Dilkara. She delivered a fantastic and brilliant service as the manager under the auspices of the Youth Coalition of the ACT.

The Youth Coalition of the ACT is a peak body and, as such, it is my understanding that they were not keen to continue running the service themselves. They set the service up on a trial basis. Basically, it not only survived the trial but we recognised what an excellent service it was. Therefore, we went to a tender process to determine what would be the best way to continue this service. In fact, you are quite right in that Anglicare won that service.

The transfer of the service from the Youth Coalition of the ACT to Anglicare is happening, I think, next week. Indeed, I think it has closed down this week. It is closing down for just one week-an extraordinarily short time to hand over a service like this. I have to say I am delighted that the health service is only closing down for such a very limited amount of time.

I have given one specific example of the services that are provided. Of course, there are a wide range of other services, particularly those involved in drug and alcohol and a range of other issues. There were two or three applicants for the role in the tender process that we went through and Anglicare came out in front in that process.

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