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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 1 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 81 ..

MR STANHOPE (continuing):

share their heritage. We will work with community groups on this task, and I expect a discussion paper on this subject by ACT Harmony Day in March next year.

The government will make much better use of the Multicultural Advisory Council, comprising representatives of established and emerging multicultural communities, to provide advice on multicultural issues and programs. We will continue to provide support to the National Multicultural Festival, which will be held in February. We will also take positive steps to remove obstacles that people from culturally diverse backgrounds face in taking part in the community.

Reporting processes will be strengthened in my department and the specific needs of the multicultural community will be a mandatory consideration in the cabinet process. Legislation will be examined to ensure that it is not discriminatory. Government services will focus on the particular needs of migrant women. Translator and interpreter services will be made more available and important community information will be disseminated in both English and other major community languages.

The government has made clear its view that migrants contribute significantly to our economic wellbeing. We have started work on measures to ensure that migrants are given this opportunity. The government's programs for business migration, recognition of overseas qualifications and work experience have been collocated in the Office of Multicultural and Community Affairs to ensure that there is an holistic approach to providing these opportunities. I also expect by March to consider a proposal to expand the work experience program for people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in the ACT government. We will also move on our promise to investigate financing options for a multicultural centre.

Canberra's young people deserve encouragement and support. This is particularly the case for young people at risk of offending. The government will provide a range of programs to support these young people and their families to ensure that they do not become offenders. We are currently establishing a project team to coordinate a new approach to youth crime prevention. It will look at issues of service delivery and coordination of responses to young people at risk of offending. By March next year, we will have established coordination measures to carry out this important task more effectively. I will be taking a particular interest in this cross-government task and the Chief Minister's Department will be leading it.

The government will not take a knee-jerk approach to issues related to crime. We will approach the task of making the ACT a safer place scientifically and systematically. To that end, an early priority is the improvement of criminal justice data in the territory, so that we know exactly what is going on and how best to apply our crime prevention resources. Work will commence this year on minimum data set requirements and collation and analysis needs to enable progression of this critical project in the first half of 2002.

The government has committed to re-establishing a fair victims of crime financial assistance scheme. The current victims of crime legislation is presently in issue before the Federal Court and, before deciding on how best to implement its policy on this matter, the government will await the court's decision. If the court finds that the retrospectivity is invalid, then those 400 victims of crime will be able to pursue their

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