Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 14 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 5235 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

reveals that community workers require a much greater understanding of dual diagnosis issues. They should be provided with additional support and training to facilitate that. The government's response to the dual diagnosis recommendation was that ACT Health had funded a series of training courses for clinical practice, which I assume refers to doctors and nurses. Community workers must be assisted to deal with clients with dual or multiple diagnoses.

It would be useful if community workers were given a first-aid knowledge kit filled with practical ways of dealing with clients with dual or multiple diagnoses. I am sorry that that ongoing issue has still not been dealt with properly.

I was interested to see the government's response to recommendation 6, which is as follows:

The committee recommends that the Government:

a) investigate the provision of additional support to community organisations working in the areas of sexual and reproductive health to widely distribute material targeted at young people and presented in community languages.

The government responded in the following terms:

The availability of appropriate materials in the ACT and other jurisdictions will be investigated. The Office of the Chief Health Officer will discuss this recommendation with service providers and the Office of Multicultural Affairs, to determine appropriate strategies to progress this issue.

What stage has the government reached in relation to that issue? I am sorry that I did not speak earlier in debate as the minister might have had an opportunity to respond to a number of my questions. However, I will speak to the minister later. I wanted only to place these important matters on the record. The Rape Crisis Centre raised issues concerning its current workload and the waiting times that are involved-another important area that needs to be addressed by the government.

Earlier, I dealt briefly with mental health issues. I referred to women with mental health problems and to women not necessarily with dual diagnoses but with substance abuse problems. I referred also to the problems being experienced by those women in obtaining residential support. They are afraid that if they disclose their substance abuse problems they will lose their children.

That problem, which has not been resolved, is similar to the housing problems that are being experienced by sufferers of domestic violence. From memory, the committee recommended that the government should address that issue. This report spells out quite clearly the current situation being faced by these women. It lists this issue as a number one priority and states:

ACT Housing has a policy around women escaping domestic violence giving them an early allocation 1. This provides difficulty because quite often ACT Housing requires proof, protection orders, and support letters. Many women do not have access to or have not accessed the legal and support systems which also reflects the isolation of experiencing domestic violence in their lives.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .