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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 08 Hansard (Thursday, 5 August 2004) . . Page.. 3492 ..

The government is committed to developing a participation model for children and young people and this will be developed as part of the response to the Vardon report.

The government, in its previous response, said that it had considered that recommendation. It then goes on to state:

The government’s alcohol and drug program currently has no exclusion criteria.

The point that has been made by the committee is that it wants to see specific services for young people. We know that the government’s alcohol and drug program is now under three different reviews, so it would have been useful if the government had re-thought what it had said in light of those three reviews and the serious allegations that have been made. That issue should have been updated in the government’s response. It is quite insulting for the government to state that it currently has no exclusion criteria. Even though the government has agreed in principle to recommendation 8 I think it is another no. Recommendation 8 states:

The Committee recommends that the Government provide funding … for a dedicated position within the Domestic Violence Crisis Service that would deliver programs and outreach to children and young people who have witnessed/been subjected to domestic violence …

That is a really big issue in the audit and in most reports that have dealt with those issues. Basically, we are being fobbed off. We have seen that kind of language in report after report, which upsets me when I read it. After everything that has happened the government, in its revised response, states:

The government will continue to review the adequacy of this funding on an ongoing basis.

So the government is telling us not to worry about it, which implies that everything is okay when we know that it is not. The audit raised concerns and drew attention to the fact that there must be a much stronger reaction to questions concerning children who are exposed to domestic violence. The government also states in a new section of its revised response that it is providing additional support and accommodation services, which is good. The government also states:

The government is working to support the domestic violence crisis service emergency accommodation response to families.

We really want to see some commitment by this government. I am concerned that, once again, we are being fobbed off. There has been talk about the child at risk assessment unit dealing with these issues, but anyone who is familiar with this area would know that it does not. One group of children basically falls outside all the normal responses. I am glad to hear the minister saying that there will be more effective links between current family services and other ACT Health agencies, but this recommendation was made because that is a crying and specific need.

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