Page 277 - Week 01 - Thursday, 9 December 2004
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related The territory’s children report. These documents together represent the most systematic investigation into the issues facing children and young people in family life and in their communities, and the specific issues of children who are in care.
The government will be working to implement the outcome of these inquiries, always including children and young people in the decisions that affect them. Over the coming four years, we will be judged on our success in implementing our commitments. We will be judged on the integrity of the child protection system in the ACT, on how we effectively strengthen opportunities for all young people in the ACT; whether we successfully introduce improved mechanisms for the participation of children and young people in decision making; whether we are able to improve outcomes for young people who come into contact with the youth justice system; and whether we are able to improve the situation of indigenous youth who are involved in the juvenile justice system. The ACT government will be working to ensure that improvements in all these areas are substantial and that we make a real difference to the children and young people involved.
It is now clear that all jurisdictions in Australia are experiencing problems in dealing with the situation of children in care, and the ACT has been no exception. I believe that we are well on the way to effectively reforming the child protection system here, and the work already done is seeing improved public awareness of the issues associated with child protection, improved government services, increased funding and more child protection workers out there in the community working very hard to improve the safety and wellbeing of children at risk.
In August this year, I tabled the implementation strategy of the Territory as parent report. The government response to the Vardon review has been quick and comprehensive, and the positive work is outlined in this document. We have committed to developing high-quality standards of care and protection services for children and young people at risk that are culturally appropriate, child focused and developed in partnership across the care and protection sector. As a part of this process, the government has committed to building a comprehensive continuum of early intervention and prevention services from birth to age 18. The immediate priority is to expand services that target those children and young people most at risk of entering the care and protection system.
The government has already begun work to ensure that the system is improved, with the allocation of an extra $68 million already committed to child protection over the next four years. The additional resources will allow the largest overhaul of the child protection system in the ACT. The significant investment of funds in the area represents this government’s commitment to children who are at risk and is the single largest investment of funding into programs to assist children at risk and children who are in care.
Through the hard work of all involved, we are seeing an enhanced partnership between government and community sector agencies, improving caseloads and professional development, increased support for foster carers with expanded out of home care options, and a strengthened system of accountability measures and governance arrangements, including the soon to be created commissioner for children and young people.
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