Page 1177 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 9 April 2008
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(iv) expansion of Junction Youth Health Service;
(v) producing a new version of the “When can I?” publication; and
(vi) actioning recommendations from the 2007 Youth InterACT conference; and
(2) congratulates the federal government on establishing a Minister for Youth.
Mr Speaker, this government is committed to improving services and implementing initiatives for young people across the Canberra community. In the midst of Youth Week it is timely to reflect on the services and initiatives this government has implemented to benefit not just the young but all residents of the ACT. This government has sought to ensure there are a wide range of resources and programs allocated for young people throughout the ACT. The government has done this through a number of funded programs and through its own service delivery.
National Youth Week is funded by the ACT government in partnership with the commonwealth Department of Families, Housing and Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. Unique to the ACT, National Youth Week is coordinated in partnership between the Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services and the Youth Coalition of the ACT. Ms Simone Mooketsi is the ACT young member of the National Youth Week planning group, and she assisted in the planning and coordination of Youth Week here in the ACT.
National Youth Week provides young people with a week of events to highlight the contribution that they make in the community. More than 40 events are held across the ACT, offering a range of different opportunities to get involved. These are excellent events and a credit to all involved, particularly the Youth Coalition and the young people who put it together. It is a pity I do not have time to list them all now.
National Youth Week was launched by the minister at the Youth InterACT Conference, which was hosted by the ACT government’s Youth Advisory Council on the fourth of this month, and it runs from 5 to 13 April. However, Mr Speaker, obviously the ACT government’s commitment to young people does not stop here. In January 2007, the government, through the ACT Legal Aid Office, launched When can I, a legal guide for young people. When can I covers a wide range of topics, including school, employment, housing, Centrelink payments, health and mental health, sex and relationships, parenting, family separation, safety, the Children’s Court, alcohol and drugs, cars and driving, purchasing, money and debt, human rights and discrimination.
The When can I guide has an important role in informing young people how they can identify and deal with legal problems. The guide is written for young people aged between 12 and 25 and outlines their legal rights and responsibilities and where they can go for further legal information and assistance, and it is distributed free to youth centres, high schools and community organisations in the ACT.
In the 2007-08 budget the government committed $1.9 million to enhance youth health services in Belconnen, Gungahlin and Tuggeranong. This will provide for a
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