Page 3892 - Week 10 - Thursday, 28 August 2008
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which we really need to be cognisant of as we move through this report. Hopefully, the next government will pick up on all the reports that these committees have worked very hard on in this Assembly. That is no more the case than with this one.
As the chair has pointed out, there are 18 recommendations. Turning to recommendation 12, we often know that people do not know how to get the services. The services may be there, but there are often barriers to accessing those services. Recommendation 12 states:
The committee recommends that the ACT government conduct an evaluation of its early intervention services to ensure that these services are adequately and appropriately meeting the needs of parents of vulnerable infants, and potentially vulnerable infants.
I think that that is a really critical point. It is necessary to be able to intervene at an early stage, gather around that woman and make sure that she has those support services that are available.
Recommendation 13 deals with another problem. There can be a lack of collaboration between agencies where one agency does not talk to another. We may have things like memorandums of understanding, but often it is a case of how efficient and effective those memorandums can be. As members will see from page 48 of our report, we talk about that whole issue there in terms of integrating the work of different agencies. We state:
The Integrated Multi-agencies for Parents And Children Together Program (IMPACT) is an example of a multi-agency program that began in February 2008. This program caters for families expecting a baby or who have a child under two years of age.
Obviously, the eligibility for that program is that the client must be a client of Mental Health ACT and/or be receiving opioid replacement therapy. I think it is about making sure that people are talking to one another across agencies.
Finally, I would like to draw members’ attention to fathers. Let us not forget them; they are a very critical part in all this. Recommendations 14, 15 and 16 talk about consulting with men’s support organisations and regional community services to develop early intervention programs for fathers with complex needs.
At recommendation 15 we talk about considering the principles of a father-inclusive practice framework and future service planning. In recommendation 16, the committee recommends that:
… the ACT government investigate the level of unmet need of support services for young fathers post the age of 26.
There seems to be a fair bit of help and assistance, but the committee heard that post the age of 26 there does seem to be a gap in service delivery there.
We do have a busy day ahead of us. I will not take up members’ time further. I just thank the chair for bringing this report forward. I also thank the deputy chair, Ms
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