Page 81 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 15 February 2011
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detention, no matter how short, are disruptive to a young person’s education, employment and family life.
Every young Canberran deserves opportunities to lead a fulfilling life. As a government and as a community, we must all take collective responsibility to provide those opportunities, whether they be in education, skills development, jobs, welfare or recreational activities.
We are fortunate that the current generation of young Canberrans, for the most part, do have these opportunities and we celebrate their achievements and contribution to our community. I am pleased to say that the government and its community partners have been actively engaged in that role, and I can give you a few examples.
The PCYC has a great commitment to developing young people’s social skills such as self-discipline and understanding of behavioural expectations within the community. Gugan Gulwan Aboriginal Corporation has a range of fantastic primary healthcare
programs for Indigenous young people and their families. Winnunga Aboriginal Health Service offers parenting programs to Indigenous families, which include behavioural management skills for parents to minimise at-risk behaviours of young people.
While these services exist we cannot ignore the fact that there are young people here in Canberra that are at risk of ongoing contact with the juvenile justice system. This government has had a longstanding commitment to divert young people from the justice system in the ACT. It is an important objective not only for the young people themselves but also for our community as a whole.
I am sure that all members would share my concern at some of the figures on youth justice that have been reported in recent studies, including the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and the Productivity Commission report on government services.
The latest published data tells us that the ACT has the third highest rate per thousand young people aged between 10 and 17 years in detention. We have the second highest rate per thousand young people aged 10 to 17 under youth justice supervision. But it is the story behind these statistics that should inspire the greatest concern.
Each of us in this place realises the effect of youth crime and the costs of disengagement and antisocial behaviour on our community. But what is most concerning is the impact of a period of remand or custody on our young people. Research tells us that their education, their job prospects, their personal relationships and their futures are all affected. It is not surprising then that a period of custody has such an effect when those young people in contact with it are among the most vulnerable in our community.
There is also, as I stated, over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in our juvenile justice system. I am very concerned about our rate of Indigenous young people in custody. Of the 30 young residents in Bimberi last week, 15 were from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background. Those statistics just cannot be ignored.
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