Page 1411 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 6 April 2011
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years in both drug and alcohol and other settings. I believe we should allow this task force to be given the opportunity to follow through what has come out of the report.
There are concerns about counselling, which I have previously raised with the minister. I did not receive a response that satisfied my concerns. However, it is good to see that it is raised in this report and will be given due regard, as it should. This is an issue that was raised with me by the community sector and now will be pursued, as I said, obviously through this report.
If detainees are suffering trauma or mental illness, providing them with medication is not enough. If an emotional problem is to be resolved and further conflict or harm avoided, we do need to give people the time to talk through their problems and come to a personal solution or emotional resolution. This is absolutely key to rehabilitation. The therapeutic community is an excellent addition to the services provided in relation to a number of areas including counselling. However, this will not be appropriate for all inmates, nor will it be able to accommodate all inmates who need this sort of service.
I am worried about those inmates being held in the crisis support unit, especially given that the forensic mental health unit is some time away. The human rights commissioner had previously recommended that Quamby be used as a temporary site until the new unit was underway. The crisis support unit does not adequately cater for the needs of all the people who require it. This is also an item that the Greens have put questions to the minister about. Again, we are talking about very vulnerable people who are going into this unit, and there should not be further harm caused to them by them going into this unit.
In relation to medication, there are matters regarding detainees’ personal handling of medication that must be further resolved. While I support and believe in detainees being able to manage their own medication, I am concerned about those who are particularly vulnerable and may not have a decision-making capacity due to their intellectual or emotional disability. It is noted in the report that this matter has been raised by the human rights commissioner and I am aware of constituent cases that have been raised with me by some people that inmates are sometimes stood over by other inmates for their medication. I feel that there must be greater vigilance applied to this, particularly, as I said, for people who do not have the capacity to make that decision for themselves.
Issues regarding capacity were raised in the chamber several weeks back, on 9 March, and this is something that I continue to be concerned about, particularly the rise in detainee numbers. We certainly do not want a full prison. Many in the community feared that the prison would become full too quickly once it was operational. This is why many organisations were hesitant in the first place to support the development of the prison.
I did move some amendments to Mr Hanson’s motion on 9 March, asking the Attorney-General to report back on this issue, particularly in relation to the status of community corrections and whether under-resourcing these programs is causing an increase in numbers. I appreciate the placement of some long-term inmates in the
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