Page 3706 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 24 August 2011
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On 4 August 2011 Minister Burch made a commitment to extend supports to young people from 18 to 25 years and to introduce a bill in the December sitting period. The ACT Greens’ bill was ready to go, and I have decided today to table this bill as a way of contributing towards legislation that will ensure better support and therefore better outcomes for those transitioning out of care.
This group of young people, like so many in our community, deserve our best efforts to see success for them in life. Young people transitioning from out-of-home care are not a group I want used as a means of political point scoring. To that end, I have tabled this bill as a contribution in the hope that we can work together towards putting together a sound piece of legislation that addresses the issues faced by young people and young adults transitioning from care.
This bill brings the ACT into line with several other Australian jurisdictions. The Northern Territory, New South Wales and Western Australia all have legislated in this area to increase the rights and supports that young people who are leaving or have left out-of-home care receive. The ACT Greens have developed this bill in line with the New South Wales Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 and the Western Australian Children and Community Services Act 2004.
This bill is underpinned by a need to acknowledge the importance of providing opportunities for all young Canberrans to reach their potential. The circumstances that lead to a child being removed from their home and family require evidence that demonstrates that this type of environment is in fact doing more harm than good and is not in their best interest. We understand that the nature of this situation usually means that a child or young person has been subject to traumatising levels of emotional, physical or sexual abuse or neglect. This can have a range of impacts on a child’s life—as, too, can their experiences of out-of-home care.
There is strong evidence that children need a minimum of five key experiences to succeed: caring adults in their lives, safe places to live, a healthy start, effective education and opportunities to help others. Developmental and economic studies have linked these five experiences to better adult outcomes such as improved health status, less dependency on government and the earning of higher wages. However, we also know that current research indicates that young people and young adults who have been in out-of-home care situations have much poorer life outcomes.
Therefore, post-care options for young people transitioning to independence from the care and protection system must be enhanced to provide full opportunity for life success. This bill provides advice and understanding that young people transitioning towards independence have distinct needs and characteristics that must be taken into account when planning and delivering services with them.
What we know is that, like the national trends, children who have been placed in out-of-home care in the ACT have poorer life outcomes than other children. There are many factors which influence the life outcomes of children and young people, including the age that children enter care and the number of care placements they experience.
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