Page 5765 - Week 14 - Wednesday, 7 December 2011

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video

(2) calls on the ACT Government to:

(a) appoint an ongoing specialist advisory panel to advise the Government and Youth Justice Implementation Task force on the development of the Blueprint for Youth Justice and its implementation;

(b) consistent with recommendation 7.7 of the Commission’s report, commit to working with the Youth Justice Advisory Panel to develop and implement a suite of risk and protective assessment tools for vulnerable children, young people and their families; and

(i) child and adolescent psychology;

(ii) trauma and abuse;

(iii) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement;

(iv) vulnerable families;

(v) youth justice;

(vi) education; and

(vii) health.

I welcome the chance today to outline the need for expertise to be incorporated into the development of a blueprint for youth justice in the ACT. However, I find it disappointing that the situation has got to this point. In January this year, the Attorney-General directed the human rights commissioner and the Children and Young People Commissioner to undertake a review of the youth justice system in the ACT, and I looked forward to the outcomes. It was clear to everyone that there were challenges and barriers facing vulnerable children, young people and their families, that some of the problems the territory had been trying to address since the days of Quamby had not been addressed, and that at times the criminal justice system, the community sector and the government were struggling to achieve positive rehabilitative outcomes for young people.

When the ACT youth justice report 2011 was tabled in July I, like many others, was impressed by the size and scope of the recommendations and took some time to work my way through the presenting issues. I believe the evidence base which underpinned this report made it a seminal piece of work for the ACT and a document that would lead us confidently into a process of positive reform. Like many of the stakeholders, I keenly awaited the government response.

Prior to the release of the government response, a range of reforms were announced by the government, such as the after-hours bail coordination service, the single case management approach for community youth justice clients and the youth drug and

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video