Page 294 - Week 01 - Thursday, 29 November 2012
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MR CORBELL: I thank Ms Porter for her question and her ongoing interest in the cause and the concerns of young people involved in the criminal justice system, particularly young Indigenous people. Alongside the strong downward crime trend that I have just outlined, the statistical profile released earlier this week also shows lower rates of youth detention, with an 18 per cent decrease for all young people remanded or committed to Bimberi in the September 2012 quarter compared to the previous June quarter. This is an area that has seen significant decreases, with the incidence of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people remanded at Bimberi declining.
This, of course, has been a key focus of the Labor government. We are encouraged to see that the latest quarterly figures show the numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait young people remanded or committed to Bimberi has dropped by 71 per cent. It is down from 17 remands and committals in the June 2012 quarter to five in September 2012.
This is because of a focused effort on the part of all agencies across government to engage with and to provide further support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and it means that we see less incarceration of young people in our justice system and in particular in Bimberi.
Of course, this has been achieved through the ongoing implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander justice agreement. The agreement, which was tabled in the Assembly earlier this year, took stock of our success and also identified further areas for improvement.
We continue to build on these measures through activities such as the establishment of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs and services committee to coordinate service delivery with the local Indigenous community, the commencement of the ATSI family engagement officer position and the after-hours bail support service. (Time expired.)
Centenary Hospital for Women and Children—facilities
MR COE: My question is to the Minister for Health. During estimates hearings on 21 June, the Director-General of the Health Directorate stated that some facilities within the women and children’s hospital were temporary. You then corrected the director-general and stated that they were not temporary but just located for a short period of time in a location at which they were not remaining permanently. Minister, can you provide a definition of “temporary” as you understand it, for the use of health department officials during future public hearings?
MS GALLAGHER: Well, ha, ha, ha! Well done, Alistair, for trying to take the funny question.
MADAM SPEAKER: Chief Minister, standing order 42.
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