Page 574 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 19 March 2014
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The motion here simply seeks to provide a list of potential options that would allow Gugan Gulwan to continue to provide valuable support and mentoring to Indigenous youth in the ACT. I urge all members of this place to support it today.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo—Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Housing, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and Minister for Ageing) (6.10): I will be supporting Mr Wall’s motion today, although subject to the amendment that Ms Burch is going to move, which I will also be supporting. Gugan Gulwan is a highly respected professional youth service that, indeed, deserves bipartisan support in this place.
I made it a priority to visit Gugan Gulwan in Erindale when I was made Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and had a great visit with Kim Davison, the CEO of Gugan, and her staff. It was great to see Gugan first hand, and it is clear that it operates a vibrant, welcoming service for young people in the region.
As Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, I have actively been advocating for alternative accommodation for Gugan in recent months and will continue to do so. The services provided by Gugan Gulwan have evolved from its inception as a youth service in 1992 to providing a broader range of support for children, young people and their families. They have been operating out of the Erindale centre in Wanniassa since 2001.
Gugan Gulwan use a culturally appropriate approach that is founded on principles of self-determination, and that is valued by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people and their families that visit. Gugan Gulwan have advised that there is now a need for other programs such as young women and mothers, young men and arts therapy, to be run from the centre, and more space is needed to run these programs. Apart from additional indoor space, outdoor space is required as young children also participate in the programs. It is a testament to the success of Gugan Gulwan that they have outgrown their premises, and I see it as a positive that they are running much-needed and effective programs.
While I welcome Mr Wall raising this matter in the Assembly and acknowledge what I know is his genuine interest in and support for Gugan, I was a little surprised to see this matter raised as a motion on the notice paper, without his office having first either written to me or sought a briefing. Having said that, I can understand there has been some frustration on Gugan’s part with the delays to date, and I will go to some of those and provide some of that information to the Assembly so that the Assembly has a full appreciation of the situation.
I appreciate the tone of Mr Wall’s motion. It is designed to raise the matter in such a way as to ensure a good outcome for the service. Since Ms Davison contacted my office in January this year to seek greater support—she felt that that might be a way of helping to resolve some of the issues that had arisen—I have asked for regular updates and have the matter listed as a standing agenda item in my weekly meetings with the directorate. This is a way of my ensuring that the matter has received a level of focus and is being progressed in a timely manner.
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