Page 577 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 19 March 2014
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Community Service and the YWCA of Canberra. The key features of the youth engagement services are the street outreach on Friday and Saturday evenings, open access or drop-in activities in safe places that are appropriate and accessible for young people, late night program or recreational activities where young people are likely to congregate, and brokerage funding to support engagement and connections with families or other services such as phone cards, bus tickets, meals and family outings.
A highlight for youth engagement over the year is the growing number of young people attending the Lanyon drop-in centre down in the electorate of Brindabella. With increased opening hours, more structured activities and more staffing, the average monthly attendance has increased sixfold in Lanyon. The highest number of young people who have attended the drop-in at Mura Lanyon Youth and Community Centre in a given month was 350 young people. I believe that this is a ringing endorsement of the reforms that were put in place on youth engagement.
The ACT government provides Gugan Gulwan funding under the child, youth and family service program to provide case management, group-based programs, youth engagement, and therapeutic services for the vulnerable and in-need Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people and their families. Much has been said already about the various programs that operate through the centre.
In the 2013-14 year, Gugan Gulwan will be provided with $585,000 from the child, youth and family support program. This is an increase on past funding. This additional funding has allowed Gugan to employ an additional youth and engagement officer to expand existing programs for case management, drop-in, tutoring and music programs, and a mothers group. One could make a logical connection from increased funding and increased staffing resources to the obvious need for them to expand their physical footprint and to have access to more areas.
Gugan Gulwan is a well respected service provider. They do a great job. They are actively engaged in supporting some of our most vulnerable young people. Gugan Gulwan support young people in custody, focusing on their reintegration into the community and participation in cultural programs. Staff from Gugan Gulwan attend Bimberi on a weekly basis to conduct an art program with young Indigenous people and also attend various cultural events and ceremonies at Bimberi. I have recently reported in this place on the successful outcomes for the young folk at Bimberi. I am confident that having this link between Bimberi and Gugan Gulwan has made a difference.
The youth justice case management staff have continued to refer young people to Gugan Gulwan and have a number of clients in common. It is worth noting that the collaboration between youth justice and Gugan Gulwan has ensured that there have been no delays in response to these referrals from Gugan since the changes to the CYFSP were introduced.
I can assure the Assembly and Mr Wall that all arms of government are working together to find new accommodation to meet the physical needs of Gugan Gulwan. As Mr Rattenbury touched on, there is an across-government approach to this. I absolutely understand the organisation’s frustration in not finding a suitable place that
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