Page 2102 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 6 August 2014

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I can advise Mrs Jones and the Assembly that in the ACT this data has been collected from the woman’s maternity card, which is normally not given until the 16th week of pregnancy, on their first antenatal clinic visit at the hospital. There have not been procedures in place for the hospitals to record when women had their first antenatal visit if that occurred with a GP. Processes are being changed now to capture the first GP visit for the woman. That should fix this anomaly. It is hoped that it will be reflected in data collected on 2014 births.

Housing—homelessness

MS LAWDER (Brindabella) (3.25): I move:

That this Assembly:

(1) notes:

(a) that 4-10 August 2014 is National Homeless Persons’ Week;

(b) homelessness causes devastating personal harm, significantly impacts on society and costs the government;

(c) one in three people experiencing homelessness present at an emergency department in a year, which is more than the average rate;

(d) a quarter of people experiencing homelessness were charged with a criminal offence in the past six months, and one in three of those in prison reported being homeless in the month before, which is more than the general population;

(e) people experiencing homelessness are more likely to be unemployed than those in the general population;

(f) that a safe and suitable place to live underpins a full and healthy life and enables social inclusion, education, health and employment opportunities; and

(g) the solution to homelessness lies in the provision of more housing, specifically affordable housing, together with targeted support to enable people to sustain their tenancies; and

(2) calls on the ACT Government to:

(a) increase the supply of affordable housing in the ACT;

(b) continue to implement innovative models as well as continue those that have proven successful in reducing disadvantage to vulnerable Canberrans; and

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