Page 233 - Week 01 - Thursday, 15 December 2016
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Over the last 18 months, the government has been rolling out a comprehensive out of home care strategy, A step up for our kids. The strategy aims to create a therapeutic, trauma-informed system that: reduces the number of children and young people in out of home care by strengthening high-risk families; delivers positive life outcomes for children and young people who cannot live at home by creating a coordinated continuum of care that empowers children and young people, enables permanency when appropriate and in the child’s best interests, and supports the transition to adulthood; and importantly, A step up includes strong oversight and accountability.
I commend my predecessors, including Minister Gentleman, for the work they have done in this area. We have much to build on. Despite the great progress we have made, however, Child and Youth Protection Services are experiencing a projected increase in demand that will equate to more than 16,000 child concern reports in 2016. Drivers include family violence, drug and alcohol abuse and mental illness.
My key priority is to ensure that the step up strategy can be delivered effectively in the face of increasing demand across the system. The government will continue to be supported in this by the Children and Young People Ministerial Advisory Council, and I thank them for their work. The Youth Advisory Council will also continue to advocate on behalf of young people in areas such as transport, employment and social inclusion. The advice of both councils highlights the critical role of services such as health, housing and education in meeting the needs of vulnerable Canberrans, in supporting young people and in reducing the draw into child protection.
The ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander agreement 2015-18 sets out the commitment of the ACT government and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body to recognise and respond to the needs of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in the ACT and surrounding region and to work together to strengthen families and communities. The agreement focuses on strong families as the platform for supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people. As I said earlier, much of the work in this portfolio is premised on cooperation across government, our partnerships with the non-government sector and our willingness to engage with the community.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body will hold elections in 2017. We are working with the elected body and the wider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community to ensure as many people as possible are engaged in the election process, while also finalising a number of reforms. It is important that the government continues to support the elected body in its work. In 2017 this will include planning the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum and the 25th anniversary of the Mabo decision, as well as implementing actions identified in the agreement.
Delivering improved life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families relies on effective prevention and early intervention strategies and programs. In the ACT around one in four children in out of home care identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. We are actively seeking to address this over-representation through A step up for our kids. However, a concerted effort is
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