Page 986 - Week 03 - Thursday, 23 March 2017
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but I can certainly assure you that People with Disabilities ACT, for example, receives direct funding from the ACT government as well as the support it receives from SHOUT.
Mrs Jones: Point of order.
MADAM SPEAKER: Minister, can you resume your seat for a point of order.
Mrs Jones: On relevance, the question was about whether SHOUT was going to be funded, not the member organisations. It is a very simple yes/no question.
MADAM SPEAKER: Thank you, Mrs Jones, but a number of the questions have gone to SHOUT and its members, and the minister is responding.
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: Sorry, Madam Speaker; I must have misheard the question. I thought it was about direct funding of SHOUT members, so I apologise if I misheard that question. I thought I was directly answering it.
In terms of SHOUT, as I have said, we are working through the arrangements for what the new funding arrangement will look like. I am not really in a position to talk about the detail of those conversations at this point, but I can assure members—yet again—that we are absolutely committed to finding an ongoing, sustainable solution so that the important organisations that currently use SHOUT’s services will continue into the future and will continue to be supported.
Visitors
MADAM SPEAKER: I recognise, for the interest of members, in the gallery a number of senior students from the City of Casey in Melbourne. Welcome to the ACT Assembly and to the fabulous city of Canberra. It is the national capital and simply the best city in the world to live in. Welcome.
Questions without notice
Bimberi Youth Justice Centre—staffing
MRS KIKKERT: My question is to the Minister for Community Services and Social Inclusion. You were quoted in the Canberra Times of 15 March as saying that forums have been held with Bimberi staff over the past 10 months to “identify potential improvements in policy and processes resulting from the incident” that occurred in May last year. Minister, the CPSU has confirmed that staff at the Bimberi Youth Justice Centre have been raising concerns with management. Can you please share with the Assembly what specific concerns have been raised?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mrs Kikkert for her question and for her interest in Bimberi. In fact today, when I went to visit Bimberi, there was some additional training going on for staff specifically as a result of the review of the incident on 6 May. Of course employees raise issues on an ongoing basis with their employers about a range of matters.
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