Page 1150 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 28 March 2017
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Bimberi Youth Justice Centre—staffing
MRS JONES: My question is to the Minister for Disability, Children and Youth. Minister, according to the CPSU, one concern that staff members at Bimberi have raised with management is “whether the centre is adequately staffed, both in terms of numbers of people and what roles they are deployed in”. In response, the Community Services Directorate merely stated that staffing levels were adequate 10 months ago. Minister, are the current staffing levels at Bimberi adequate, both in terms of numbers and roles?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mrs Jones for her question. In short, the answer is yes.
MRS JONES: Minister, have detainees ever been kept in their rooms because of insufficient staffing?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I will take that question on notice.
MRS KIKKERT: Minister, in the past 10 months, have any programs for detainees at Bimberi been cut back as a consequence of insufficient staffing?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I will take that question on notice.
Multicultural affairs—government policy
MS ORR: My question is to the Minister for Multicultural Affairs. Minister, what specific barriers do people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds face in fully participating in our community, and how is the government working to address these?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Ms Orr for her question. Of course, we know that people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds face a number of complex barriers which prevent them from fully participating in our community. Whether these are language barriers, systemic barriers or barriers created by mistrust or misunderstanding, they have a significant impact on social, health and economic outcomes for these individuals, their families and communities.
The ACT government is committed to working with these communities to reduce such barriers. The ACT multicultural framework 2015-2020 highlights actions across government in supporting and protecting our cultural diversity. This includes a range of grants programs such as the ACT participation multicultural grants. ACT government initiatives such as the work experience and support program aim to overcome some of the barriers to economic participation through employment. The program has been successfully changing lives through employment for almost two decades.
The government also understands the need to ensure that services are open and accessible to people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Ensuring
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