Page 1721 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 9 May 2018

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That this Assembly:

(1) notes that:

(a) in the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s 2016 National Drug Strategy Household Survey, one in four women reported having consumed alcohol after becoming aware of their pregnancies;

(b) alcohol exposure at any time during pregnancy can cause damage to the developing foetus. Evidence demonstrates that alcohol passes easily through the placenta within a couple of hours, giving the foetus a blood alcohol concentration nearly equal to that of the mother. Amniotic fluid retains alcohol, prolonging exposure to alcohol for the foetus. The foetus has minimal ability to metabolise alcohol and the ramifications of foetal alcohol exposure can produce lifelong harm known as foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD);

(d) research has shown that children and youth with FASD have a much higher risk of not completing their education, of falling into lower socioeconomic groups, of self-medicating with drugs and alcohol, of suffering from anxiety or depression and of ultimately coming into contact with the criminal justice system;

(e) juveniles with FASD are 19 times more likely to be incarcerated and are far more likely to be recidivist;

(f) 60 percent of the people with FASD over the age of 12 have criminal histories;

(g) prisoners with FASD are prone to exploitation and higher rates of victimisation, as well as repeating the behaviour of their perpetrators to others in the community following their release from prison; and

(h) the economic cost of FASD in Australia has been estimated to run into billions of dollars;

(2) further notes that:

(a) the 2012 national inquiry into FASD found that there is a need for diagnostic tools and services, as well as capacity to provide them. Consequently in 2016, the Australian Guide to the Diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder was published as a national diagnostic and screening tool for FASD;

(b) the 2015-17 Banksia Hill Project was the first initiative in Australia to assess and diagnose detainees in a youth detention centre for FASD, resulting in findings of 36 participants (over 33 percent) with FASD but only two who had been previously diagnosed; and

(c) justice health services within the ACT, namely Forensic Mental Health Services and Primary Health Services, currently do not assess and diagnose detainees at the Bimberi Youth Justice Centre for FASD in accordance with the Australian Guide to the Diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder; and

(3) calls on the ACT Government to:

(a) assess and screen all detainees, including newly arrived detainees, at the Bimberi Youth Justice Centre for FASD in full accordance with the

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