Page 1726 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 9 May 2018
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A recent study from Western Australia, which Mrs Kikkert has referenced in her motion and in her speech today, found much higher rates of FASD amongst juvenile detainees as well as low rates of detection of FASD in that environment. This raises an important question about our processes for assessing and detecting FASD in our juvenile justice system in the ACT. As the minister with responsibility for justice health, I am keen to work with Mrs Kikkert and other interested stakeholders to see how we can improve our processes in line with the national guidelines.
However, I do want to put on the record some of the work that is currently occurring in this space, and part of the reason I am proposing the amendment is that I believe it sets out some of this information. I can advise the Assembly that justice health services do have a process in place to screen for key behavioural and clinical indications that can be found in young people with FASD. As a first step, in accordance with section 161 of the Children and Young People Act 2008, a young person must have a physical health assessment and a mental health check within 24 hours of entering Bimberi Youth Justice Centre.
A separate mental health induction check is also undertaken by staff from forensic mental health services. If FASD indicators are identified as part of this check, a referral is made to a paediatrician for assessment and diagnosis. Justice health, in conjunction with ACT youth justice, then develops a plan to provide ongoing care for the young person to manage their symptoms while the formal diagnostic process is occurring.
It is also important to note that the Australian guide to the diagnosis of FASD does not include a standardised screening tool for FASD, though it does provide a diagnostic instrument to assist with this process. Internationally there is no validated standardised screening tool for FASD, which is one of the reasons why the detection is so difficult.
In accordance with the Australian guide, diagnosing FASD is complex and requires multiple assessments of a range of impacting factors over a long period. This can include assessment of a young person’s obstetric development records, maternal pre and postnatal alcohol and substance exposures and known genetic syndromes and may extend to genetic testing and involvement of the young person’s mother for vital clinical information about the pregnancy to inform the assessment.
Following those assessments, the outcome of the prenatal alcohol exposure is determined, which then informs the treatment plan for ongoing care. Given this extensive process, the reality is that in some cases a definitive diagnosis is not possible. In all cases, whether diagnosis is possible or not, ACT Health works with ACT youth justice to support the young people in Bimberi who may be impacted socially and behaviourally by FASD. I am advised that most young people with FASD also have a diagnosis of a mental illness or disorder for which additional care is often needed.
Justice health provides care and treatment for all young people in Bimberi with a mental illness and organises follow-up in the community when the young person is
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