Page 61 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 12 February 2019
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MRS KIKKERT: Minister, why do Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory all have therapeutic protection places for children and young people with complex needs when the ACT does not, in breach of the Children and Young People Act?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I absolutely emphasise that there is nothing we are doing that is in breach of the Children and Young People Act. The Children and Young People Act enables a therapeutic protection place to be established, which we consider would not be aligning with current best practice in trauma-informed support for children and young people.
In December 2017, when this issue first arose, I did ask the Community Services Directorate to work with the ACT Human Rights Commission to review the therapeutic protection provisions of the act to develop options that align with best practice and contemporary knowledge. This work is underway but, as I have mentioned, it is particularly complex due to both the evolving evidence base and the unique nature of each child or young person’s trauma response and patterns of behaviour.
Madam Speaker, there is no one-size-fits-all solution in supporting children who have experienced significant trauma in their young lives as a result of abuse and neglect. I understand that the director-general and senior officials of the directorate have recently met with the Children’s Court magistrate to discuss his concerns. These meetings will be ongoing. I welcome and I support this engagement. I can assure the Canberra community again, and the Assembly, that the directorate continues to work with its partners, drawing on experts in the field to respond to these very serious issues as they arise. This work is difficult; this work is complex. We acknowledge that a child’s progress to recover from complex trauma will often be a case of two steps forward and one step back as the effectiveness of different therapeutic interventions and supports changes over time.
I commend all those who work in therapeutic care teams to provide these children with 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week care and support. I can assure the Assembly that that support is provided in the most evidence-based way that we possibly can provide it.
MS LAWDER: Minister, are you ruling out a therapeutic protection place as per the 2010 tender?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Ms Lawder for the supplementary. To the extent that the 2010 tender was to establish a place as described under the Children and Young People Act, yes, we do not consider that that is an appropriate response to the complex trauma that too many young people in our community have experienced as a result of abuse and neglect and to which some young people and children respond with very complex patterns of behaviour.
An individualised therapeutic response is the most appropriate response for these children and young people and that is why I have asked the Community Services
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