Page 2509 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 31 July 2019
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against the pain of their lives and experiences, and to make themselves feel better. I think that is where our focus should be in seeking to respond to the behaviour that they have got involved in and the downward spiral that that can be for their lives.
Childhood trauma is one of the nation’s most important public health concerns, with adverse childhood experiences being one of the strongest predictors for difficulties in life. In the ACT, while we do have Melaleuca Place, a trauma recovery centre that is a targeted, multi-disciplined, holistic early intervention and prevention service committed to supporting children and young people to heal from trauma, repairing existing relationships and establishing new supportive and protective networks, I am advised that the ACT still does not have a residential component. That is something that we think is really needed.
I have no doubt that the service provider at Melaleuca Place is a good one. It targets exactly the sort of issues I am talking about. But it is our understanding that it does not have the residential component. We think that that could make a very positive difference. We should all be seeking to provide improved therapeutic care for our young people.
Emerging models around Australia are using small or home-like environments housing small groups of children or young people. Models like this are informed by knowledge of trauma and its impact on development and behaviour, the critical importance of worker–child relationships and the importance of organisational support and congruence.
In relation to my own portfolio of mental health, I see the distress that families and loved ones experience. I am also keenly aware of the rightly very cautious approach to utilising the existing powers of emergency apprehension and psychiatric treatments for compelled treatment. I presented a report on this only yesterday, as members will have noted. This is a complex area of human rights, medicine, law, ethics and, ultimately, compassion.
I can also state that the government is committed to developing more youth-focused mental health services. We are expanding the size and range of services across the board. I have had a number of new initiatives in the budget in recent years. These have included improved consultation liaison services for adolescents at the hospitals, but also an outreach service that seeks to target particularly young people with complex problems who will not actually come to the services we provide. Instead, the service seeks to go to them at their homes where they can also interact with the families. I think this one particularly is a very important initiative.
We are also expanding the size and range of services at the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children, including the planning of a dedicated child and adolescent mental health unit and day care program. Canberra Health Services has commenced preliminary work on the new unit, which has an estimated completion date in 2022.
The aim of admission to this unit is acute stabilisation of psychiatric risk, supporting the family at a time of distress, and facilitating transfer back to the family home as soon as is practicable so as to minimise the disruption to education, peer connections,
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