Page 2897 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 14 August 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
MR GUPTA: Chief Minister, how are these grants complementing the government’s delivery of essential services?
MR BARR: The fund complements essential government service delivery by funding a range of grassroots projects in many of the government’s key priority areas.
Just one example that I will highlight today, Mental Illness Education ACT receives ACT government funding to design, assure and deliver its mental health 101 for youth program, which is delivered through face-to-face sessions with ACT school students. Through a grant from the charitable fund, this group will now be able to build a digital program to complement its traditional delivery methods.
Another example, Construction Charitable Works, will now be able to provide targeted counselling, case management and referral services to construction industry workers and their families.
These grants are designed to allow those working in the community to focus on what they do best: providing innovative responses to meet community need.
Children and young people—care and protection
MRS DUNNE: My question is to the Minister for Children, Youth and Families. Minister, all children and young people up to age 14 in out of home care are to have a health passport that goes with them and allows carers to know their complete health history. In 2016, 73 per cent of those entering care for the first time were issued with a health passport. By 2017, that number had declined to 60 per cent and last year it was less than 50 per cent. Minister, how long have you been aware that this government was placing more and more kids into care without an important document such as the health passport?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Mrs Dunne for the question. Obviously, this issue has arisen in light of the mid-term evaluation of A step up for our kids. That data has become available and I tabled it in the last sitting week. This is an issue that I have been discussing with the directorate around how we ensure that children and young people have health passports as they are coming into care and as they are in care.
I note that one of the issues that the directorate is now looking at is in relation to the my health record that will be created for most of those children and young people and how that can be used in place of the health passport. So there is considerable work going into this both to ensure that children and young people have that health passport and that carers have access to that but also—
Ms Lawder: You have not been answering her question. How long have you known?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I have already answered that question—what the future looks like in terms of ensuring that everyone who needs to have access does have good access to information about children’s health but in a secure way.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video