Page 1009 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 21 April 2021
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silencing of families, children and workers. A government that silences families, children and workers is, as the paper makes clear, an oppressive tyrant. Canberra’s child protection system is a reflection of their ignorance, and the only future they face as a result is misery.
Nevertheless, the expert advice from Braithwaite impacts this Labor-Greens coalition government. As part of estimates hearings, for example, I asked the minister about the process for placing young people in the territory’s residential care homes. In her written response I was assured that the placement decision is made once an assessment of the child or young person’s care needs and therapeutic needs have been identified, appropriate services coordinated and appropriate matching undertaken with other young people that may be residing in the same home.
Contrast her description with what the territory’s independent Children and Young People Commissioner told me as part of an earlier hearing:
Young people are sometimes placed in a shared residence despite having significantly different needs, the outcome of which being that individual needs are not necessarily met. This can lead to situations in which individual children and young people may feel threatened, concerned, anxious and/or scared.
The commissioner went on to raise concerns about an emerging pattern of children as young as five years old whom this government is placing in homes not intended for little children. These are two very different assessments of what happens in the territory’s out of home care system. The minister has given us an idealised version where everything works just fine. The commissioner, in contrast, has given us a glimpse into the reality of our out of home care system.
How do I know which account is real and which is just glib lip-service? I have spoken at length with people who have worked in these residential care homes, including former managers, and they have all raised with me even more harrowing reports than what the commissioner has described. To them the minister’s words ring false, and the commissioner’s response to my question clearly demonstrates that young people and even young children continue to be placed in homes that leave them with more trauma than when they first arrived.
As I noted earlier, the territory’s youth justice system is another area that is ripe for reform. I took note therefore when the new assistant minister told us two months ago that she looked forward to the day when we no longer need youth detention facilities because we will have the support services and rehabilitation facilities able to meet the needs of young people, their families, and our community. This is a worthy goal. Unfortunately, I worry that the new minister may be out of her depth. I am aware that some genuinely forward-thinking governments have already successfully eliminated youth detention, so as part of estimates hearings I asked the assistant minister which of these the Labor-Greens coalition government is looking to as models. In her written response to me Minister Davidson did not name a single one.
I likewise asked for a time line for ending youth detention in the ACT. In response I was told that her statement was aspirational and that there is no specific time line for
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