Page 3362 - Week 11 - Thursday, 11 November 2021
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
to be a detention place under section 142 of the Children and Young People Act. Presently this is Bimberi Youth Justice Centre.
Bimberi commenced operations in December 2008 and is the ACT’s only youth detention place. Named after the ACT’s tallest peak, Mount Bimberi, Bimberi acknowledges the challenges faced by young people in custody and the need to rise above to reach their full potential. Bimberi aims to ensure that young people feel safe, valued, respected, supported and hopeful about their future.
As the only youth detention place in the ACT, Bimberi accommodates young people aged 10 to 21 years who have been remanded in custody or sentenced to a period of detention by the ACT Childrens Court or Supreme Court. In the ACT, custody is a measure of last resort, and Bimberi is only one part of the ACT youth justice system. But Bimberi plays a critical role in our youth justice system and provides us with the valuable opportunity to support at-risk young people to grow and develop and reach their full potential.
The inspector commenced the process for the first review of Bimberi in April 2020. The methodology for the healthy centre review included interviews with 12 young people; a staff survey; consultation with oversight agencies; data and information gathering from the Community Services Directorate, the Education Directorate and Justice Health services; community consultation; and a five-day on-site inspection of Bimberi by the seven-person review team between 11 and 15 October 2020.
The healthy centre review is a proactive, whole-of-centre review measured against the ACT Standards for Youth Detention Places, which test the youth detention place, a “healthy centre” test, against four key principles. The first is safety: young people, particularly the most vulnerable, are held safely and staff and visitors feel and are safe. The second is respect: all persons are treated with respect for their human dignity. The third is purposeful activity: young people are engaged in activities that are likely to benefit them. The fourth is rehabilitation and preparation for release: young people are supported to connect with their family and the community, supported to rehabilitate and prepared for release back into the community.
Bimberi measured well against the healthy centre test, with the inspector noting in his report that most of the young people they interviewed felt physically and emotionally safe in Bimberi; young people in Bimberi were provided with an individualised approach to their care; young people were engaged in programs of education, learning and skill development to meet their individual needs; the health services provided to young people were appropriate; and young people were encouraged to maintain or re-establish positive relationships with family, friends and community agencies while in Bimberi.
The healthy centre review, as I have already noted, is the first whole-of-centre review of Bimberi, proactively undertaken in response to legislative requirements. Unlike previous reviews of Bimberi that occurred following a major event or incident, the review provides us with an opportunity to reflect on our successes, embrace opportunities for improvement, and continue to mature our youth justice system to ensure that the services we are delivering to young people are informed by evidence and best practice and are right for the ACT.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video