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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 14 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 4982 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

In September this year the committee finalised its inquiry into "The Adequacy of Mental Health Services", another complex inquiry and one which involved extensive community consultation. As part of this inquiry the committee visited South Australia and Victoria. This gave the committee the opportunity to gain a broader perspective and become familiar with the progressive changes in other States. This week the committee tabled its final report, "Services for Children at Risk in the ACT", another substantial report dealing with many sensitive and complex issues.

Throughout the Third Assembly the committee focused on new ways to become more accessible to the community and make its work and activities better known. As part of the inquiry concerning skateboards, the committee made a concerted effort to reach young people and give them opportunities to put their views. The committee invited schools and youth organisations to participate. A public hearing was held at Lake Tuggeranong College, which was organised by the Student Representative Council. This not only gave students an opportunity to have a say but also provided an opportunity for many students to observe an aspect of the committee process.

A forum involving 120 young people was held in the Chess Pit in Garema Place. The forum was organised and facilitated by Pathways Information Service for Young People and proved most effective. During the SWOW inquiry, the School Without Walls inquiry, the committee held a public hearing at the school, giving many students an opportunity to express their views in a less formal setting.

An important aspect of accessibility is the availability to the community of information about committee procedures. This is considered an important part of the work of the committee secretariat, and a great deal of effort is put into providing information and explaining committee procedures to participants. An issues paper was provided to schools to assist them in developing views about the skateboard inquiry. A paper outlining public hearing procedures and processes was developed to assist Lake Tuggeranong College students. In addition, the information brochure developed by the committee office has been most useful for this purpose.

As well as the usual avenues such as local newspapers, the committee has used community newsletters to advertise its inquiries. This has been successful and the committee secretariat intends to further develop ties with community organisations for this purpose in the next Assembly.

The committee has attended several national conferences, including the National Social Policy Conference in 1995 and 1997, and the Australian and New Zealand Conference on Mental Health Services in 1996. The biannual national social policy conferences have been particularly valuable in offering the committee an opportunity to gain a broader perspective on research on important social policy and social welfare issues.

In statements to the Assembly, some other committee chairs have commented on the level of resourcing for committees. There is no doubt that committees would benefit from additional research staff and access to external consultancy on complex technical matters. The Social Policy Committee has been very fortunate to have had the assistance of the research officer who has provided extensive assistance for two inquiries. Without this assistance the committee would not have been able to complete its last inquiry.

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