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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 2 Hansard (21 May) . . Page.. 457 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

Recommendation 5 concerned the need for a policy to be developed to enable all children in substitute care to access counselling upon request. Once again, there was support in principle but the Government believes that counselling should be provided on the basis of need. The Government has totally missed the point of the report that access to counselling is difficult at the moment for families who have kids in substitute care who are living with them. If children are in substitute care, I think we can be pretty well certain that they are going to need some help. They have been pulled out of their natural family. I think that is enough classification straightaway. Mr Rugendyke, as someone who has personal experience of this, nods in agreement. Of course these kids are traumatised; of course they need counselling. If people are taking on the task of looking after children as foster parents, they should not have to fight to get some kind of professional assistance in dealing with the often very complicated problems that the children in their care have.

I have already raised my concerns about the Government's response to the mental health issues. In recommendation 8 we asked that the Government urgently review its drug education strategy. The Government response does not tackle the need to review the drug education strategy at a whole-of-government level. That is very important because around Canberra we are seeing quite inconsistent approaches to this issue. We also recommended that the ACT Government establish a drug and alcohol rehabilitation service for young people. Basically, the response said, "Yes, if we can get money from the Commonwealth". I am in danger of repeating myself, but I think I have to put it on the record again in the context of this statement. We know the huge connection between crime, young people and drugs. If we do want to deal with the issue of crime and young people, we must, as a community, put funding into a rehabilitation service for young people. If we do not get money from the Commonwealth, does that mean we do not do it? I sincerely hope not.

Recommendations 10 and 11 dealt with a review of the need for respite care and other support services for foster carers and the need for expanded substitute care options. The Government's response was that a review of the ACT substitute care system was being conducted and would be completed by April. I have not seen it yet and would like to know where it is. Maybe Mr Stefaniak will inform the Assembly of that in his wrapping-up speech. In recommendation 12 we asked for performance indicators in a number of areas. We are particularly concerned about what happens to young people who move out of care when they reach the age where they are no longer the responsibility of the ACT. Apparently the Government feels that, because a small number of people are involved, it does not deserve the development of a performance indicator. That is an unacceptable response, in my view, because it is critical that kids are tracked and continually supported in the transitional phase of moving into our community as independent people, especially when they have not had adequate support during the whole time they have been in care - as is obviously the case with some of the counselling issues that were very clearly articulated to the committee.

Housing is another very critical issue. There is little detail, once again, about how particular issues that were raised by the Social Policy Committee will be addressed - for example, the need for appropriate accommodation and support services for young adolescent women; the need for more accommodation for boys over 12; and the need for new long-term housing models for young people. These problems have been identified for many years and we still see nothing concrete in response from government.

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