Page 3471 - Week 08 - Thursday, 18 August 2011
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the recommendations. And I think that it is instructive and it means that the government is at least part of the way to agreeing with us in this reference today. I will share the minister’s views as they were passed on to me by her staff earlier this week. Ms Burch has written to Ms Bresnan:
I am writing to you in your capacity as the Chair of the Legislative Assembly Standing Committee on Education, Training and Youth Affairs.
On 29 July, the Attorney General circulated, through the Deputy Speaker, the ACT Human Rights Commission Report titled ‘The ACT Youth Justice System 2011’.
The Government has appointed a taskforce to oversee the implementation of recommendations from the Report, and provide advice to the Government on its response to the Review. I expect the Government’s response will be available by early October 2011.
The Report makes several recommendations that relate to the Standing Committee on Education, Training and Youth Affairs - namely recommendations 4.3, 4.15 and 15.1.
The Report also makes a key finding that proposes that ‘To be successful the youth justice system needs to be connected with the ACT community, including the Legislative Assembly, the youth and community sectors, young people and their families, victims of crime and the broad community’.
While the Government is currently working closely with the Taskforce and considering the Report, I would welcome committee members’ consideration of these recommendations.
I am genuinely interested in fostering greater connection between the community, including the Legislative Assembly, and the youth justice system with the aim of embedding a shared vision for youth justice. To this end, I would welcome the Committee’s comments on the Report’s recommendations noted above to inform our response to the Report.
Yours sincerely
Joy Burch MLA
Minister for Community Services
16 August 2011.
I think that we are essentially all singing from the one hymn sheet but I think that we need to reinforce that, while the government has a large job to do in implementing the recommendations, this was not a report to government, this was a report to this Assembly, and this Assembly must continue to maintain ownership and use its powers and offices to ensure that the government sticks to the program.
As an issue of some concern, I noticed yesterday in question time Mr Doszpot asked the minister about one of the recommendations, which was that the government urgently act in relation to time out and to urgently amend the Children and Young People Act in relation to time out. The minister is not acting urgently on this. She is
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