Page 1723 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 9 May 2018
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The latest national action plan for FASD notes that the extent of the disorder within Australia is not known, owing to a lack of data collection. For example, our hospitals here in the ACT have not consistently recorded alcohol use during pregnancy, which complicates diagnosis in our local community. Regardless, a very conservative estimate is that 500,000 Australians may suffer from some form of FASD.
FASD manifests primarily as behavioural problems and learning difficulties. People who suffer from FASD make up a vulnerable part of our population, particularly where undiagnosed and unmanaged. Research has shown that children and youth with FASD are at a much higher risk of not completing their education, of falling into lower socio-economic groups, of self-medicating with drugs and alcohol, and of suffering from anxiety or depression. Furthermore, the Australian Medical Association has stated:
The symptoms and behaviours relating to FASD increase the likelihood that impacted individuals will come into contact with the criminal justice system (particularly those that are undiagnosed).
And because FASD is not easily identifiable, it frequently remains undiagnosed. People with FASD often do not realise they have broken the law and often do not comply with court orders, which can lead to imprisonment. A chief justice of Western Australia has observed that FASD:
… is an increasing problem in our courts. It is one of those conditions that are almost certainly chronically underdiagnosed … It is a condition that is inherently likely to put them in conflict with the justice system.
Statistics reveal that juveniles with FASD are 19 times more likely to be incarcerated and are also far more likely to be recidivists. Sixty per cent of people with FASD over the age of 12 have criminal histories. Research has shown that prisoners with FASD are prone to exploitation and higher rates of victimisation, as well as repeating the behaviour of their perpetrators to others in the community following their release from prison.
A national inquiry into FASD was held in 2012 and found a need for diagnostic tools and services as well as capacity to provide them. Consequently, in 2016 a national diagnostic and screening tool for FASD was published. It is now available nationwide in the hope of learning more about the prevalence of FASD in Australia and enhancing the necessary lifelong service provision by educating health professionals to better equip them with the necessary tools to assess, diagnose and manage FASD. It was this diagnostic and screening tool that was used in the Banksia Hill detention centre study.
The Children and Young People Act already requires that each young detainee admitted to Bimberi Youth Justice Centre be assessed within 24 hours to identify any immediate physical or mental health needs or risks and that any such needs or risks be addressed. I understand that the Bimberi mental health service is a cross-disciplinary team comprising a psychologist, an occupational therapist and a psychiatrist. This is a good start but does not go far enough. Considering the established links between
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