UNITINGCARE WESLEY

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (15:00): My question is to the Minister for Youth. Will the minister advise the council of the government's latest addition to family support services and help for young homeless people?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, Minister for Social Housing, Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers) (15:00): I thank the honourable member for his very important question. This year the capacity of UnitingCare Wesley's Therapeutic Youth Service (often referred to as Rubys) has been quadrupled. This unique service, founded in Thebarton in 1993, provides both residential support and outreach counselling to families who are struggling to stay together. Since it opened, more than 700 families have used the service, with around 70 per cent of those families reuniting. There are great social and, indeed, financial benefits in families staying together.

Now the service has four homes to deliver vital counselling and support services. Homes are now open in Thebarton, Mount Gambier, Enfield and Edwardstown, accommodating up to 21 young people at any time. The expanded service is a direct result of this government's delivering more from the federal government's economic stimulus package and our new National Partnership Agreement with the commonwealth.

Everyone who knows any teenagers knows how difficult it can be as young people grow and change. Asking for assistance when your family is struggling is an extremely courageous thing to do, and I really admire those parents and their children who have been brave enough and open enough to seek help. One story I can share about Rubys is about two women: a mother from one family and a daughter from another who have been supported at Rubys. In both cases, the young people were referred after contact with the Women's and Children's Hospital. In both cases the help began with counselling and later included the children staying in the residential service.

The residential services are not just houses, they are homes. There are carers on site at all times and the young people have to go to school, do chores and attend counselling services. The new houses even have gardens where they help to grow the food that they eat. Interestingly, neither case resulted in the young person going back home permanently but in both situations the family relationships were mended and the parents, children and siblings could support each other into the future.

Christine, the mother, said, 'Without that service, I don't know if my family would have existed.' Helen, the young woman involved, is now studying law at university and stays in contact with her family who live in a regional area. Rubys new services are on top of Ladder at Port Adelaide and the new 30-place service that will be part of the UNO apartment building on Waymouth Street. These are just two of the 700 stories that Rubys has written so far and, with the government's expanded and ongoing support, there will be many hundreds more to come.