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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-10-13 Daily Xml
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YOUNG OFFENDERS' PROGRAMS

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:44): My question is to the Minister for Families and Communities. Can the minister reassure the public of South Australia that, in accordance with recommendation 11 of the To Break the Cycle report by Monsignor David Cappo 'all young people leaving secure care have transition plans in place' and, if that is the case, how is it that they have been able to reoffend?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the Deputy Premier and the Attorney-General!

The Hon. M.J. Atkinson interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the Attorney-General! The Minister for Families and Communities.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Families and Communities, Minister for Northern Suburbs, Minister for Housing, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Disability) (14:45): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her question because it gives me an opportunity to inform the South Australian public about some of the things we are doing with young offenders when we take them into detention. As members would know, there are 46 recommendations in Monsignor Cappo's To Break the Cycle report, and the government has been responding in a staged process to all those recommendations.

In the 2008-09 budget various initiatives were announced. There is an allocation of $5.5 million over four years for the Community Protection Panel program for the most serious young offenders. The aim of this program is to reduce reoffending by identifying and intensively managing serious repeat offenders—those who present the highest risk to public safety. We have set up multidisciplinary youth teams with $4 million over four years for less serious clients, in order to have structures around young people to support them in the community so they do not reoffend.

Also, a range of rehabilitation programs are operating in our youth training centres. The program Seeing Red—

Mrs REDMOND: I have a point of order, Mr Speaker. The question was specifically about whether there are transition programs in place in accordance with recommendation 11 of Commissioner Cappo's report.

The Hon. J.M. Rankine interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will take her seat. She will not engage the Leader of the Opposition; I will deal with it. The minister's answer seems to me to be detailing those transitional programs.

Mrs REDMOND: A whole lot of other things, sir, but the question was specifically: are there transition programs in place in accordance with recommendation 11 of the commissioner's report.

The SPEAKER: I will listen carefully to the minister's response, but my understanding is that she is detailing those transition programs. I will listen to her answer. If she is not detailing them, I will pick her up. The minister.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: Thank you, sir. I am going through a range of programs we have in place so that those opposite are fully informed about what we are doing. We have a program for young men aged 12 to 15 which addresses issues of anger and the use of violence. The program aims to dispel the belief that anger is negative and unhealthy, and promotes anger as a healthy and normal emotion but how to use that emotion. Violence is negative and unhealthy, and young men are responsible for their use of violence. The program also aims to highlight that the use of violence is a choice—one they can make or not make.

Challenging Offending Behaviours is a program that challenges young people's offending behaviours by looking at the reasons they offend and exploring alternative options. Young people look at the short-term and long-term effects of offending and its impact on friends, family and the community. Red Cross conducts the save-a-mate program, which talks to young people about drug and alcohol abuse.

Mrs REDMOND: I have a point of order, sir, on relevance. The question was specifically about young people leaving secure care and whether there are transition programs in place for them. The information being provided by the minister is interesting in terms of young people in other circumstances, but the question is about young people leaving care and whether there are transition programs for them when they leave care, as recommended by Commissioner Cappo.

The SPEAKER: Again, the minister seems to me to be answering that question, detailing what those transition programs are.

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: I am trying to explain to those opposite how we prepare those people when they come into detention and how we prepare them for when they leave detention and, if she just holds her horses, I will answer the question. The Talk Out Loud program aims to increase knowledge and understanding of mental health and mental illness, particularly depression and anxiety, decrease stigma, increase the confidence of young people to talk about mental health, seek assistance early and support their peers.

A parenting program for young men who are new fathers about how they can better prepare themselves when they leave to deal with parenthood and Mark Davis's basketball program also have a positive impact.

Body Think is a program that aims to help young people build positive self-esteem and body image by understanding and dealing with feelings in regard to physical appearance and, in particular, their weight and shape. I think it is worth pointing out that many of the young people who come into care have had very unhealthy diets and often it is the first time they have had regular meals, and often have food they have never experienced before.

Journey to Respect is a program for Aboriginal young males aged 14 to 18 years who have committed or are at risk of committing violent offences. This is a really important program and aims to allow the person to build better relationships and have a better understanding of where they come from.

Bullying Behaviours is a program that identifies what bullying behaviour is, where it occurs in young people's lives and how to adopt responsible strategies that will empower them to deal with it in ways that maintain their safety and wellbeing.

Also, when a young person comes into care, we undertake a VONIY assessment. This is an assessment tool that was developed in Victoria and recommended by Monsignor Cappo that looks at the needs of these young people. We developed structured supervision programs for them and case management for when they leave care. Many of these young people undertake education and training programs, speech pathology programs—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: Any scientologists?

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE: —no, no Scientology—and cultural identity programs. There is a range of programs. One young offender, who was part of Operation Mandrake, I understand is currently in the community and doing incredibly well and attending school five days a week, which is an amazing leap forward for this young person. So, we have case management in place for them, we have supervision once they leave care, and we have very good custodial programs while they are in our detention centres.

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