Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Links Youth Service at San Remo Neighbourhood Centre is a model for youth services throughout Australia, and they do a fantastic job under the leadership of Corrina Peck. They operate under the auspices of the San Remo Neighbourhood Centre, even though they operate in a separate building. Links offer a number of different services to young people in the San Remo area. San Remo is a fairly isolated area which lacks many services. It is in the northern part of Wyong shire.

The Links Youth Service offer case management. There are a number of young people living in the area who have very complex issues and needs, and Links have a number of skilled workers who can work with these young people. They also offer a mental health service. There are no mental health services such as headspace in the northern part of Wyong shire—headspace on the Central Coast is located in Gosford—and this is an outstanding area for a headspace to be located. When young people with varied and complex mental health issues visit the youth service, they are offered assistance, and there are some skilled case workers there who can work with people who have conflicts and significant mental health issues. In many cases Corrina will take these young people in her car down to headspace at Gosford.

The really exciting news is that next week there is going to be a GP clinic opening at the youth service. This GP clinic will be in partnership with health, and it will give young people access to GP services in their area locally—it is really good. They have got a number of support groups operating out of there—there is a successful gay, lesbian and transgender support group; they have a number of workshops for people with behavioural problems—they work closely with the high school; and they also have workshops on confidence building. This is a fantastic service. This is a service that really links into the community and provides the things that young people in San Remo need, and I congratulate everybody that has been involved with the youth service.

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