Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I strongly support the current budget submission by the National School Chaplaincy Association, the peak body for school chaplaincy, for expanded funding for the next five years to 2023. In Western Australia, YouthCare delivers school-based chaplaincy programs, providing the necessary pastoral care to keep students engaged in learning by increasing school attendance and reducing absenteeism.

Over the past year, 22 chaplains based at 33 public schools in my electorate of Moore conducted approximately 11,700 counselling sessions with students, their parents, carers and school staff relating to family relationships, behavioural problems, peer relationships and mental health. Young people face a range of pressures in our community, with issues such as bullying, depression and drug use commonly encountered. YouthCare chaplains assisted at-risk students with limited family support to overcome the obstacles to furthering their education by serving more than 2,000 meals at breakfast clubs, conducting social, emotional and physical programs, and providing mentoring, with some 2,951 students attending lunchtime groups.

Adequate resourcing is needed to deliver these valuable services into the future. Security of tenure is also important to the chaplains in terms of their employment contracts. Immeasurable benefits to society are achieved when at-risk youth are constructively engaged in learning. (Time expired)