Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

To move:

That the Senate—

  (a)   recognises:

     (i)   the success of the Youth in Communities (YIC) measure which has lead to improved school attendance, reduced substance misuse and reduced involvement in the criminal justice system amongst other positive outcomes for youth in central Australia, as recently identified by Courage Partners in their report on YIC service provider survey findings, and

     (ii)   the value of youth development services and the high risk status of remote Indigenous youth; and

  (b)   encourages the Government to:

     (i)   commit to youth services being classed as essential services and funded accordingly,

     (ii)   urgently commit to continuing the community based aspects of the YIC measure beyond its current expiry date of June 2012, so that services can retain community based staff rather than losing them in the lead up to the cessation of funding in June, and

     (iii)   carry out a gap analysis to assist program expansion, with a view to extending appropriate youth services to youth in all Northern Territory communities who currently miss out on youth services.