Zali Steggall (Warringah, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise to speak about the very important work of community organisations in the electorate of Warringah supporting at-risk communities and, in particular, at-risk youth. The two organisations that I want to bring to the attention of the parliament and of the government are Youth Up Front and Streetwork. I recently met with Youth Up Front and Streetwork, who are doing fantastic work delivering local crime prevention initiatives for youth in our community.

Youth Up Front, through its Links to Learning program and Perfect Presence Pilot Program, delivers early intervention programs for students that have been identified as at risk of disengaging from school and their learning. It's so important that we catch them early. These programs aim to support students so that they feel stronger connections to school and learning and are supported to build on personal and social capabilities. The programs were funded through a combination of New South Wales government funding and federal government funding through the Safer Communities program, but we know that that funding has now been jeopardised and has no ongoing visibility.

I will touch on Safer Communities and integrity. The Safer Communities grant program was politicised under the previous government and has since been discontinued by the current government. The Auditor-General declared:

Funding decisions were not appropriately informed by departmental briefings and, for the majority of decisions, the basis for the decisions was not clearly recorded.

So I understand and appreciate the need to clean house of politicised grant programs. Despite this, I have written to the Treasurer and the Attorney-General to urge them not to throw out the good with the bad. New funding and long-term certainty for programs to encourage youth and young adults to re-engage with education and employment opportunities are especially important as we emerge from the isolation of COVID and deal with the impacts of COVID on young people. The isolation during final years of schooling at home could lead to increasing levels of antisocial behaviour and put further strain on government services over the long term.

The calls of organisations like Youth Up Front for justice reform and a breaking the cycle fund have been echoed by the Justice Reform Initiative, who are fighting for the reform of approaches to the treatment of youth in the justice system and the prevention of detention of young people and adolescents. I support the call for the establishment of a breaking the cycle fund in the context of the wellbeing budget that the Treasurer has spoken of. I strongly support the principles of proactive intervention and preventive measures that reduce dependence on the justice system, policing and detention of young people. These are a drain on the resources of society and the state and, ultimately, are unsuccessful in achieving meaningful change and behaviour or positive outcomes for those who the system.

We need the actions of Youth Up Front and Streetwork.