JOINT TENANCY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
The Hon. ANN SYMONDS: My question without notice is directed to the Minister for Community Services. Will the Minister advise the House of a new program to help homeless juvenile offenders?
The Hon. R. D. DYER: This is an example of another launch I have attended in the past fortnight, which only goes to prove how busy I am attending all these launches. The report of Dr Don Weatherburn of the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, which was released last week, highlighted the fact that there are many contributing factors to juvenile offending. Unfortunately, homelessness is a relatively common experience for juvenile offenders. It has its origin in poverty, family breakdown, drug and alcohol abuse, and social dislocation. While the relationship between homelessness and crime is complex, it is certainly something that must be considered when helping young offenders to break the crime cycle.
The joint tenancy assistance program, otherwise known as JTAP, has been developed to give these young people a go at maintaining a stable lifestyle. This pilot program, which will operate in the area close to the city, will provide eligible young offenders with a home to call their own. The Department of Housing will provide four bed-sit apartments and two two-bedroom apartments, and will be responsible for the cyclic maintenance of the properties. The Department of Juvenile Justice has provided funding of $156,000 to fit out the units with furniture and whitegoods, and the units will be managed by the South-West Inner Housing Co-operative, otherwise known as SWISH. Homeless young offenders aged 16 and over will be eligible for a place in the JTAP units. Their suitability will be assessed by juvenile justice officers.
This accommodation will be affordable, readily accessible, private and self-contained. The young people will pay rent and expenses and will learn, through assistance, how to maintain an independent and stable lifestyle. Centacare, a highly respected non-government organisation, will play a key role in the project by conducting a living skills program for young offenders, covering day-to-day lifestyle issues such as cooking, housekeeping, nutrition, banking and budgeting. The New South Wales Ombudsman, in her report on juvenile justice, highlighted the need to provide safe and suitable crisis medium-term and long-term accommodation. JTAP is a positive attempt to break the crime cycle and to guide young offenders towards independent living, giving them security and confidence to manage their own lives.
As I said, this was yet another launch I attended in the last fortnight. This launch was held last Friday. It reminds me that I attended another prominent launch last Saturday at lunchtime in Newcastle, where I opened a child-care centre for the Samaritans, another highly respected non-government organisation. Honourable members who looked at the Newcastle Herald of two days ago or perhaps on Monday would see a charming photograph of me and the local Anglican bishop talking to a young child outside the child-care centre. I hesitate to upset the Treasurer but I presented a discretionary fund cheque on this occasion as well. This is yet another indication of the popularity that I undoubtedly enjoy, as evidenced by the multitude of invitations I receive.