❓ The Minister for Mental Health outlines the Liberal-National government's support for children and young adults in making informed choices about alcohol and other drugs, including funding for the School Drug Education and Road Aware (SDERA) program and student services teams.
AnsweredQoN 546Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SCHOOL DRUG EDUCATION AND ROAD AWARE PROGRAM
546. Mrs G.J. GODFREY to the Minister for
Mental Health:
On behalf of the member for
Joondalup, I wish to acknowledge in the gallery the amazing school councillors
from Eddystone Primary School.
Can the minister please outline how
the Liberal–National government is supporting children and young adults
to make smarter choices in regard to alcohol and other drugs?
546. Mrs G.J. GODFREY to the Minister for
Mental Health:
On behalf of the member for
Joondalup, I wish to acknowledge in the gallery the amazing school councillors
from Eddystone Primary School.
Can the minister please outline how
the Liberal–National government is supporting children and young adults
to make smarter choices in regard to alcohol and other drugs?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question.
The Minister for Police and I are certainly looking forward to being in her
electorate next week for a methamphetamine forum. I must say that it has been
very reassuring that when we hold these meth forums, parents, young people,
grandparents and a range of community people attend because they are all very
keen to find out more about what the government is doing and the issues that
the community is facing with meth. Today I was at Balcatta Senior High School
with the member for Balcatta as some of the year 11 students were working
through what the School Drug Education and Road Aware program has done.
Previously, the Minister for Education provided a further $250 000 to get the
meth program into the SDERA drug work, but today I made a further announcement
of $500 000 that will go specifically towards assisting the student services
team. I know many people in schools know that the school services team often
has the students come to it first, and those students are looking a bit strange
and are not sure how to deal with it. We want to provide professional
development to the student services team so that it feels more comfortable in
the work it is doing and has strategies in place. At the same time, parents,
carers and grandparents are a key part of this, so there will be a further
expansion of the parent education programs so that this key part of the network
also feels more comfortable about it.
We also need to make sure that all students have the ability
to access this information, particularly students who are in remote regional
areas, so that they have that support. We particularly need to make sure that
disengaged students who do not quite fit into the standard school system
receive information and knowledge, and also develop the ability to know how to
say no. Quite often, they can have all the information, but at particular
points in young people's lives, there is a fair chance that someone is
going to say, ''Oh, come on; it'll make you feel good''
or ''Come on; it won't hurt.'' We need to build that
resilience within our young people so that they feel safe and comfortable
enough to make that decision and know how to deal with the next statement,
which is, ''You can't be serious.''
It is a big part of what we do and
it is a big part of what SDERA is doing, and we will be working very hard to
make sure that we reduce the harm and stop people taking up the drug in the
first place. It is a very important part of our government's meth
strategy for which $14.9 million was announced in the May budget this year.
This is a component of it, and a very, very important component of it.
The Minister for Police and I are certainly looking forward to being in her
electorate next week for a methamphetamine forum. I must say that it has been
very reassuring that when we hold these meth forums, parents, young people,
grandparents and a range of community people attend because they are all very
keen to find out more about what the government is doing and the issues that
the community is facing with meth. Today I was at Balcatta Senior High School
with the member for Balcatta as some of the year 11 students were working
through what the School Drug Education and Road Aware program has done.
Previously, the Minister for Education provided a further $250 000 to get the
meth program into the SDERA drug work, but today I made a further announcement
of $500 000 that will go specifically towards assisting the student services
team. I know many people in schools know that the school services team often
has the students come to it first, and those students are looking a bit strange
and are not sure how to deal with it. We want to provide professional
development to the student services team so that it feels more comfortable in
the work it is doing and has strategies in place. At the same time, parents,
carers and grandparents are a key part of this, so there will be a further
expansion of the parent education programs so that this key part of the network
also feels more comfortable about it.
We also need to make sure that all students have the ability
to access this information, particularly students who are in remote regional
areas, so that they have that support. We particularly need to make sure that
disengaged students who do not quite fit into the standard school system
receive information and knowledge, and also develop the ability to know how to
say no. Quite often, they can have all the information, but at particular
points in young people's lives, there is a fair chance that someone is
going to say, ''Oh, come on; it'll make you feel good''
or ''Come on; it won't hurt.'' We need to build that
resilience within our young people so that they feel safe and comfortable
enough to make that decision and know how to deal with the next statement,
which is, ''You can't be serious.''
It is a big part of what we do and
it is a big part of what SDERA is doing, and we will be working very hard to
make sure that we reduce the harm and stop people taking up the drug in the
first place. It is a very important part of our government's meth
strategy for which $14.9 million was announced in the May budget this year.
This is a component of it, and a very, very important component of it.
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