❓ Mr. Michel asks about the Target 120 program's impact on community safety and the $11.1 million investment in new locations, including Karratha. The Minister responds positively, highlighting the program's success and the Robe River Kuruma Aboriginal Corporation's involvement.
AnsweredQoN 131Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TARGET
120 — KARRATHA
131. Mr K.J.J. MICHEL to the Minister for Community
Services:
I refer to the McGowan Labor government's commitment
to supporting at-risk young people through successful early intervention
programs such as Target 120.
(1) Can the
minister advise the house how Target 120 is making communities across Western Australia
safer, while also steering at-risk youth away from the criminal justice system?
(2) Can the
minister update the house on the government's $11.1 million investment
in Target 120 at nine additional locations, including Karratha?
120 — KARRATHA
131. Mr K.J.J. MICHEL to the Minister for Community
Services:
I refer to the McGowan Labor government's commitment
to supporting at-risk young people through successful early intervention
programs such as Target 120.
(1) Can the
minister advise the house how Target 120 is making communities across Western Australia
safer, while also steering at-risk youth away from the criminal justice system?
(2) Can the
minister update the house on the government's $11.1 million investment
in Target 120 at nine additional locations, including Karratha?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Pilbara for his ongoing strong
advocacy for his community, particularly at-risk children and families in his
community. He is doing a fantastic job.
(1)–(2)
The McGowan government's early intervention program, Target 120, is
helping to steer at-risk young people away from the criminal justice system,
helping us to create safer communities. The program has been extremely
successful to date, with nearly half of all participants not having any further
contact with the justice system. We see
these great results that this program is achieving and know that the best way
to ensure that it succeeds is to
engage with local service providers and local people with a good understanding of their own communities and strong connections with local people and young
people.
Since 2018, $31.5 million has been
invested by the McGowan government into this important early intervention
program at a total of 20 sites. That included investment of $11.1 million from
the last budget to roll out this important and very successful program in nine
new locations, including Karratha of course, member for Pilbara. Earlier this
month, it was my great pleasure to travel to the Pilbara and to places like
Newman, Port Hedland and Karratha and get a clear understanding that ''King
Kevin'' is ruling up there. People can see lots of infrastructure and
investment that has transformed the Pilbara in the last six years. From the
perspective of my portfolios, it was really nice to see the priority that the
member for Pilbara is placing on supporting his community and the local
communities with what are some challenging issues not only in the Pilbara but
throughout the state, and I commend him for that.
Of course, together with the
member for Pilbara, we announced that the Robe River Kuruma Aboriginal
Corporation is the successful service provider chosen to deliver Target 120 in
Karratha. Robe River is an Aboriginal community–controlled organisation
and has been in operation since 2013. It represents the Robe River Kuruma people, who have traditional rights to an area
covering nearly 16 000 square kilometres in the Pilbara. It is committed
to progressing the interests of the Robe River Kuruma people and delivering
capacity-building programs to help improve the community. It is little wonder
that, with its experience and commitment to
the local community, it is perfectly placed to deliver the Target 120 program
in Karratha . A community youth officer has been working with an
interagency group to identify suitable young people for the program while
arrangements are underway for Robe River to take over the program.
This
is another example of the McGowan government's commitment to improving
the lives of young people and supporting young people and steering them
away from the youth justice system. Service providers and agencies work together to tackle the various factors that increase a
young person's chance of interacting with the youth justice
system. They are complex issues; it is alcohol and drug related, it is housing,
it is domestic violence and it is a failure to engage with school. Target 120,
at its heart, brings people and organisations together to support young people
to turn around their lives. It has been successful. The data shows that nearly
50 per cent of young people who have been engaged with the Target 120 program
have had no future contact with the youth justice system.
Karratha is the fifteenth Target
120 site to be rolled out in WA, and more locations are being implemented as a priority
across the state. I look forward to updating the house at every opportunity I get
about this most successful program. I know
that the member is really pleased that the Robe River Kuruma Aboriginal Corporation is doing this important work. It was lovely to talk to Terrance,
Rodney and Tom about their vision to support young people in their community.
The SPEAKER : The Leader of the Liberal Party, with the
last question.
advocacy for his community, particularly at-risk children and families in his
community. He is doing a fantastic job.
(1)–(2)
The McGowan government's early intervention program, Target 120, is
helping to steer at-risk young people away from the criminal justice system,
helping us to create safer communities. The program has been extremely
successful to date, with nearly half of all participants not having any further
contact with the justice system. We see
these great results that this program is achieving and know that the best way
to ensure that it succeeds is to
engage with local service providers and local people with a good understanding of their own communities and strong connections with local people and young
people.
Since 2018, $31.5 million has been
invested by the McGowan government into this important early intervention
program at a total of 20 sites. That included investment of $11.1 million from
the last budget to roll out this important and very successful program in nine
new locations, including Karratha of course, member for Pilbara. Earlier this
month, it was my great pleasure to travel to the Pilbara and to places like
Newman, Port Hedland and Karratha and get a clear understanding that ''King
Kevin'' is ruling up there. People can see lots of infrastructure and
investment that has transformed the Pilbara in the last six years. From the
perspective of my portfolios, it was really nice to see the priority that the
member for Pilbara is placing on supporting his community and the local
communities with what are some challenging issues not only in the Pilbara but
throughout the state, and I commend him for that.
Of course, together with the
member for Pilbara, we announced that the Robe River Kuruma Aboriginal
Corporation is the successful service provider chosen to deliver Target 120 in
Karratha. Robe River is an Aboriginal community–controlled organisation
and has been in operation since 2013. It represents the Robe River Kuruma people, who have traditional rights to an area
covering nearly 16 000 square kilometres in the Pilbara. It is committed
to progressing the interests of the Robe River Kuruma people and delivering
capacity-building programs to help improve the community. It is little wonder
that, with its experience and commitment to
the local community, it is perfectly placed to deliver the Target 120 program
in Karratha . A community youth officer has been working with an
interagency group to identify suitable young people for the program while
arrangements are underway for Robe River to take over the program.
This
is another example of the McGowan government's commitment to improving
the lives of young people and supporting young people and steering them
away from the youth justice system. Service providers and agencies work together to tackle the various factors that increase a
young person's chance of interacting with the youth justice
system. They are complex issues; it is alcohol and drug related, it is housing,
it is domestic violence and it is a failure to engage with school. Target 120,
at its heart, brings people and organisations together to support young people
to turn around their lives. It has been successful. The data shows that nearly
50 per cent of young people who have been engaged with the Target 120 program
have had no future contact with the youth justice system.
Karratha is the fifteenth Target
120 site to be rolled out in WA, and more locations are being implemented as a priority
across the state. I look forward to updating the house at every opportunity I get
about this most successful program. I know
that the member is really pleased that the Robe River Kuruma Aboriginal Corporation is doing this important work. It was lovely to talk to Terrance,
Rodney and Tom about their vision to support young people in their community.
The SPEAKER : The Leader of the Liberal Party, with the
last question.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.