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Preventing Crime and Promoting Rights for Indigenous Young
People with Cognitive Disabilities and Mental Health Issues

Appendix 2: Government Responses

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In order to establish what is provided for Indigenous young people with
cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health problems, information was requested
from all relevant government departments across
Australia.^[213]A letter was sent
to departments requesting:

• data that the department/ agency may collect on the numbers of Indigenous
  young people who have been assessed as having a cognitive disability and/ or
  mental health issues;
• a break down of this data by age, sex and location;
• any information of relevant early intervention or diversionary programs that
  they run for the target group of young people; and
• any other research or stakeholder who is working in the field.
  

As a result of the government responses, this section will provide
further data regarding the incidence of cognitive disabilities and/or mental
health issues and a map of services for this group of young people.

Data

Accurate data collection is essential for planning and delivering services to
the right people and in the right places. Collection of data shows a commitment
to grappling with the issue of Indigenous young people with cognitive
disabilities and/ or mental health issues. Of the 28 agencies that provided
responses, 15 provided
data.^[214]

Many of the responses noted the limitations of the data and were cognisant of
particular challenges around diagnosing cognitive disability and/ or mental
health problems amongst Indigenous young people. Nonetheless, this data provides
a more detailed picture of Indigenous young people either in, or at risk of
entering the juvenile justice system.

Education

Education agencies appear to collect the most comprehensive data,
particularly on intellectual disabilities and other learning difficulties. A
summary of the data provided is shown in Table 1. This data was usually
drawn from the number of Indigenous young people receiving additional support
funding or enrolled in special education programs.

Table 4: Summary of Education Data

Of all the government data received in response to the request, the education
departments seemed to be the most aware of the difficulty in diagnosing and
measuring the number of Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities. The
Northern Territory Department of Education and Training qualified their data,
stating that:

there is very little published information available that considers how
Indigenous students may perform on quantitative measurement tools. There are no
published norms for Indigenous students and without appropriate norms the
accuracy of information may be compromised. In many remote communities, with
methods of teaching and the requirements of learning based on a western cultural
context, an Indigenous students progress and level of educational achievement
may not reflect their cognitive potential or how they are viewed from a cultural
perspective.^[215]

The South Australian Department of Education and �����鱨վ’s Services
echoes some of these concerns about the accuracy and reliability of the
data:

1. There is reluctance among many Indigenous families to refer students for
   assessment, as there are cultural and labelling issues, including a fear of
   being taken from the family.
2. The diagnosis of Aboriginal students with intellectual disability is
   challenging, as there are many factors which could impact adversely upon
   performance during assessments of intellectual ability.
3. Mental health issues may be misinterpreted as intellectual impairment and
   vice versa.
4. In South Australia, assessment tools used to determine intellectual
   functioning in the non-indigenous student population as used with indigenous
   students with caution. This is due to concerns with validity of the instruments
   for Indigenous students, and the delivery of assessments in spoken of written
   English when English may not be the student’s first language.
5. There is difficulty in obtaining a medical diagnosis for students believed
   to have foetal alcohol syndrome, as paediatric expertise is not readily
   available.^[216]
   

Juvenile Justice

The only juvenile justice agency that reported that they currently record any
data on cognitive disability and/ or mental health status is the Western
Australian Department of Corrective Services (which has responsibility for both
juvenile and adult offenders).

The Western Australian Department of Corrective Services provided data on the
number of young people in custody with recorded psychiatric or intellectual
disability, below in Table 2. Based on snap shot data from January 2007,
11 Indigenous young people had a psychiatric diagnosis and 4 Indigenous young
people had a dual psychiatric and intellectual disability diagnosis. All of the
Indigenous young people were
males.^[217]

Table 5: Western Australian Corrective Services, Number of Young People in
Custody with Psychiatric or Intellectual Disability

It must be noted that this is snapshot data and therefore it may or may not
be representative of the levels of intellectual disability and mental illness
over a longer period of time. While these numbers seem relatively small, given
that the average number of young people in custody is
133,^[218] this suggests that
approximately 20% of the custodial population are diagnosed with either a
psychiatric or intellectual disability and around half of these are likely to be
Indigenous young people.

The Victorian Department of Human Services which includes juvenile justice
services report that that cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health issues
can be identified within the Victorian Offending Needs Indicator for Youth
(VONIY). From December 2006, VONIY information will be included in the new
juvenile justice data system and will enable this sort of data to be
collected.^[219] This will involve
young people both in custody and in the community.

The NSW Department of Juvenile Justice participated in the Young People in
Custody Health Survey and Young People on Community Orders Health Survey, as
outlined in the literature review. However, they do not collect this data on a
regular basis.^[220]

Disability Services

Disability Services agencies and departments reported data on the number of
Indigenous young people with intellectual disabilities. A summary of the data is
provided below at Table 3. However, as discussed in the literature
review, this may not be an under representation of Indigenous young people as
they are less likely to actually access disability services.

Table 6: Disability Services Data

Mental Health Services

Not all mental health services were contacted as the scope of the project
expanded as our consultations begun. However, due to the structure of some
larger government departments, information is provided for Victoria and
Queensland. Table 4 shows data reported by Victoria and Table 5 shows data from Queensland.

Table 7: Indigenous young people (0-24 years) accessing Child and
Adolescent Mental Health Services or Adult Mental Health Services in
Victoria^[224]

Table 8: Annual average number of Indigenous patients admitted to hospital
due to mental behaviour disorders by age group and remoteness in Queensland,
2001/ 02-2005/ 06^[225]

Based on analysis provided by Queensland Health:

• There is no statistical significance between the rates of Indigenous
  patients admitted due to mental/ behavioural disorders compared to other
  Queenslanders for age groups 0-4 and 5-9. However, the rates of mental health
  related admissions for Indigenous people are statistically higher compared with
  other Queenslanders for age groups 10-14 and 15-19 years.
• The difference is greater as the age group increases, with the Indigenous
  admission rate more than double for other Queenslanders in the 20-24 age
  group.
• The admission rates of Indigenous patients in age group 15-19 years, and who
  live in remote and very remote areas are much higher than those Indigenous
  patients within the same age groups who live in major cities and regional areas
  of Queensland.^[226]
  

Table 9: Annual average number of Indigenous community/
ambulatory service contacts by age group and remoteness in Queensland, 2001/
02-2005/ 06^[227]

Analysis provided by Queensland Health shows:

• The rates of Indigenous community service contacts for age groups 0-4 years
  and 5-9 years is statistically lower than the corresponding rates for other
  Queenslanders.
• The differences were reversed for age groups 10-14 years and 15-19 years,
  where the rates of contacts for Indigenous are statistically higher than other
  Queenslanders.
• The rates of service contacts for all age groups for Indigenous in remote
  and very remote areas are much higher than those Indigenous living in major
  cities and regional areas of
  Queensland.^[228]

Police

No police departments reported that they collect information related to
cognitive disability or mental health status of either victims or offenders.

Child Protection

The NSW Department of Community Services was the only child protection agency
to provide a response for the number of children with a cognitive disability
and/ or mental health problem under their care. Of the Indigenous children in
out of home care, 108 were recorded as having either a cognitive disability or
mental health problem. A further break down according to type of disability is
provided in Table 7 below.

Table 10: Number of �����鱨վ/ Young Persons with a Cognitive Disability in
out- of home care as at 30 June
2006^[229]

Summary of Data

The data provided by government agencies gives us a snap shot of some of the
cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health issues faced by Indigenous young
people across a range of different service providers. However, it is still only
a partial picture, given that not all agencies collect this data, and those that
do have identified significant limitations.

Of all the government responses received, education agencies seem to
undertake the most comprehensive data collection of Indigenous young people with
cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health problems. This is related to a
greater awareness, particularly of cognitive disability issues through their
requirement to provide special education and support to this group.

One thing that stands out from the education data is that Indigenous young
people with cognitive disabilities are a small group. Even in the Northern
Territory, where there are approximately 14 007 Indigenous students (40% of all
enrolments), there are only 143 Indigenous young people with identified
cognitive disabilities.^[230] Based
on anecdotal evidence, it is likely that there are a significant number of
Indigenous children and young people whose cognitive disability remains
unassessed, or are simply not attending school.

There are also implications for service delivery with such small numbers,
with students potentially spread across large geographic areas. The challenge is
how to provide developmentally and educationally appropriate services where
small numbers may compromise culturally appropriate support.

As previously discussed, Indigenous students with a disability may be
isolated when their disability needs are seen as more important than their
cultural needs. In some cases Indigenous young people may receive an excellent
level of special education and support to accommodate for their cognitive
disability, but may be placed in a situation where there are no other Indigenous
students, staff or programs. Indigenous students with cognitive disabilities
need holistic service which recognises both cultural and disability needs.

Perhaps the most glaring omission is the lack of data systematically
collected by juvenile justice agencies, with Western Australia being the only
state that collects data on disability/ mental health status of Indigenous young
people in custody. It is promising that Victoria seems to be heading down the
path of greater data collection.

Early intervention and diversionary programs for Indigenous young people
with cognitive disabilities and mental health problems

All of the departments contacted were asked to provide information about
relevant programs targeting this group of young people. None of the departments
reported any programs exclusively aimed at Indigenous young people with
cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health problems at risk of entering the
juvenile justice system, or already involved with the juvenile justice system.

However, many of the departments do provide services that may assist this
group whilst not specifically targeting them. Some reported instances where they
were aware of this target group successfully accessing these services.

Juvenile Justice

The role of juvenile justice agencies across Australia
varies.^[231] Some provide early
intervention for young people at risk of contact with the juvenile justice
system, some provide diversionary programs. All provide support and supervision
for young people on community based orders and custodial services.

Juvenile justice agencies all have a role to play in the diversion of
Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health issues
from the criminal justice system, if not the provision of early intervention
services. Some agencies would argue that early intervention should be the role
of other departments to avoid any labelling or stigmatisation of young people,
as well as potential ‘contamination’ of less experienced young
people with more entrenched young offenders. Table 8 shows a summary of
the programs outlined in the responses.

Table 11: Summary of Relevant Juvenile Justice programs

Crime Prevention

Crime prevention programs, usually run by NGOs but funded through the state
or federal crime prevention grants, have the capacity to assist Indigenous young
people with cognitive disabilities and or mental health issues, during the
‘at risk’ stage. As stated in the literature review, this can
involve anything from a recreation program, to mentoring, family support or
residential services, depending on the aims of the project, all of which can
potential build on individual strengths and prevent offending behaviour.

However, again, there are no specific programs that target this group. A
list of relevant reported crime prevention projects are provided in Table
9 below.

Table 12: Relevant Crime Prevention Programs

Education

All education departments provide special education programs and support to
young people with disabilities. They also provide some form of culturally
appropriate support for Indigenous students. This ranges from the use of
Aboriginal Education Workers to the Western Australian ‘Aboriginal
Perspectives Across the Curriculum’ which acknowledges and endorses
Indigenous world views and promotes greater understanding and respect for
Indigenous peoples, cultures, histories and languages to make school more
welcoming. School counsellors also have a role to play in assessing and
supporting young people with disabilities and behaviour difficulties.

However, once again, there are no specific programs identified that target
Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health
problems. Table 10 shows a list of relevant programs that may nonetheless
assist the target group, in addition to mainstream special education schools and
support programs. However, it is unclear whether they are sufficiently
responsive and resourced to address the complex needs of Indigenous young people
with cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health issues.

Table 13: Relevant Education Programs

Given the negative experiences that many Indigenous young people with
cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health issues face in the school system,
more flexible options such as TAFE may be more accessible for this group. TAFE
NSW, with the largest Aboriginal enrolment of any training provider in
Australia, provides a comprehensive range of programs and supports which may
assist the target group. As well as Aboriginal and disability support to
participate in TAFE courses, a number of outreach programs aim to reengage at
risk young with education and training. A summary is provided in Table 11
below.

Table 14: Relevant TAFE NSW Programs

Disability/ Mental Health Services

All disability services departments reported that while they do not run
programs specifically for Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities
and/ or mental health problems at risk of offending, existing programs could be
adapted to meet the individual needs of Indigenous young people and their
families and carers.

Based on the information provided, Western Australian Disability Services
Commission deserves special mention for its work in making services more
welcoming and accessible to Indigenous people with disabilities. Based on
consultations with over 300 Indigenous people with disabilities, family members
and disability staff, they produced research, policy documents and promotional
material on Indigenous people with disabilities.

Disability South Australia have a small Indigenous disability team that work
within the broader disability system that operates across metropolitan and
country areas including remote communities, to identify, assess and broker
disability and other services for individuals with cognitive (brain injury and
intellectual) disabilities. This service has also broadened its criteria to
include people with a psychiatric disability that are homeless and not engaged
with a mental health service.

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Endnotes

^[213] Information was
requested primarily from state juvenile justice, health, education, disability
services and crime prevention departments as it was considered that these
agencies would most likely have direct service provision involvement in early
intervention and diversionary programs for this client group. A full list of
respondents can be found at Appendix
1.

^[214] The Tasmanian
Department of Health and Human Services provided data provided data but given
the small numbers it is not to be reported in case individuals can be
identified.

^[215] Northern
Territory Department of Employment, Education and Training, Correspondence
with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner- Request
for information on Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or
mental health problems 2006, Feb 2007,
p5.

^[216] South Australian
Department of Education and �����鱨վ’s Services, Correspondence with
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner- Request for
information on Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or
mental health problems 2006, 3 January 2007,
p1.

^[217] Western Australian
Department of Corrective Services, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner- Request for information on
Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health
problems 2006, Email, 6 February
2007.

^[218] Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare, Juvenile Justice in Australia 2000-2001 to
2003-2004, Canberra,
2006.

^[219] Victorian
Department of Human Services, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner- Request for information on
Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health
problems 2006, 10 January 2007.

^[220] NSW Department of
Juvenile Justice, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Social Justice Commissioner- Request for information on Indigenous young people
with cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health problems 2006, 22 January
2007.

^[221] Western Australian
Disability Services Commission, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner- Request for information on
Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health
problems 2006, 16 January
2007.

^[222] NSW Department of
Ageing, Disability and Home Care, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner- Request for information on
Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health
problems 2006, 18 January
2007.

^[223] Victorian
Department of Human Services, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner- Request for information on
Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health
problems 2006, 15 January
2007.

^[224] Victorian
Department of Human Services, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner- Request for information on
Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health
problems 2006, 15 January
2007.

^[225] Queensland Health, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Commissioner- Request for information on Indigenous young people with cognitive
disabilities and/ or mental health problems 2006, 1 March
2007.

^[226] Queensland Health, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Commissioner- Request for information on Indigenous young people with cognitive
disabilities and/ or mental health problems 2006, 1 March
2007.

^[227] Queensland Health, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Commissioner- Request for information on Indigenous young people with cognitive
disabilities and/ or mental health problems 2006, 1 March
2007.

^[228] Queensland Health, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Commissioner- Request for information on Indigenous young people with cognitive
disabilities and/ or mental health problems 2006, 1 March
2007.

^[229] NSW Department of
Community Services, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Social Justice Commissioner- Request for information on Indigenous young people
with cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health problems 2006, 30 January
2007.

^[230] Northern Territory
Department of Employment, Education and Training, Correspondence with
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner- Request for
information on Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or
mental health problems 2006, 14 February 2007.

^[231] The structure of
juvenile justice agencies also vary, with some as stand alone departments (NSW
Department of Juvenile Justice), some are part of a broader Human Services or
community services type department, and some are located within Corrective
Services Departments which service adult and juvenile offenders.

^[232] Department of Human
Services, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social
Justice Commissioner- Request for information on Indigenous young people with
cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health problems 2006,10 January
2007.

^[233] Department of
Juvenile Justice, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Social Justice Commissioner- Request for information on Indigenous young people
with cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health problems 2006, 22
January 2007.

^[234] Wells, A.
Communication with the Social Justice Commissioner’s Office,

^[235] Northern Territory
Department of Corrective Services, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner- Request for information on
Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health
problems 2006, 11 January
2007.

^[236] Office of Crime
Prevention, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social
Justice Commissioner- Request for information on Indigenous young people with
cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health problems 2006, 31 January
2007.

^[237] Office of Crime
Prevention, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social
Justice Commissioner- Request for information on Indigenous young people with
cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health problems 2006, 31 January
2007.

^[238] Office of Crime
Prevention, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social
Justice Commissioner- Request for information on Indigenous young people with
cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health problems 2006, 31 January
2007.

^[239] Office of Crime
Prevention, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social
Justice Commissioner- Request for information on Indigenous young people with
cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health problems 2006, 31 January
2007.

^[240] Office of Crime
Prevention, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social
Justice Commissioner- Request for information on Indigenous young people with
cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health problems 2006, 31 January
2007.

^[241] Office of Crime
Prevention, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social
Justice Commissioner- Request for information on Indigenous young people with
cognitive disabilities and/ or mental health problems 2006, 31 January
2007.

^[242] ACT Department of
Disability, Housing & Community Services. �����鱨վ and Youth, Correspondence with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
Commissioner- Request for information on Indigenous young people with cognitive
disabilities and/ or mental health problems 2006, 19 January
2007.

^[243] Northern Territory
Department of Employment, Education and Training, Correspondence with
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner- Request for
information on Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or
mental health problems 2006, 14 February 2007.

^[244] Northern Territory
Department of Employment, Education and Training, Correspondence with
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner- Request for
information on Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or
mental health problems 2006, 14 February 2007.

^[245] Northern Territory
Department of Employment, Education and Training, Correspondence with
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner- Request for
information on Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or
mental health problems 2006, 14 February 2007.

^[246] Northern Territory
Department of Employment, Education and Training, Correspondence with
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner- Request for
information on Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or
mental health problems 2006, 14 February 2007.

^[247] South Australian
Department of Education and �����鱨վ’s Services, Correspondence with
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner- Request for
information on Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or
mental health problems 2006, 3 January
2007.

^[248] South Australian
Department of Education and �����鱨վ’s Services, Correspondence with
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner- Request for
information on Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or
mental health problems 2006, 3 January
2007.

^[249] South Australian
Department of Education and �����鱨վ’s Services, Correspondence with
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner- Request for
information on Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or
mental health problems 2006, 3 January
2007.

^[250] Queensland
Department of Education, Training and the Arts, Correspondence with
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner- Request for
information on Indigenous young people with cognitive disabilities and/ or
mental health problems 2006, 2 February 2007.