Senator Margetts asked the Minister representing the Minister for Health and Family Services, upon notice, on 2 May 1997:

With reference to the August 1996 Australian Institute of Criminology report, prepared by an expert working group for the Minister in the wake of the Port Arthur massacre, entitled Indicators of Aggressive Behaviour, which identifies the key risk factors for aggressive and self-destructive behaviour to be: having a history of violent behaviour; being male; being a young adult; having experienced difficulties in childhood, including inadequate parenting, troubled relationships within the family, and low levels of school achievement; having problems of psychotropic substance abuse, especially problematic alcohol use; having severe mental illness the symptoms of which are not being adequately identified or controlled through therapeutic regimes; and being in situations, including poverty and unemployment, which may be conducive to self-directed or interpersonal violence:

(1) What social program and funding action has the Minister taken with regard to the report.

(2) Is there a coordinated plan or program which addresses the issue of violence in young adult males; if so, can details be provided of funding and staffing arrangements at the level of State and Federal Governments; if there is no coordination why not.

(3) Which programs consistent with the aims of addressing the above risk factors have been considered by Government departments but have not been funded.

Senator Newman —The Minister for Health and Family Services has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) Many of the issues raised in the report, Indicators of Aggressive Behaviour , are already being addressed through a range of Commonwealth programs including:

   The National Campaign Against Violence and Crime, The National Mental Health Strategy; The National Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy; The National Child Abuse Prevention Strategy; The National Drug Strategy; The National Policy for Children and Young People. and work on nation-wide control of firearms.

(2) To provide a complete answer to this question across all jurisdictions would require considerable time and resources and I am not prepared to ask my Department to divert them at this time.

Insofar as my Department is concerned, while there is no overall plan or program which specifically addresses violence in young men, it is a major component in the National Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Emotional and Social Well Being (Mental Health) Action Plan. The Government has committed $31 million to the National Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy, over four years (1995/96-1998/99) to support the development and uptake of best practice initiatives and service delivery for at risk youth, research, education and training for professionals, and increased access to counselling and telephone support services; and $20 million to the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Emotional and Social Well Being (Mental Health) Action Plan over four years (1996/971999/2000) to improve training and support to mental health workers and to strengthen the role of community level workers in dealing with the complex alcohol, violence and family breakdown problems which affects some Indigenous communities.

Violence in young males is being addressed within the injury prevention component of the five National Health Priority Areas which have been agreed by all the State and Territory Health Ministers, and are coordinated through the National Health Priority Committee.

Furthermore, as one of the sponsors of the Second National Men's Health Conference, the Government (through my Department) is fostering debate on issues relevant to violence in young males. This Conference will discuss a broad range of issues including men's health and health risk behaviour, emotional and mental health and suicide and injury in young men.

In addition, the following programs in my Department provide assistance to this target group:

   $4.3 million has been provided over the years 1996-97 and 1997-98 for child abuse prevention initiatives focusing on parenting education;

The Government has provided $8.3 million to fund 26 pilot projects under the Youth Homelessness Pilot Program. Pilot projects will test innovative early intervention strategies to assist young people at risk of homelessness to re-engage in family, work, education, training and life in the community. Emphasis is on identifying early home leaving and developing family relations approaches which will support young people and their families in the reconciliation process.

Commonwealth funding for the Emergency Relief Program has been increased in the 1997-98 Budget to $23.5 million. The Emergency Relief Program provides financial and other assistance to individuals and families who are in short-term financial crisis. The major client groups are single parents with children (including people escaping domestic violence), people on unemployment benefits and people with disabilities.

The Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) is a joint Commonwealth and States/Territories program providing transitional supported accommodation and associated services to assist homeless people to achieve greater independence and self-reliance.

The National Alcohol Action Plan recognises the link between alcohol and crime, in particular violence. It outlines actions being undertaken by the Commonwealth, State/Territory government health departments, State/Territory police services, non-government organisations and the alcohol industry to reduce the harms associated with the misuse of alcohol.

The Action Plan includes a description of activities to increase police and community awareness of alcohol as a factor in a range of issues such as violence and crime.

These programs do not, however, focus exclusively on violence in young men but address aspects of young men's lives. This holistic approach means it is not possible to break down staffing arrangements for elements of the program.

(3) As I have stated previously I will answer only in respect to my Department.

Strategies which are based on sound evidence and have been subjected to overall policy and financial considerations will be recognised by the programs which have already been referred to in the above answers.