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Initiatives targeting Recommendation 16QueenslandCommunity Approaches to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student Behaviour Management: The Indigenous Education Programs developed and distributed a resource booklet, "Community Approaches to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student Behaviour Management", to all schools. This resource document assisted schools in the development of supportive school environments, which were more inclusive of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. http://education.qld.gov.au/tal/atsi/html/guide/resbooks.htm Target group: Indigenous students in Education Queensland schools, particularly those at risk. Coverage: State wide Timeframe: Ongoing 2001/2002 Responsible agency: Education Queensland Contact: Indigenous Education Programs Website: http://education.qld.gov.au/tal/atsi/ Family Violence Support Materials In relation to family violence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, Education Queensland provides input into the Next Step and Cape York Justice Study processes. Education Queensland has produced the SAVVY Schools Kit to provide practical information and strategies for school communities to address issues of domestic and family violence. Education Queensland has been implementing the Office of Women’s Policy produced video "What if love hurts" for use in state high schools to assist student to explore issues of violence in relationships and promote healthy relationships. Target group: Students in Education Queensland schools at risk of family violence. Coverage: Statewide initiative supported through localised activities. Timeframe: Ongoing 2001/2002 Responsible agency: Education Queensland Contact: Indigenous Education Programs Website: http://education.qld.gov.au/tal/atsi/ School Based Youth Health Nurse Program The School Based Youth Health Nurse Program is a Queensland Government initiative that commenced in 1998. This primary health care program deploys registered nurses to deliver prevention services in state schools with secondary students, and works within the social model of health. The nurses provide information, advice and support for students, their families and school communities in relation to issues that impact on the health and wellbeing of young people including early identification and brief interventions, and as relevant, facilitate smooth referral pathways to other services and agencies. These nurses also act as advocates for young people in the broader community by raising awareness of their needs. The nurses provide individual confidential consultations as well as support for whole of schools activities to promote health. This could include: curriculum development; teaching and learning activities (including teacher in-service and parent sessions); organisation of environments supportive of health and wellbeing; and the development of partnerships and networks internal and external to the schools to support positive health outcomes for young people. Target group: School students aged 12-18+ years and parents, teachers and other school support staff in State schools Coverage: State wide Timeframe: Ongoing Responsible agency: Queensland Health Contact: Program Coordinator Website: www.health.qld.gov.au/ Good Practice Guidelines for Working with Young People at Risk of Suicide or Self Harm who Present at Queensland Health Facilities: A Resource for developing district and service policy and procedures The aim of the project is to develop good practice guidelines for the management of young people at risk of suicide and self-harm who present at Queensland Health facilities. The project is a state wide undertaking and has involved broad consultation with key stakeholders to explore what already exists in terms of policies/protocols regarding the management of young people at risk of suicide and self-harm in Queensland Health facilities. The project aims to draw from what currently exists as well as learning from national and international research to develop principles for the management of young people at risk. The final document will guide service providers in the key issues for consideration as services and policies are developed or updated. Target group: Young people Coverage: State wide Timeframe: 2001/02 – ongoing application Responsible agency: Queensland Health Contact: A/State Coordinator Website: www.health.qld.gov.au/ Youth Drug Summit and the Marginalised Young People's Project The Youth Drug Consultation Project established twenty-six projects in twenty-four sites across the State targeting at risk young people. It operated in partnership with peak youth and indigenous bodies. Each project focused on young people’s alcohol and drug issues and provided a process for young people to express their ideas, concerns and issues about the prevention of harm relating to alcohol and drug use. Through working together as a team the projects also aimed to build protective factors such as connectedness, problem solving, self-efficacy and resiliency through improved access to support services for the young people participating in the projects. This project culminated in the Youth Drug Summit in October 2001. The Marginalised Young People’s Program has been developed as a follow up to the Youth Drug Summit. At the Summit, at risk and marginalised young people and their support workers were invited to present and discuss their ideas and make recommendations to the Queensland Government about improving youth drug prevention programs and services. The recommendations from the Summit will be included in Queensland Health’s Illicit Drug Action Plan consultations. A possible next stage is the establishment of local youth drug prevention networks to look at the management and implementation of the Summit recommendations at the local community level. Target group: Youth Coverage: State wide Timeframe: 2001 – next steps still under consideration Responsible agency: Queensland Health Contact: Senior Prevention Adviser Website: www.health.qld.gov.au/atods Helping Friends Program The Helping Friends Program is a peer support program to be delivered to high schools in North Queensland. Helping Friends is based on the foundation that young people frequently seek out their peers for help and support, and that every school has many informal helping networks. These "natural" helpers are identified through an anonymous survey, and they are offered training in specific skills for helping and supporting their peers. Helping Friends are trained in aspects of helping relationships, communication skills, problem solving and decision-making, referral/resource networks, and self care. They are encouraged to support friends who approach them for assistance and assist them to seek professional help when required. Target group: Senior secondary school students, school personnel and youth service providers Coverage: North Queensland Timeframe: 2001/02 Responsible agency: Queensland Health Contact: State Coordinator Website: www.health.qld.gov.au/ Taking Big Steps - Transition Information Package The Taking Big Steps project is designed to assist both service providers and young people alike to manage the transition issues associated with moving from rural and remote areas to urban places for employment and educational purposes. The package provides an overview of the discrete stages of transition with some suggested approaches for helping young people cope with the changes they are experiencing. Target group: Youth, community members, schools, youth service providers Coverage: Cape York Area and the Torres Strait Islands with concerted efforts to focus on Hopevale and Wujal Wujal communities Timeframe: 2001/02 Responsible agency: Queensland Health Contact: State Coordinator Website: www.health.qld.gov.au/ MindMatters MindMatters is a national funded secondary school-based mental health promotion program to support secondary schools in promoting and protecting the mental health of members of school communities. It aims to enhance the development of school environments where young people feel safe, valued, engaged and purposeful. MindMatters helps schools and their communities including teachers, parents and students to take positive action to create a climate of mental as well as physical health within secondary schools. It includes cross-curricular and whole-of-school resources for schools, a professional development training strategy, a dedicated website, regular newsletters and an evaluation process. Two dedicated project officers, based in Education Queensland but responsible to an intersectoral steering committee, will be responsible for coordinating the Queensland implementation process including:
Target group: Members of the secondary school community, including teachers, students, parents. Coverage: All Queensland secondary schools Timeframe: Funded until approximately June 2003 Responsible agency: Queensland Health Contact: Education Queensland Website: cms.curriculum.edu.au/mindmatters Guidelines for Responding to Victims of Sexual Assault Develop and implement guidelines for health services responding to victims of sexual assault and interagency guidelines for key agencies involved in responding to adult victims of sexual assault. Target group: Women (including indigenous women) Coverage: State wide Timeframe: 2001 - 2003 Responsible agency: Queensland Health Contact: Principal Policy Advisor (Women’s Health) Website: http://www.health.qld.gov.au/violence/ "Poison" - School Tobacco Resource Package This project aims to bring together resources into a package that will assist school communities in comprehensively addressing tobacco smoking in accordance with the Health Promoting Schools framework. The package will be introduced to Queensland schools with middle year students in accordance with marketing and implementation plans (including professional development) that will be informed by principles of good practice. This package will form a major component of the comprehensive 100% IN CONTROL, "Poison" tobacco prevention campaign. "Poison" comprises a cinema commercial, television commercial, community service announcement, supporting resources and pages on the 100% IN CONTROL website (www.100incontrol.com) in addition to the tobacco resource package. Target group: Members of school communities, including teachers, middle school students, parents, staff and school-based youth health nurses. Coverage: All Queensland schools with middle school students Timeframe: Development and implementation during 2002 Responsible agency: Queensland Health in collaboration with Education Queensland, Association of Independent Schools of Queensland, Queensland Catholic Education Commission, University of Queensland, Queensland Council of Parents and Citizens Association and Queensland Cancer Fund. Contact: Senior Project Officer
Website: www.100incontrol.com Health Promoting Schools Initiatives Public Health Services and Health Promotion Units across the state have supported the development of a range of Health Promoting Schools initiatives. These support the implementation of new health and physical education syllabuses in the school curriculum, the creation of safe and healthy social and physical environments in schools and the development of partnerships with community services. The Western Gateway Health Promoting Schools Grant Scheme and the Gold Coast Lighthouse Schools Program are good examples of how Queensland Health is supporting schools to work with a range of government and community agencies to address school community identified health and well being issues such as youth risk taking behaviours, mental health and school and community ‘connectedness’. Target group: School aged children and school communities – both primary and secondary schools Coverage: State wide Timeframe: Ongoing Responsible agency: Queensland Health Contact: Central Public Health Unit (Brisbane North) Website: www.health.qld.gov.au/ Me, Mates and Moderation Me, Mates and Moderation is a school-based alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention and education program. Based on the Health Promoting Schools framework and contemporary drug education best practice, the program aims to support responsible use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs by young people. Components of the program include a Teacher In Service Program, a Drug Education Manual for Secondary Schools, a Peer Education Program, "Peers Lead Students Focus Days" and the "Danger Game". Target group: Schools with secondary students Coverage: Statewide Timeframe: Roll-out during 2002 Responsible agency: Queensland Health and Education Queensland Contact: ATODS Project Co-ordinator Website: www.health.qld.gov.au/ The Queensland Government’s Youth Participation Strategy
The Queensland Government’s Youth Participation Strategy aims to ensure that young people’s voices are heard by government and their communities. This strategy has four major components: Queensland State Youth Advisory Council The council provides advice to the Minister for Employment, Training and Youth and the Queensland Government generally on issues identified by young people and recommends strategies to address these issues. Council membership consists of fifteen young people aged 15 to 25 years, five community organisational representatives, one representative from local government and six representatives from government departments. The Office of Youth Affairs provides administrative and financial support for the operation of the Queensland State Youth Advisory Council. Local level youth participation activities Local level youth participation activities support young Queenslanders to influence day-to-day decisions of state and local government and the community. By being involved in decision-making, young people have opportunities to develop and increase their skills and knowledge in identifying and responding to the issues that are facing them in their local communities. The Office of Youth Affairs provides small grants directly to young people to express their views and decide which issues are most important to them and their communities. Small grants are also available to community organisations and local governments. Youth website: www.GENERATE.qld.gov.au The GENERATE website provides information and connections between young people and government. "Ministers Online", a feature of the website, allows young people to discuss issues and raise questions with Queensland Government Ministers in an online chat environment. A schedule of online chats is available on the site. Also featured on the site is a discussion board – the GENERATOR – that facilitates discussion between young people across the State. The issues discussed by young people on the GENERATOR are raised in a regular report to Cabinet. A facility to provide feedback on proposed or amended legislation that affects the lives of young people is also included on the site in the "Legislation Online" section. Register of Boards and Committees Young people can include their names on a register to indicate their desire to be a part of a Queensland Government board or committee. When developing membership for boards and committees, this register may be referred to for the inclusion and representation of young people. Target group: Young people 12 – 25 yrs Coverage: State wide Timeframe: Commenced in March 2000 and is ongoing Responsible agency: Department of Employment and Training Contact: Director Website: http://www.youth.qld.gov.au/ School Mediation The Alternative Dispute Resolution Branch of the Queensland Department of Justice & Attorney-General provides a free, accessible mediation service to communities across Queensland. Trained mediators assist parties to discuss their concerns and to negotiate mutually acceptable agreements. Attendance at mediation is voluntary. Dispute Resolution Centres are based in Brisbane, Hervey Bay, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville and Cairns. Mediations can be conducted between members of school communities including student / student, student / staff or parent / staff disputes. Target group: School aged children / school communities Coverage: Mediators are located in Brisbane, Toowoomba, Roma, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Hervey Bay, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville, Mt Isa, Cairns and surrounding regions (service provision to more remote regional areas may be negotiated). Timeframe: Ongoing Responsible agency: Queensland Department of Justice & Attorney-General Contact: Executive Manager Website: http://www.justice.qld.gov.au Justice Mediation The Alternative Dispute Resolution Branch of the Queensland Department of Justice & Attorney-General offers a mediation service to those involved in the criminal justice system through ‘Justice Mediation’. This program allows an opportunity for those affected by crime to meet with those who have committed offences. This process allows young offenders to hear ‘first-hand’ the impact of their offence and to explain to others involved how and why the offence was committed. The process adheres to the principles of Restorative Justice and assists in addressing the harm done by the commission of an offence. Issues such as restitution can also be discussed during this process. The Justice Mediation program is distinct from juvenile victim- offender conferencing. Referral of matters to Justice Mediation can occur at several points within the criminal justice process. Target group: Young people who have committed offences Coverage: Presently South-East Queensland Timeframe: Ongoing Responsible agency: Queensland Department of Justice & Attorney-General Contact: Executive Manager Website: http://www.justice.qld.gov.au Family Support Program The Family Support Program aims to support families where the child with the disability is at risk of entering the care of the state or the family is at risk of breakdown. Families receive assistance from a facilitator for information, planning, linking with formal and informal supports, advocacy and personal supports; and access to discretionary funding for the purchase of a range of supports and services, according to the families needs. Target Group:
Coverage: State wide Timeframe: Ongoing Responsible Agency: Disability Services Queensland Contact: Senior Program Development Officer Website: www.disability.qld.gov.au/suppserv/dsq/fsp_apply.cfm Friendship Program The Friendship Program aims to enhance the opportunity for people with a disability to form friendships with other in the community by:
Target Group:
Coverage: State wide Timeframe: Ongoing Responsible Agency: Disability Services Queensland Contact: State Coordinator Website: www.disability.qld.gov.au
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