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| Above: The project team includes (left) Senior Sergeant Lilian Bensted from the Office of the Commissioner (Cultural Advisory Unit), Queensland Police Service, and (right) Ben Norris from the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Branch, Queensland Health. |
These pilot programs will outreach to local Indigenous communities. For example, the Cairns pilot will work with Yarrabah, Townsville with Palm Island and Rockhampton with Woorabinda.
The Department of the Premier and Cabinet's Law and Justice Policy team is leading the development of the whole-of-Government project and the Criminal Justice Research unit will oversee the evaluation.
Project manager Marianne Conaty said, "There is a lot of goodwill from the community and in the government to make this program a success.
"We have assembled a very talented and dedicated team of people in Brisbane and throughout Queensland, and they are working very hard to make this project a reality.
"We hope the initiative will lead to improved family life with more stable relationships, enhanced parenting skills and the reunification of families as the result of successful rehabilitation through this program.
"The 20-week treatment program will operate in two streams. The first is a criminal justice stream for people charged with an offence where alcohol was a factor. People charged with offences involving sexual violence and other significant violence will be excluded from the program.
"And second, a smaller family intervention stream will operate for Indigenous parents involved in the child protection system and for whom alcohol is a problem.
"We expect that the program should lead to more appropriate sentencing of offenders based on detailed information about their situation acquired through their participation in the new program," Ms Conaty said.
Ben Norris from Queensland Health said, "As part of the program, the government will invest significant funding to provide an alcohol treatment, rehabilitation and aftercare program for people who are assessed as being suitable for treatment.
"People will be treated in a variety of places, including residential treatment centres, hospitals, and at home if that is appropriate. Funding for the program will cover staffing as well as infrastructure enhancement.
"Certain participants may be eligible to access supported accommodation to enable their participation in the program, for example where participants need to leave their communities to participate, or would otherwise be at risk of homelessness.
"The Queensland Government is developing a partnership arrangement with the Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council to develop the treatment practices model for the QIADP," says Mr Norris.
The program is a major whole-of-government initiative involving the following departments: Department of the Premier and Cabinet; Queensland Health; Department of Justice and Attorney-General; Department of Communities; Department of Housing; Department of Child Safety; Queensland Police Service; Queensland Treasury; Department of Employment and Industrial Relations; Queensland Corrective Services.
marianne.conaty@premiers.qld.gov.au
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