Thursday, 10 September 2026

 Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (21:52): (2804) My adjournment is to the Minister for Health, and I ask her to work with the Department of Justice and Community Safety and the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) to develop, fund and pilot an adapted Pathway to Good Health model for young people in youth detention, with the Department of Health retaining governance and oversight. A new report from the Justice Health Group at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute makes a compelling case for this. Young people in detention carry an extraordinary burden of unmet health needs, including much higher rates of mental illness, neurodevelopmental disability, substance dependence and chronic illness. Many of those needs have gone unidentified for years before a child ever reaches the justice system. There is also an enormous overlap between youth justice and child protection. In Victoria more than two-thirds of young people under youth justice supervision have also had contact with the child protection system. That does not mean that all of them have been in state care, but it does show why government services cannot continue to operate in silos.

Victoria already has a model designed to address these needs. The current Pathway to Good Health program provides coordinated health screening, assessment and referral for children entering statutory care, supported by health navigators who pull together fragmented health histories and help young people access ongoing care. Yet eligibility does not extend to young people who are in detention. The report recommends a four-year, separately funded pilot with dedicated health navigators, information-sharing arrangements and funded outreach post release. That continuity matters when the median stay in youth detention in Victoria is just 21 days. Importantly, this should be a health-led approach. Pathway to Good Health is funded through the Department of Health, and there is a strong case for Health to retain responsibility for an expansion into youth detention, rather than shifting governance to justice.

The World Health Organization has long supported health ministry leadership in custodial health care, alongside a whole-of-government approach to protect clinical independence, continuity of care and equivalent health standards. This approach is also consistent with Victoria’s own children, youth and families reforms, which recognise the health, wellbeing and safety of children in, leaving and at risk of entering care as a collective responsibility across government, including Justice. It is also consistent with the government’s commitment that every child and young person should have the best possible opportunity for health and wellbeing, regardless of their circumstances. Minister, I ask you to bring Health, Justice and DFFH together, commit to a health-led pilot and ensure these young people do not fall through the cracks between systems any longer.