Cultivating Promise Building Resilience and Engagement for At-Risk Youth Through Sport and Culture

Community Development and Justice Standing Committee Cultivating promise Building Resilience and Engagement for At-Risk Youth through Sport and Culture Report No. 13 Legislative Assembly August 2016 Parliament of Western Australia Committee Members Chair Ms M.M. Quirk, MLA Member for Girrawheen Deputy Chair Dr A.D. Buti, MLA Member for Armadale Members Mr C.D. Hatton, MLA Member for Balcatta Ms E. Mettam, MLA Member for Vasse Mr M.P. Murray, MLA Member for Collie-Preston Committee Staff Principal Research Officer Dr Sarah Palmer, BA (Hons), PhD Research Officer Ms Franchesca Walker, BA (Hons), Dip (MPD) Legislative Assembly Tel: (08) 9222 7494 Parliament House Fax: (08) 9222 7804 Harvest Terrace Email: [email protected] PERTH WA 6000 Website: www.parliament.wa.gov.au/cdjsc Published by the Parliament of Western Australia, Perth. August 2016. ISBN: 978-1-925116-72-4 (Series: Western Australia. Parliament. Legislative Assembly. Committees. Community Development and Justice Standing Committee. Report 13) 328.365 Community Development and Justice Standing Committee Cultivating promise Building Resilience and Engagement for At-Risk Youth through Sport and Culture Report No. 13 Presented by Ms M.M. Quirk, MLA Presented to the Clerk of the Legislative Assembly and deemed tabled on 15 August 2016 Chair’s Foreword “A strength-based approach with a positive perspective is so much more effective than a no capacity approach and a negative perspective. It’s a simple and powerful philosophy – work with the communities’ many strengths rather than focus on the ‘challenges’ and problems.” hese are the words of Karyn Lisignoli, chief executive officer of Nyoongar Wellbeing and Sport, contained in a submission to the Committee. These T “challenges and problems” for many young Western Australians readily come to mind. They include addiction, dysfunctional family life, abuse, family violence, racism, loss of cultural identity, unemployment, marginalisation from mainstream education and sexualisation. What is less well canvassed or known is how we may better foster these young people to fully engage through sporting or creative endeavours. The objective of engaging otherwise disaffected youth through sport or culture is not about finding “diamonds in the rough” who can participate at an elite level. It is about building resilience and self-worth. It is about enabling individuals to discover what they feel passionate about, thereby steering a course for their lives ahead. Moreover it is to prevent ongoing (or transition to) criminal conduct. Irrespective of the location or type of program which the Committee examined, common themes quickly emerged which provided a template for our findings as to what elements are key to successful participation of youth at risk. In collecting evidence for this Inquiry, the Committee was privileged to meet with two participants of Artful Dodgers Studios, a sprawling conglomeration of art and music studios, offices, common rooms and kitchen and laundry facilities in Collingwood. Run by Jesuit Social Services, Artful Dodgers has used art and music as a way of engaging youth and then connecting them with the support they need for the past 20 years. Both of the young people we met had traumatic histories but had become confident in their futures thanks to their sustained involvement with people they could trust and relate to. They were disarmingly candid in their accounts of the challenges of homelessness and addiction – which was exactly what we wanted. Hearing directly from young people who had been brought back from the brink was both confronting and inspiring. While Artful Dodgers mainly supports youth with multiple and complex problems, other groups the Committee met focussed on engaging young people early to ensure they did not reach that point. This often involved consciously reaching out to communities where youth were at risk of becoming isolated or perhaps becoming involved in anti-social behaviour. It requires a high level of understanding and compassion and a willingness to be flexible. Time and again we heard how groups had adapted programs to accommodate different ethnic communities. The 15 nationalities that make up St Mary’s Netball Club in Dandenong is testament to their success in consciously creating a welcoming environment over a period of years. Creating opportunities for Indigenous youth to connect with their culture is also important, and in New Zealand it was heartening to see the extent to which Maori culture is embedded in sports and arts activities. Knowing where you come from and being proud of that history was at the core of many programs for disenfranchised Maori youth, and the presence of strong role models played a key role in this. At home in Western Australia, we met some polite and impressive young men at the Clontarf Academy, and heard how the program delivers lasting change in the lives of boys who might otherwise have bleak prospects. Local organisations, such as the Edmund Rice Centre, Communicare and the Community Arts Network, deliver some terrific programs in specific suburbs and towns to engage ethnic minorities and Indigenous kids. There are projects here and there that deliver wonderful outcomes – such as the Yiriman Project to engage Indigenous youth in culture in the Kimberley and BighART’s highly-awarded comic book project in Roebourne. But a program here and there is not good enough. Provision of sport and arts programs for at-risk youth is patchy; project by project funding means that there are few opportunities to establish the long-term programs and sustained commitment that can really make a tangible difference. Ad hoc delivery means that some parts of the State receive multiple programs and others receive nothing. The absence of any system for monitoring or auditing program delivery also means that some groups are not well catered for. Girls, for instance, lose out unless they are targeted through Indigenous or culturally and linguistically diverse programs. The tendency to focus on the development of elite athletes or artists is also concerning. Not all young people have the potential (or desire) to be high level players or performers, but their participation pays dividends nonetheless. There is, by now, enough evidence that demonstrates the cost-benefits of investing in young people before they become involved in the juvenile justice system. As Nobel Laureate in Economics Professor James Heckman has shown, a pre-school program for at-risk children can deliver a social return on investment of $7 for every $1 invested, since, by age 20, participants are more likely to have finished high school and less likely to have needed remedial help or to have been arrested. The cost of keeping one juvenile in detention for a year is around $300,000; but a similar amount invested in a sport or arts or cultural program could deliver many more thousands of dollars in savings by diverting a young person at-risk from the more costly path that leads to justice, social services and health interventions. I want to specially acknowledge the role of the many volunteers we encountered whose commitment and passion enriched the experience of the program participants. Likewise the candour and frank disclosures of the young people we spoke to was appreciated and valued. Because of this, the Committee is confident that our findings and recommendations reflect a course of action which young Western Australians would be prepared to embrace. Or, to put it another way, as Kate from Ladder WA said in a submission to the Committee: “It is crucial that we tap into what the young people need and want as opposed to us telling them what they need.” In conducting this Inquiry, I have appreciated the thoughtful contributions of my fellow Committee members: Deputy Chair Dr Tony Buti MLA, Mr Mick Murray MLA, Mr Chris Hatton MLA and Ms Libby Mettam MLA. I also thank the Principal Research Officer, Dr Sarah Palmer, and Research Officer, Ms Franchesca Walker, for their professional support of the Committee’s work. Finally, this will be the last report of this Committee for the 39th Parliament. Accordingly, I take this opportunity to make observations about the committee process. It has become increasingly evident that the commitment and diligence of the Committee in highlighting the need for reform, changes to public policy or the law is frequently met by a tepid, dismissive and dilatory response by government. Despite the composition of the Committee, more often than not there was unanimous agreement on recommendations and the contents of reports. For that reason our work should not be so readily discounted. The development of public policy and in-depth research through parliamentary committees is an important counterbalance to the politically expedient and hurried decision-making which the executive is often required to make. I have made these observations in the present context because I regard the modest but considered findings and recommendations of this report as deserving of close examination and implementation. Acted upon, they will help to ensure that a future generation can more fully participate in our community. It will evidence the sentiment that our young are worthy of the kind of investment of resources which improve their capacity as leaders of the future. Conversely, if ignored, it will speak of a lack of confidence and interest in our young. Potential may remain unrealised and, most importantly, many who might otherwise be diverted from crime or mental health issues may founder. Such a lack of investment will also lead to the negative externality of increased costs to government as outlined in this report. This Inquiry has led us to make the same observation as American actress Jane Fonda, writing in 2010 about the need to support vulnerable youth: “The capacity of young people to persevere, even under the most adverse conditions, never ceases to amaze me.”1 MS M.M.

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