school attendance and the program saw some very positive outcomes, including reduced juvenile crime and improved school attendance. Although the two Youth Officers are no longer working in Laverton, the Shire is seeking to fill the vacancies so the program can continue. The Shire is currently in the planning and development stages for a new centre for youth, which will include a pool and a skate park. School and education More intensive education support is needed for students in foundational areas such as numeracy and literacy. Truancy is an issue and a stronger whole-of-community effort is needed to encourage and support children and young people to attend school. It was identified that Aboriginal children may miss school for extended periods of time because they have lore and sorry business obligations with their family. It was recognised that because many parents may have had negative experiences with schooling or did not attend school themselves, there may be fear or reluctance to send their children to school. This needs to be addressed through improved communication and assistance for parents. High school-aged young people do not have their own area at the school to spend recess/lunch. It is recognised they would benefit from having their own space, separate to the primary-aged students. Families Many children and young people are being raised by their grandparents who do not receive financial support, which can be very challenging. Children and young people need safe houses they can go to in the community when they feel unsafe at home. There was strong agreement on the need for parents and families to receive much greater support in order to provide nurturing environments for their children. Service provision Laverton needs more locally-based services. As the town is 345 kilometres away from the regional centre of Kalgoorlie, distance is an issue. Visiting services are not able to build relationships and provide the level of service needed. There should be a focus on building the capacity of people in the town, rather than relying on visiting services. The large number of visiting services do not communicate well with each other and therefore may duplicate programs/services. Central coordination of all the
school attendance and the program saw some very positive outcomes, including reduced juvenile crime and improved school attendance. Although the two Youth Officers are no longer working in Laverton, the Shire is seeking to fill the vacancies so the program can continue. The Shire is currently in the planning and development stages for a new centre for youth, which will include a pool and a skate park. School and education More intensive education support is needed for students in foundational areas such as numeracy and literacy. Truancy is an issue and a stronger whole-of-community effort is needed to encourage and support children and young people to attend school. It was identified that Aboriginal children may miss school for extended periods of time because they have lore and sorry business obligations with their family. It was recognised that because many parents may have had negative experiences with schooling or did not attend school themselves, there may be fear or reluctance to send their children to school. This needs to be addressed through improved communication and assistance for parents. High school-aged young people do not have their own area at the school to spend recess/lunch. It is recognised they would benefit from having their own space, separate to the primary-aged students. Families Many children and young people are being raised by their grandparents who do not receive financial support, which can be very challenging. Children and young people need safe houses they can go to in the community when they feel unsafe at home. There was strong agreement on the need for parents and families to receive much greater support in order to provide nurturing environments for their children. Service provision Laverton needs more locally-based services. As the town is 345 kilometres away from the regional centre of Kalgoorlie, distance is an issue. Visiting services are not able to build relationships and provide the level of service needed. There should be a focus on building the capacity of people in the town, rather than relying on visiting services. The large number of visiting services do not communicate well with each other and therefore may duplicate programs/services. Central coordination of all the
regional-visit-report-laverton-and-leonora-april-2017.docx