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- 5 September 2006
Dubbo Police and Community Youth Club
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Page: 1421
Mrs DAWN FARDELL (Dubbo) [6.12 p.m.]: Today I refer to a wonderful organisation in my electorate, the Dubbo Police and Community Youth Club [PCYC]. In 2000, when I was a Dubbo City councillor, I met the volunteer president of the club, Mr Allan Backhouse. Allan told me that his vision for the club was to meet the needs of our youth in the future. He lamented that council was not represented at the club's meetings. I mentioned to him that a councillor was appointed but that he was not attending the club's meetings. I approached this councillor, Ben Shields, and asked him whether he wished to remain on the committee; if not, I would be happy to take his position. He was eager to get rid of this position as it was not high profile enough for him. Following a resolution at council, I was the appointed councillor. At the time Mr Shields said that the PCYC was only good for football and bingo.
I and others attended many meetings, and we all remained focused on having a new club constructed and the existing building renovated. The new premises are within two months of being opened. At the recent annual general meeting the club programmer outlined all the activities presently being undertaken. The club programmer, Rod Fardell, liaises weekly with the crime management unit, in particular the youth liaison officer and the community safety officer. They work in partnership in an attempt to reduce youth crime. At these meetings new young offenders and youth at risk referrals are obtained, as well as hot spot locations and any other issues that may arise. The driver education program continues to be a success, with 180 participants per year. The reoffending rate is only 4 per cent. This program is still being well received by the local magistrate and solicitors. Meetings are held every Monday night, with between 10 and 25 participants per session.
The Making a Difference [MAD] youth driving program has been conducted four times in the past year. It is aimed at young drivers, and helps to assist them with vital information to educate them on safe driving practices. It has been a success, particularly the last session, where many parents gave positive and outstanding feedback. Sponsorship for this program has been obtained from the Orana Credit Union. Assistance has also been given by the Dubbo rescue squad and David Dickey in particular, who allows the use of his premises to run the program. The non-attenders breakfast and sport program [NABS] also continues to be a success. The program caters for young people who are at risk of becoming non-attenders at school for various reasons. The participants are all referred from the Department of Education and Training, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department Of Community Services and the CMU. The program is also a filter for younger priority one and youth at risk.
The program runs four days a week for eight weeks of every school term. It is funded by community development support expenditure from Dubbo RSL. Sponsorship from Pura Milk is also a huge factor. The NABS program takes a lot of commitment and dedication from the volunteers and club council members involved. The fit and healthy program is designed specifically for young offenders, to assist young persons to lead a healthier lifestyle through participation and education in exercise and nutrition. This runs continuously throughout the year. There is great interagency interaction with the Ted Noffs Foundation located in the area. Drug and alcohol dependency can be a major influence in these young people's lives. The Orana youth program was set up to work at different intervals with young people who are currently in detention. The program involves education sessions on health, nutrition, driving, and drug and alcohol abuse.
Tamborine Rising is a youth in sport program that involves all the seven clubs in the western zone. It involves young offenders who, after 26 weeks of programming, attempt to gain the prestigious Duke of Edinburgh award. One participant has gone on to secure employment and has made massive changes in his life. A major part of the PCYC police time is spent gathering information on the peer assisted study sessions system. At present PCYC police have 10 young offenders and a large number of youth at risk aged between six and 17 years of age. Activities for young offenders and youth at risk are not without difficulty, but the door is always open for young people to make a difference.
The PCYC police have also been involved in operations in conjunction with local police and other agencies. They also work on a weekly basis with other youth agencies. These programs titled Get Smart and Adopt a Cop work closely with the youth liaison officer, Kathryn Duggan, for schools to have a police officer who works with youth issues and obviously breaks down barriers with young people at an early age. The PCYC police have spent a lot of time on grant writing in an attempt to gain new programs and initiatives. One successful grant was the Footy Fever Program. This was originally set up to ensure that young offenders attended school and participated in sport, not in crime. If they did this they would get the opportunity to attend an NRL match and get time with some of their role models. The program has worked so well with many of our youth that it has now been launched statewide with the NRL.
Other programs include the Ur Choice program for under-age drinking offenders, the Caution Ahead Program, which involves educating and creating better choices for second-time offenders, and the Main Activities Program, which is for young offenders and children at risk who attend a school for children with behaviour problems. Other community style programs assisted by youth programmers include the Blue Star Program, Lock Up Day, Roar and Snore, Walgett Mobile PCYC, three on three basketball, Amped up Nights, discos, rugby league sevens. They have also assisted with many other activities. Some of these programs are specifically designed to entice youth to keep away from bad elements and areas and to participate in fun activities at the PCYC. I acknowledge the support of the workers: Kathy Duggan, Mark, Mel, Stacey, Karen, Allan Backhouse, Anne Keane, Robyn Swalwell, Kenny Holmes and many more. If honourable members are wondering what happened to councillor Ben, these days he is busy running the Dubbo branch of the Liberal Party. Presently he is branch stacking and enrolling anyone over the age of 80 years.
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