Ms CARNEY - 2006-06-14
How many children in Aboriginal communities were reported as having been infected with sexually transmitted infections in the past two years? If you do not know the answer to that question, why not?
ANSWER
Mr Acting Speaker, I thank the Opposition Leader for her question. Sexually transmitted infections in young people in the Northern Territory are, very sadly, higher than the national average, as are the rates for adult Territorians. The infections in children under 14 have remained relatively stable over the past decade. However, the number of infections in the 14- to 15-year-old age group does appear to be increasing. We are not quite certain why that is happening, but we believe it relates to greater sexual activity in 14- and 15-year-olds across the Territory.
I do not have the actual figures for how many STIs there have been in Aboriginal children. However, the number of sexually transmitted infections in children under 12 has varied between about 5% and 15% over the last four years. I refer this question to the minister who has carriage of that for more details she may have, quite appropriately.
Ms LAWRIE (Family and Community Services): Mr Acting Speaker, as the Chief Minister has outlined, there has been a trend of STIs across the Territory which have been similar for the last decade. Records from the Centre for Disease Control show that, in 2005, there were seven cases of STIs detected in children under 12. In the same year, there were 38 cases in children aged 12 and 13 and, for children aged 14 and 15 - as the Chief Minister pointed out, we have higher statistics - there were 206 identified cases. I note that there were 45 fewer cases of a child with an STI in 2005 than the previous year. Nevertheless, these are still shocking numbers and require our attention.
The government has a very clear responsibility to protect children. We have made a significant investment in the protection of our children, increasing the child protection budget from less than $8m when the CLP were in government, quadrupling that to $32m under the Labor government. In addition, we have put 51 additional child protection workers at the coalface to deal with notifications. We have increased guidelines that require reporting to FACS or police where there is clear evidence of sexual abuse; when there is reasonable suspicion that sexual abuse is present; when a pregnancy has occurred in a person under 14 years; when sexual activity is occurring in a person under 14; when sexually transmitted infection is diagnosed in a person under 14; and when sexual activity is occurring in any person under the age of 16 not considered mature enough to understand the concept of consent to sexual activity.
In summary, this means that we are saying very clearly to all our agencies at the coalface, for young people under 14, report the facts in all cases. For young people aged 14 and 15 years old, the guidelines require that if there is any suspicion of abuse or exploitation, also report to Family and Children’s Services or police. In addition, if a young person aged 14 or 15 does not have family support, is being secretive or does not seem to understand what they are doing, this would be a trigger for a general practitioner or another clinician to refer the young person to FACS.
If a young person aged 14 or 15 has strong family support, is clear about what they are doing, then counselling and education is often the best support a general practitioner or another clinician can provide. This is the way to ensure that young people with infection seek the treatment and support they need to make good life choices rather than avoid the treatment.
ANSWER
Mr Acting Speaker, I thank the Opposition Leader for her question. Sexually transmitted infections in young people in the Northern Territory are, very sadly, higher than the national average, as are the rates for adult Territorians. The infections in children under 14 have remained relatively stable over the past decade. However, the number of infections in the 14- to 15-year-old age group does appear to be increasing. We are not quite certain why that is happening, but we believe it relates to greater sexual activity in 14- and 15-year-olds across the Territory.
I do not have the actual figures for how many STIs there have been in Aboriginal children. However, the number of sexually transmitted infections in children under 12 has varied between about 5% and 15% over the last four years. I refer this question to the minister who has carriage of that for more details she may have, quite appropriately.
Ms LAWRIE (Family and Community Services): Mr Acting Speaker, as the Chief Minister has outlined, there has been a trend of STIs across the Territory which have been similar for the last decade. Records from the Centre for Disease Control show that, in 2005, there were seven cases of STIs detected in children under 12. In the same year, there were 38 cases in children aged 12 and 13 and, for children aged 14 and 15 - as the Chief Minister pointed out, we have higher statistics - there were 206 identified cases. I note that there were 45 fewer cases of a child with an STI in 2005 than the previous year. Nevertheless, these are still shocking numbers and require our attention.
The government has a very clear responsibility to protect children. We have made a significant investment in the protection of our children, increasing the child protection budget from less than $8m when the CLP were in government, quadrupling that to $32m under the Labor government. In addition, we have put 51 additional child protection workers at the coalface to deal with notifications. We have increased guidelines that require reporting to FACS or police where there is clear evidence of sexual abuse; when there is reasonable suspicion that sexual abuse is present; when a pregnancy has occurred in a person under 14 years; when sexual activity is occurring in a person under 14; when sexually transmitted infection is diagnosed in a person under 14; and when sexual activity is occurring in any person under the age of 16 not considered mature enough to understand the concept of consent to sexual activity.
In summary, this means that we are saying very clearly to all our agencies at the coalface, for young people under 14, report the facts in all cases. For young people aged 14 and 15 years old, the guidelines require that if there is any suspicion of abuse or exploitation, also report to Family and Children’s Services or police. In addition, if a young person aged 14 or 15 does not have family support, is being secretive or does not seem to understand what they are doing, this would be a trigger for a general practitioner or another clinician to refer the young person to FACS.
If a young person aged 14 or 15 has strong family support, is clear about what they are doing, then counselling and education is often the best support a general practitioner or another clinician can provide. This is the way to ensure that young people with infection seek the treatment and support they need to make good life choices rather than avoid the treatment.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016