Dr. Shawna Coxon:

The Senator’s questions are very important. I would point to the new Policing, Security and Community Safety Act because it was built around the idea of a whole-of-government approach to be proactive in these spaces.

On specific programmes, I could spend half a day talking about that. If the Senator wants to connect afterwards and talk about things she would like to see specifically, I would be happy to share that. It is important to acknowledge that we know that trauma informs a lot of how people wind up in the system, and that is a cycle. It is a small group of people who tend to then create that trauma for others, and it becomes a cycle unto itself.

We also know, even from our own work around our public attitudes survey, as much as we look at the 89% that the Commissioner mentioned today, that is a generic statistic. When we look at youth, the Traveller community, etc., we know that is a different experience and that number would not look like that. It is important to acknowledge that.

With the new Act, there are a number of new structures coming into place that will work toward a whole-of-government approach. I mentioned the DRIVE programme earlier – that is just one. A health-led approach in a number of different areas will be coming to the fore. I agree with the Senator. It is a very important conversation and it needs to lead to tangible work.