It’s “nearly impossible” to get young men and women into rehabilitation, says the Aboriginal Legal Service.
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ALS NSW and ACT deputy principal Gary Pudney said it was critical to have rehabilitation beds available as soon as someone decided they want to take that path. However, the government has not committed any funding for more rehabilitation beds.
Dubbo Regional Council is investigating the implementation of a residential rehabilitation centre as part of a range of social justice matters. The possibility of a drug court and a youth Koori court for the city are also being looked into.
“It’s very difficult at the moment to get women in the rehabilitation process in NSW. It’s nearly impossible to get young women and young men into rehabilitation places,” Mr Pudney said.
“The government by October next year will have 2000 more jail beds in Nowra, Wellington, Cessnock and Grafton but they haven’t funded any more rehabilitation beds.”
Rehabilitation beds needed to be available straight away, Mr Pudney said, not three months later.
“There’s no point of the person coming to the realisation of ‘I want to go to rehab, I want to sort my life out’ and you tell them ‘it’ll be three or four months down the track’. They either stay in jail and don’t get the benefit of it or they’re in the community and fall over,” he said.
The nearest drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre to Dubbo is in Brewarrina. Orana Haven provides rehabilitation to 150 to 200 people every year.
Mr Pudney said halfway houses were also needed in Dubbo. There were many people in their 30s and 40s who had never owned their own homes, he said.
Without somewhere to go after they were released from custody, offenders often ended up in the same situation, surrounded by the same people, Mr Pudney said.
He said the clients at ALS were often disadvantaged, had suffered, and were falling through the gaps in society. Dubbo needed broad-ranging rehabilitation, community resources such as support programs, and halfway houses to help them, he said.