There is no connection, at all, between the Brahminy program and the appalling incidents uncovered at the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre in the Northern Territory earlier this week and the motives of anyone attempting to link the two should be questioned.
Brahminy is a therapeutic program for at risk indigenous and non-indigenous youth, who have been unable to participate in mainstream programs.
Labor’s outcry over the Tasmanian Government’s involvement in the program is either feigned or shows how out of touch Ms Giddings is, given she was Premier when young people first attended the program - under a Labor government.
More children were sent to the NT under her watch, than have under the Liberal Government.
Since 2012, 11 children have attended short stays and camps at Brahminy.
There are currently three young people in the NT and all three families were consulted before the children went.
These children were under the care of the State and the State made a decision to relocate them to the most appropriate and safest environment.
All three children have indicated they have benefitted from the program, and all have made significant progress across many aspects of their lives.
The therapeutic benefits of the Brahminy program are under review as part of the development of the government’s Youth At Risk Strategy that was announced in April - there is no allegation of wrong doing.
DHHS is not currently progressing any new placements at Brahminy until that review has been completed.
The Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre was last year offered the opportunity to create an equivalent program here in Tasmania, however it has not yet provided a proposal despite several requests.
A previous program TAC was responsible for, the Lungtalana Program, was underutilised for a number of years, with only two people going through the program since 2010.