Young people at risk following BAC closure

The Barrett Adolescent Centre (BAC), formerly located in Wacol, was the only tier three mental health service for adolescents in Queensland, providing the dual delivery of education and healthcare services. It had served Queenslanders well for more than 30 years. Then in January 2014, it was controversially closed by the Newman government.

As a tier three service, BAC provided specialist mental health care for children and adolescents with complex and severe mental health problems, and/or those at high risk of harm. The BAC operated with a multi-disciplinary team to deliver outstanding outcomes for young at-risk people. Included in this dedicated team were the teachers and support staff of the Barrett Adolescent Centre Special School, which delivered school programs to inpatients of the centre.

In November 2012, a Queensland inquiry into child protection was told of the likely closure of BAC. This followed the Newman government’s decision to scrap the previous Labor governments’ plan to relocate the centre to a purpose-built facility at Redlands.

Petitions were created to urge the LNP government to save the BAC, as there was no other facility in Queensland that could provide long term intensive therapy, which is vital for dealing with adolescent mental illness and suicide. One was a community-run petition with more than 4,000 signatures, the other was a parliamentary e-petition with more than 1,000 signatures, sponsored by opposition leader Annastacia Palaszczuk and the Member for Bundamba, Jo-Ann Miller, both of whom advocated to keep the BAC open. They were presented to the Queensland Parliament on 5 March 2013.

Despite this, on 6 August 2013 Health Minister Lawrence Springborg announced that the BAC was to close. Recommendations from an expert panel that considered the BAC model were kept secret and not released until after the closure.

With no other tier three service available to young people in Queensland, patients were moved back into community care, where many have suffered detrimental effects due to the lack of 24/7 support required for high needs mental health patients.

The staff of the Barrett Adolescent Centre Special School have continued to deliver their high quality educational programs for students, operating as a distinct school unit on the campus of Yeronga State High School. A small group of students attend the school, while others receive outreach support from the Barrett teachers. The teachers report that many of the outreach students have disengaged from education and healthcare services since returning to their communities, placing them at great risk.

In a major step forward, however, at its recent State Conference, the Queensland Labor Party announced its policy to re-open the BAC and also to build another of its kind in Townsville if elected at the next state election. This policy announcement is significant as it recognises the severe impact the decision to close the BAC has had on young people across the state, and it also recognises the need to locate tier three services in regional areas to better serve all Queenslanders.

Dan Coxen
Acting Research Officer

Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 119 No 7, 3 October 2014, p15