LABOR'S UNKNOWN EXPERIMENT: THE MORETON REGIONAL COORDINATION EXERCISE*

Abstract: The Department of Urban and Regional Development's (DURD's) Moreton Regional Coordination Exercise was a bold experiment. It aimed to coordinate, at a regional level, the activities of all levels of government, an objective close to DURD's heart. The proposal emerged from DURD's struggles with other commonwealth departments, conflicts with the Queensland government over administrative arrangements for the Area Improvement Program and the Australian Assistance Plan, and representations from the Lord Mayor of Brisbane concerning regional arrangements. In the course of setting the exercise up, DURD faced many difficulties, including departmental opposition on the interdepartmental committees and the scepticism of officials at the regional level. In implementing the idea of a regional budget there were serious shortcomings in available information and major difficulties in overcoming the inertia of existing departmental budgetary routines and priorities. The Regional Team of officials produced a report that was redolent of general support for "better coordination", but the specific proposals and their effectiveness were very limited. DURD's coordinating ambitions were thwarted, despite apparent Cabinet support and oversight by a special Cabinet committee. In fact, Cabinet as an institution was too weak and its membership too fragmented to provide the necessary power to overcome bureaucratic conservatism.     

Intrafamilial Child Sexual Abuse Intervention: The Impact of Juvenile Court Hearings and Felony Trial Diversions

Traditional felony prosecutions of child sexual abusers are problematic because physical evidence is uncommon (Bulkley, 1982b), making the charges difficult to prove. In such instances, the case will hinge on the testimony of the child victim, who may be secondarily victimized by the process. When the accused is a family member, the problem is compounded if the child is afraid to testify against a relative (Costin, et al, 1991). Necessary treatment for the offender andvictim is not forthcoming in traditional felony litigation and the already disrupted family will suffer further. As a corrective response, mental health and legal professionals have collaborated to create innovative intervention strategies in many jurisdictions. In 1981, more than 300 such programs were identified by the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (unpublished list). The number is probably higher today. This article investigates child sexual abuse intervention strategies by focusing on three jurisdictions in which felony trial diversions, juvenile court petitions, and treatment programs are intertwined into intervention strategies for first-time, intrafamilial offenders. The purpose of this article is to describe the three programs, then analyze the strategies to determine the type of services each client received.