Assistant Minister for Women Sashi Kiran says the ministry has been receiving a lot of reports of children eating glue on bread and drinking hand sanitisers.
She said many of those reports were emanating from squatter settlements and rural areas.
“We got reports of boys drinking methylated hand sanitiser with tang, very violent, two weeks ago,” Ms Kiran said.
“We are finding out that children are eating glue on bread, this is not new.
“You know several of these kids on the streets, the $1, $2 given to them is going to glue and Government is trying to regulate that right now.
“So it’s not on the streets, it’s everywhere, those turpentine substances can be found everywhere.”
She said one of the issues identified involved parents leaving the country for the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme and children being sent to live in urban areas with their grandparents or other relatives.
“The ministry is working with the Ministry of Youth and police to build trust with the children.
“Unless you build trust, it’s hard to work with them.
“And you can’t just remove them from the streets because they have families, so we are working with multi-stakeholders to work on the rehabilitation of these kids.
“And we as a government recognise this and we’re trying to find places where we can establish rehabilitation centres.”
She added the ministry was also working with other ministries and agencies to engage children in vocational programs.
“We do know that it is possible for children to get off the substances and have been able to find themselves.
“I know some boys and girls who are very talented in music and sports so we need to get some of these things into their lives but it is a tough battle.”
