A recent spate of violence in Canberra's south has sparked calls for more recreational centres and support programs aimed at young people.
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Last month, an attack on four Chinese high school students allegedly involving a group of youths at the Woden bus interchange made international headlines and left two teenagers in hospital.
Community groups warned the assault was not the first at the interchange, while international students said they continued to feel harassed and threatened in Woden.
The group involved are understood to be known to police. Two teenagers were arrested following the attack and police patrols stepped up in the area.
Director of the ACT Council for Social Service Susan Helyar said government funding had not kept pace with demand for youth support programs. Despite new housing developments such as the Molonglo Valley, Canberra's south hadn't seen an increase in money for youth outreach.
"That's making it very hard for workers in the Woden or Weston Creek area if they want to go out there and provide outreach for those kids," she said.
After the bus stop assault, the Woden Valley Community Council suggested the community might need to "reclaim the evenings" at the interchange and blamed a lack of social infrastructure in town for recent incidents.
Council president Fiona Carrick said reports of youth "jumping" between the roofs of the abandoned nine-storey Alexander and Albemarle buildings in town also had residents worried.
"It's a huge safety risk. We've become a graffiti hot spot too," she said.
"If you live amongst derelict buildings and that's acceptable in your community, then it's sending a poor message."
Ms Carrick said, despite long years of advocacy by the council, Woden still didn't have an arts or cultural centre or a multi-purpose sports hall, and its Canberra Institute of Technology campus had closed.
"We can't demonstrate a causal link, but we'd hope the ACT Government would investigate the impact of not having basic facilities in the town centre to keep kids occupied," she said.
Just across the road from the bus interchange is the Woden Youth Centre, run by Woden Community Service. Doors open every day at 3pm for kids to drop in and shoot pool, play music or lounge around with friends.
Chief executive Chris Redmond said a team of four youth workers at the centre worked with about 24 vulnerable teens, including those involved in recent violence at the interchange.
"We are concerned, and we're concerned more generally about an increase in the potential for mental un-wellness, I guess you could call it," Mr Redmond said.
He said the federal government had axed several key youth programs in recent years, including the youth connections program.
"We self-funded a worker to maintain some of that really important work for the past two and a bit years, but she's just left us so we're not sure if that program will continue," Mr Redmond said.
A lack of youth mental health services had recently been identified as a priority for the area, he said. Woden Community Service hoped to win funding to create a non-clinical support program that would help connect kids getting treatment with their community.
At the centre, sometimes that's help with Centrelink, and sometimes it's learning to DJ or playing basketball out the back after school.
This week, youth workers Hayden Page and Jeremy Leela are busy preparing for the centre's annual band competition, Lift Off, which will see young musicians battle it out in the Woden town square on Friday. Mr Leela said the long-running contest had given many young Canberrans their start, including 16-year-old singer Lucy Sugerman, who this year made it through to the grand finale of The Voice.
ACT Planning Minister Mick Gentleman said the government was continuing to invest in Woden, including turning Phillip Oval into a sporting facility for events such as cricket and AFL, and bringing stage two of the light rail to the town centre.
"We have also previously dedicated $5.75million to upgrade and update the Woden bus interchange [and] we are... investing $3.2 million to revitalise the Woden Library," Mr Gentleman said.
