This week Video Journalist Kris Flanders travels to the Indigenous community of Cherbourg, 250 kilometres North West of Brisbane.

Alarm bells have been ringing in this particular part of Queensland, with concerns mounting over a disturbing increase in petrol and paint sniffing amongst some of the youth.

"We have problems here, the same as probably elsewhere. Alcohol is a big problem, noisy parties are a big problem, drugs is a problem, petrol sniffing is a problem. It's a big problem", Cherbourg Mayor Ken Bone tells Flanders.

The increase in volatile substance abuse combined with existing drug and alcohol problems has already led to a spike in anti-social behaviour, prompting support groups to intervene. Along the way, Flanders meets former resident Bethany Geehoy, who works with Safe Haven - an Indigenous organisation helping families cope with violence and substance abuse.

However the reach of Safe Haven extends beyond the traditional form of one on one support to an independent night patrol operation.

"We see a range of things like domestic violence, alcohol on the streets, a lot of family feuds and lately we've been getting a lot of chroming", says Ricky Morgan, one of the night patrollers.

Transcript

KG: The Aboriginal community of Cherbourg in Queensland is well known for producing famous sportsmen, including cricketer Eddie Gilbert and local rugby league legend Frank Fisher. Today the community is facing an issue that everyone wants eradicated. Video Journalist Kris Flanders visits Cherbourg to see at first-hand how big the issue is and what the community wants done.

Reporter: The Aboriginal community of Cherbourg is located 250km
north-west of Brisbane. It's a community tackling some serious issues. Community concern has risen due to a disturbing increase in petrol- and paint-sniffing amongst some of the youth.

Ken Bone, Cherbourg Mayor: We have problems here, the same as probably elsewhere. Alcohol is a big problem, noisy parties a big problem, drugs is a problem, petrol-sniffing is a problem. It's a big problem. Everybody's concerned about what's happening, especially with our children involved.

Reporter: Former resident Bethany Geehoy works with Safe Haven, an Indigenous organisation dealing with family violence and substance abuse. She was shocked to see how blatant the problem had become.

Bethany Geehoy, Safe Haven: Children who are on petrol, they've obviously got no future while they're sniffing those substances, be it petrol or paint, which they are doing at the moment. It is really so sad, it's an old cliché, they say our children are our future, but they are. And these are our future leaders. I think when it started off they were sort of hiding, but now they're getting so they don't care. The kids don't care whether they get out there and it's in broad daylight and it's in the middle of the day, and they just go along with their bottles of paint and sniffing it for all to see. It's like the kids don't care.

Reporter: The Safe Haven night patrol were the first to identify the rise in volatile substance abuse in the community.

Ricky Morgan, Safe Haven Night Patrol: Well, we get as young as seven, that I know of, right up to adults. Some of the adults have been doing it since they were young teenagers and some of the adults are parents to a lot of these kids. We see a range of things like domestic violence, alcohol on the streets, a lot of family feuds and lately we've been getting a lot of chroming, like sniffing of petrol, paint, and there's a lot of drugs in the community. It's a big problem within our juveniles in this community.

Reporter: Well, I'm back in my hotel room after a night on the Cherbourg streets, and while it was a pretty quiet night, Rick and the rest of the night patrol team assure me that it's not always the case. Also, after seeing a young girl about the age of 14 and another who is pregnant walking around the streets sniffing paint is just something that will stay with me for a long, long time.

Dr Ruth Johnston BA, MBBS: Both petrol- and paint-sniffing are very dangerous to young bodies. They both can cause brain damage or even death. Obviously as they are inhaled they come in through the lungs and they damage the lungs. They can cause low oxygen levels in the blood that can cause brain damage. Once it gets into your blood it can damage your heart, causing your heart to beat irregularly, and that means that your heart can stop suddenly.

Reporter: And what impact does sniffing have on those with no say in the situation?

Dr Ruth Johnston: To an unborn child it can cause a lot of damage, as you can imagine, that little developing brain. It can cause the foetus to die, it can cause miscarriage, it can cause long-term brain damage, it can cause all sorts of deformities and abnormalities.

Ken Bone: I don't feel too well about it because one of my daughters is one f the main ringleaders in sniffing and she's only 14 years of age. And when you got family involved on a community like Cherbourg you just about have a connection with all the kids and you see them grow and you see them into doing what they're doing now. So it's pretty hard.

Reporter: Currently there are no laws stating that volatile substance abuse is illegal in Queensland. The Minister for Aboriginal Partnerships, Lindy Nelson-Carr, is prepared to work closely with Cherbourg in addressing this
problem.

Lindy Nelson-Carr, Minister for Aboriginal & TSI Partnerships: I know Ken Bone well and I'm more than happy to meet with him. In fact, I'm going to Cherbourg early in the future. So I'd like to discuss his community issues first-hand. But can I say that minimising or eliminating this kind of behaviour simply by criminalising often doesn't work. What we really need to do is have a look at the root cause.

Reporter: The increase in volatile substance abusecombined with existing drug and alcohol problems has led to a steady rise in anti-social behaviour.

Beryl 'Aunty Tiny' Gambrill, Cherbourg Resident: They say what they like, do what they like, swear at their mothers and fathers, swear at anybody that says anything to them. I'd like to see these kids taken away somewhere where they can be away from alcohol, away from drugs.

Reporter: The idea of a rehabilitation centre to tackle these problems is shared by Bethany Geehoy.

Bethany Geehoy: Well, what I hope to achieve is for us to get a purpose-built facility that's outside the community to deal with the petrol-sniffing issues to take the petrol-sniffers away from the community, but at the same time work with them and their families in addressing the issue.

Reporter: Bethany believes family life at home needs to be addressed in order for any positive outcomes to occur.

Bethany Geehoy: So unless you work with the family you're not going to address the problem. Because even if you take the petrol-sniffer away, get them healthy and on track again, bring them back into the same environment without dealing with the family issues, well, it's going to fail - they're going to get back onto the streets sniffing.

Reporter: Cherbourg elder Sandra Morgan has been personally touched by the problem, so much so she organised a petition pleading for government assistance.

Sandra Morgan, Cherbourg Resident: At times it's hard to you know, with my grandson being one. Because I've rung the police and the services to even like... more or less dob on him, you know? But it's only out of love and concern that I did it. And when the police are saying their hands are tied, they can't do anything, that's the other hurtful side too, that you wish that something could be done for them.

Bethany Geehoy: I mean, in the future I'd like to see Cherbourg with some good, strong leaders, because with good, strong leaders you'll get good, strong families and good, strong community.