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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 463 asked in the Legislative Council on 23 August 2017 by Hon Charles Smith

Parliament: 40 Session: 1


FAMILY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE — REFUGES
      463. Hon CHARLES SMITH to the Leader of the House representing the Minister for Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence:
Bearing in mind the government's pre-election domestic violence agenda, recent media reports have suggested women's refuges are consistently full and all too commonly have to turn away women and children seeking aid and assistance.
(1) Can the government advise how many refuge places are available to women and their children in WA?
      (2) How many women fleeing domestic violence in the last 12 months have attended and sought aid from women's refuges?
(3) How many domestic violence incident reports were submitted by WA Police in the last 12 months?
(4) Does the government have any plans to build new refuges for domestic violence victims?
Hon SUE ELLERY replied:
I think the honourable member for some notice of the question.
      (1) Approximately 216 families in Western Australia can be accommodated in refuges on any given night.
      (2) The most recent published statistics are for 2015–16. Family and Domestic Violence Specialist Homelessness Services—refuges—funded by the child protection and family support division of the Department of Communities, reported that over this period 144 409 nights of accommodation were provided to clients, and an estimated 7 200 clients were provided accommodation. Of these, 3 500 were estimated to be children.
      (3) The domestic violence triage portal managed by the Department of Communities shows that for 2016–17, a total of 51 425 domestic violence incident reports were uploaded by WA Police.
      (4) The government looks forward to progressing and delivering its commitments and is currently working through the budget process to do so.