HOMELESSNESS — DEATHS
1170. Hon STEVE MARTIN to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Minister for Community Services:
I
refer to the ABC article published last week that stated that the minister
questioned the data from the University of Western Australia's Home2Health project that found that at least
56 people who have experienced chronic homelessness in Perth have died
this year up to the end of October.
(1) Why does the
minister doubt the veracity of the figures on the deaths of people who have
experienced homelessness?
(2) When did the minister ask WA Health to investigate these
figures?
(3) What information has the
minister received from WA Health?
(4) Has the
minister or her staff taken up the offer to meet with the University of Western
Australia's Associate Professor Lisa Wood about the data on homeless
deaths made on 5 November?
Hon KYLE
McGINN replied:
On behalf of the parliamentary
secretary representing the Minister for Community Services, I thank the member
for some notice of the question. The following information has been provided to
me by the Minister for Community Services and is quite lengthy.
(1)–(3) The
report authored by the Centre for Social Impact at the University of Western Australia
is a broad assessment of how Western Australia is progressing towards ending
homelessness. The report recognised the significant resources and effort being
made by homelessness services, housing providers and the McGowan government,
particularly through the All paths lead to a home: Western Australia's
10-year strategy on homelessness 2020–2030 and the programs and
initiatives flowing from it. I am not aware of the specific methodology behind
the Home2Health study being published. Figures relating to the deaths of people experiencing homelessness are estimates only,
as mortality rates, life expectancy, causes of death and any death data for people experiencing
homelessness are not currently measured in Australia. Following the
release of the report, I sought advice from WA Health via the office of the
Minister for Health, which advised that there is no robust way to accurately
collate information pertaining to homelessness across Department of Health
data.
(4) I asked the Department of Communities to meet with
Associate Professor Wood to receive a briefing on this research. On 29
November, the department provided a range of options for that meeting;
Associate Professor Wood confirmed the meeting on 7 December 2021.