POLICE — HATE
CRIMES
304. Hon ALISON XAMON to the minister representing the
Minister for Police:
I refer to the presence of hate
crimes in our community.
(1) Does the Western
Australia Police Force currently collect data on the prevalence of hate crimes
committed in Western Australia?
(2) If yes to (1) —
(a) how is hate crime defined; and
(b) is this data used to inform
operational responses and intelligence gathering?
(3) If no to (1) —
(a) why not; and
(b) will the minister commit to
ensuring that systems are put in place to collect this information?
(4) If yes to (3)(b), when will this
occur?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of this question. The following information has been provided to me
by the Minister for Police. The Western Australia Police Force advises as
follows.
(1) Yes.
(2) (a) The Western
Australia Police Force collects data on offences and charges under chapter XI, ''Racist harassment and incitement to racial
hatred'' of the Criminal Code Act Compilation Act 1913. All terms
are as defined in the act. However, it is noted that the act does not use or
specifically define the term ''hate crimes''. In addition, the WA
Police Force has the capability to detect, prevent, disrupt and respond to
incidents of violent extremism and unlawful behaviour motivated by a political,
religious or ideological cause.
(b) Yes.
(3)–(4) Not applicable.