HOMELESSNESS — PREGNANT WOMEN
375. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Minister for Community Services:
I
have a supplementary question. I thank the minister. One hundred women without
an address is seriously concerning. Is there a specific program or
support service that the government offers that women can access, given their
vulnerability as they go into hospital potentially with the risk of losing
their child?
Ms S.F.
McGURK replied:
I
note that the member has not referred to the authority for the information that
she has given to us today, so I would urge
her to come to the Department of Communities through my office to give that
information so that we can give proper support to those women and their
families as required. It is important to note that extensive services are available for people throughout the state, and
that includes in regional areas. Whether those women are pregnant, or have or do not have children, quite a lot of work
is done to ensure that there is stable accommodation and, importantly, proper supports. In fact, the Department of
Communities is best placed to do that now, knowing that, together, child
protection services and the Department of Housing give support to people who are
in public housing or are looking for public
housing. On behalf of both the Department of Communities and the Department of
Health, I am surprised that the Leader of the Opposition talks about
those numbers and I would urge her to seek that those people get in touch with
the Department of Communities district officers or to give me some of that
detail through my office so that we can deal with those issues a bit more
constructively than in the Parliament.