FAMILY AND DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE — SERVICE HUBS — MIRRABOOKA AND KALGOORLIE
848. Ms
J.M. FREEMAN to the Minister for Prevention of Family and Domestic
Violence:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment to support our most vulnerable in Western Australia,
both through its $5.5 billion COVID-19 recovery plan and its unprecedented
investment in family and domestic violence services.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on the delivery of the family and domestic violence
hubs, both in my electorate of Mirrabooka and Kalgoorlie?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house what these one-stop hubs will mean for victims of
family and domestic violence?
Ms S.F.
McGURK replied:
(1)–(2) I
would particularly like to thank the member for Mirrabooka for her efforts to
link with services in her electorate. We understand there are challenges
throughout the state with combating domestic violence, but we particularly need
to have a commitment to understand certain cohorts within the community. In the case of Mirrabooka, we need to understand
culturally and linguistically diverse communities, including the family
and cultural dynamics in which the violence might occur if we want to combat it
effectively. That is really what these hubs are all about. It was an election
commitment that was made in the lead-up to the 2017 election. Like all our
other commitments, we are meeting those commitments.
Two
hubs will be set up, as the member said, with one in Mirrabooka and one in
Kalgoorlie. The point of the hubs is
that they are an alternative place for victims of domestic violence to go for
advice and assistance. At the moment,
they can go to police, a women's service like a women's refuge,
the Department of Communities or their local community legal centre. The hubs
will have a coordinated response, a number of different services located at them and will be a place where people
can come to get advice. We are trialling two of these hubs in Kalgoorlie and
Mirrabooka. This one-stop approach makes sure that the victim of domestic
violence is at the centre of our efforts and we do not expect those people to
traverse their way through myriad services because, sadly, they often get lost
in navigating their way around. The hubs are a coordinated, wraparound approach.
There will be information sharing between service providers and other local
organisations and government agencies, which is a key feature of the hubs.
Perpetrator services will not be offered onsite, but will be linked to the hubs
so that the hubs know where to send people for assistance. There might be other
co-located specialist services such as financial, legal, women's
counselling, mental health, alcohol and other drug support services. A total of
$15.9 million has been committed to establishing these hubs. We were happy to
announce recently the providers, which will be the City of Stirling in
Mirrabooka—it now operates the local women's refuge—and
Hope Community Services will manage the Kalgoorlie hub.
As I said before, this package
delivers on our election commitment for two hubs. But, of course, in this year
of COVID, it is on top of a very important need that we have as domestic
violence rates in our community have gone up. We announced a $28.1 million
support package for victims of family and domestic
violence in response to the COVID pandemic. Some of that is federal money—about
$5 million—but a lot is state money. People might be aware that
we have allocated more money to women's refuges and the joint response
teams to increase our capacity with the two new refuges.
I want to read out a bit of a bouquet
that we got from the Western Australian Council of Social Service in relation
to this support package. I quote —
We are writing to warmly welcome your
announcement of the comprehensive $28.1 million support package for victims of
family and domestic violence, and thank your government for your clear
commitment to ending family and domestic violence.
Your government has continually
demonstrated that you are willing to take the necessary action to address
family and domestic violence—from the historic appointment of Western Australia's
first Minister for the Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence, to changes
to the residential tenancies law, and the passage of the landmark Family
Violence Legislation Reform Bill, to name just a few of the measures.
I thank WACOSS for that
acknowledgement.
Before I sit down, many members of
this place would know Angela Hartwig, the longstanding CEO of the Women's
Council for Domestic and Family Violence Services. Angela has announced her
retirement from the women's council after a period of illness. I know
that lots of people will be sorry to see her go. There will be opportunities to
give her efforts over a long period some acknowledgement, and similarly for
Anne Moore, the longstanding chair of the women's council. Emily's List Australia gave
some acknowledgement to Angela. While I am saying what a good job she has done—I
know you like hearing me on my feet, Mr
Speaker—I want to make sure we say on the record how indebted we are to
Angela Hartwig and Anne Moore for their work.