Question On Notice No. 615 asked in the Legislative Council on 15 March 2022 by Hon Nick Goiran
Question Directed to the: Leader of the House representing the Minister for Child Protection
Parliament: 41 Session: 1
Question
I
refer to the article in The West Australian on 9 February 2022 entitled
“DCP crisis: Leaked emails show homeless pregnant woman was living in property
being visited by sex predator”, which details a case in late 2021 of a child
protection worker contacting an Aboriginal advocacy group for help with finding
housing for a heavily pregnant Aboriginal woman who was in overcrowded housing
with exposure to her sex abuse perpetrator, and I ask:
(a) how
many newborns were taken into care in 2021; and
(b) how
many of those newborns were taken into care with housing being a
contributing factor?
Answered on 10 May 2022
a) In 2021, a total of 74 children were taken into care within one week of birth.
b) 30 children had homelessness recorded as a contributing factor to this decision. Homelessness alone is not a sufficient reason for a child to be taken into care.