❓ Ms Davies questions the Minister about ambulance fees for domestic violence victims. The Minister responds by highlighting the government's increased investment in domestic violence prevention and criticizes the previous government's record.
AnsweredQoN 290Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FAMILY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE — AMBULANCE
FEES
290. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Minister for Prevention of Family
and Domestic Violence:
I refer to the financial
burden on victims of domestic violence who require an ambulance and who have to
find $ 1 000 to pay for this service at a time of crisis. Has the
minister lobbied the Premier; Treasurer to guarantee the budget will alleviate
this cost impost on victims and forgive the debt for anyone who finds
themselves in this situation?
FEES
290. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Minister for Prevention of Family
and Domestic Violence:
I refer to the financial
burden on victims of domestic violence who require an ambulance and who have to
find $ 1 000 to pay for this service at a time of crisis. Has the
minister lobbied the Premier; Treasurer to guarantee the budget will alleviate
this cost impost on victims and forgive the debt for anyone who finds
themselves in this situation?
AnswerView source ↗
I welcome the question from the opposition because they have
been few and far between when it comes to a focus on domestic violence. Two-thirds
of assaults that are worked through by police are domestic violence related. We
know we have high rates of domestic violence in Western Australia and that is
why we brought a singular focus of attention to this issue, with additional
resources and cooperation across government agencies and the community sector
to deliver services, as well as, frankly, the corporate and philanthropic
sector. We have worked very hard across a range of different areas.
I was very pleased in the lead-up to the state budget, which
we will hear the detail of shortly, to announce $34.4 million of new money in
today's budget. It is a significant increase of funding. For instance,
the seat of Armadale will have our third hub, with $14.7 million allocated to
the new hub there. That will be our third hub, along with Kalgoorlie and
Mirrabooka. These are alternative places so that people come forward. We are
doing a whole lot of work across domestic violence in terms of combating the
high levels of violence to make sure that victims are safe. We have two new
refuges, the three hubs that I just talked about, and we will also open another hub in the Kimberley. I am holding
perpetrators to account. Part of our budget announcement was to continue some perpetrator programs in the Kimberley. This is very difficult work. There is
not a lot of an evidence base for what is effective when working with
perpetrators, but we are working with Stopping Family Violence, our peak body
in Western Australia, on that front. We are making sure our courts and our
justice system are up to the task. We have undertaken very considerable law
reform in cooperation with the Attorney General. We are also looking at how we
tackle the complex issues of coercive control and what is the best way to
tackle this very pervasive but perhaps a very important early warning system
for domestic violence. Obviously, we have been doing work with Respectful
Relationships in the 16 Days campaign.
What happened for eight and a half years under the government
of the Leader of the Opposition to combat domestic violence? What exactly
happened for eight and a half years to combat domestic violence under her
government's watch? Not a lot! In the final week of the Parliament
before the state election in 2017, we finalised the family violence restraining
order scheme. That was a commitment that the previous coalition government had
entered into as part of a national agreement. That was on the final day of
Parliament. We established two refuges; one was under Wungening's management and there was another one, which is
not a 24-hour refuge. Apart from those, I cannot think of many things
that the previous government did. You left us a lot to do! Other states were
getting on with it and working on a range of different matters. We have been
working on this. We committed in 2017 to $21 million of new spending. To date,
with the current budget, we will have committed $150 million of new spending. I
know there is a lot of work to do, Leader of the Opposition—you do not
need to tell me! I work with services every day. I work with people with lived
experience every day. I work with government agencies that are doing this work
every day. There is a lot to do, but we are getting on with doing it.
been few and far between when it comes to a focus on domestic violence. Two-thirds
of assaults that are worked through by police are domestic violence related. We
know we have high rates of domestic violence in Western Australia and that is
why we brought a singular focus of attention to this issue, with additional
resources and cooperation across government agencies and the community sector
to deliver services, as well as, frankly, the corporate and philanthropic
sector. We have worked very hard across a range of different areas.
I was very pleased in the lead-up to the state budget, which
we will hear the detail of shortly, to announce $34.4 million of new money in
today's budget. It is a significant increase of funding. For instance,
the seat of Armadale will have our third hub, with $14.7 million allocated to
the new hub there. That will be our third hub, along with Kalgoorlie and
Mirrabooka. These are alternative places so that people come forward. We are
doing a whole lot of work across domestic violence in terms of combating the
high levels of violence to make sure that victims are safe. We have two new
refuges, the three hubs that I just talked about, and we will also open another hub in the Kimberley. I am holding
perpetrators to account. Part of our budget announcement was to continue some perpetrator programs in the Kimberley. This is very difficult work. There is
not a lot of an evidence base for what is effective when working with
perpetrators, but we are working with Stopping Family Violence, our peak body
in Western Australia, on that front. We are making sure our courts and our
justice system are up to the task. We have undertaken very considerable law
reform in cooperation with the Attorney General. We are also looking at how we
tackle the complex issues of coercive control and what is the best way to
tackle this very pervasive but perhaps a very important early warning system
for domestic violence. Obviously, we have been doing work with Respectful
Relationships in the 16 Days campaign.
What happened for eight and a half years under the government
of the Leader of the Opposition to combat domestic violence? What exactly
happened for eight and a half years to combat domestic violence under her
government's watch? Not a lot! In the final week of the Parliament
before the state election in 2017, we finalised the family violence restraining
order scheme. That was a commitment that the previous coalition government had
entered into as part of a national agreement. That was on the final day of
Parliament. We established two refuges; one was under Wungening's management and there was another one, which is
not a 24-hour refuge. Apart from those, I cannot think of many things
that the previous government did. You left us a lot to do! Other states were
getting on with it and working on a range of different matters. We have been
working on this. We committed in 2017 to $21 million of new spending. To date,
with the current budget, we will have committed $150 million of new spending. I
know there is a lot of work to do, Leader of the Opposition—you do not
need to tell me! I work with services every day. I work with people with lived
experience every day. I work with government agencies that are doing this work
every day. There is a lot to do, but we are getting on with doing it.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.