❓ Question regarding sexual assault of female inpatients in psychiatric hospitals, requesting research and CCTV implementation. Minister acknowledges the issue, tasks Chief Psychiatrist with review, and notes existing CCTV in non-private areas.
AnsweredQoN 115Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
MENTAL
HEALTH — INPATIENT SECURITY
115. Hon SALLY
TALBOT to the Minister for Mental Health:
(1) Is the
minister aware of the recent findings of the Victorian Mental Illness Awareness
Council that 45 per cent of women who are inpatients in Victorian psychiatric
hospitals are sexually assaulted while an inpatient?
(2) Given that
there is no contemporary research in Western Australia similar to that
undertaken by VMIAC, will the minister now order that research to be
undertaken?
(3) Does the
minister accept that these findings add urgency to the longstanding demand by the
Mental Health Law Centre (WA) for closed-circuit television surveillance
recordings to be introduced into all WA psychiatric hospitals authorised to
hold patients without their consent?
(4) If no to (3), why not?
(5) If yes to (3), when will the minister take action to
introduce CCTV surveillance?
HEALTH — INPATIENT SECURITY
115. Hon SALLY
TALBOT to the Minister for Mental Health:
(1) Is the
minister aware of the recent findings of the Victorian Mental Illness Awareness
Council that 45 per cent of women who are inpatients in Victorian psychiatric
hospitals are sexually assaulted while an inpatient?
(2) Given that
there is no contemporary research in Western Australia similar to that
undertaken by VMIAC, will the minister now order that research to be
undertaken?
(3) Does the
minister accept that these findings add urgency to the longstanding demand by the
Mental Health Law Centre (WA) for closed-circuit television surveillance
recordings to be introduced into all WA psychiatric hospitals authorised to
hold patients without their consent?
(4) If no to (3), why not?
(5) If yes to (3), when will the minister take action to
introduce CCTV surveillance?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for some notice of the question.
(1)–(5)
This has been quite a difficult issue that I have been aware of over a number
of years of being involved with mental health services. Yes, I am aware of that
particular report, and, of course, it was reported in the paper as well. I
think I read it in the paper as well. It is of some concern, obviously.
As a result of that, I have asked
the Chief Psychiatrist to review the recommendations from the Victorian Mental
Illness Awareness Council report with respect to WA's situation and
provide some advice to me on where we need to go with this in WA. There are
some people, of course, who think that the only answer is to have separate
units for women and separate units for men, but I do not know that that is
necessarily the answer. In terms of CCTV, all mental health inpatient units
have CCTV located in areas that do not breach patient confidentiality and/or
privacy.
(1)–(5)
This has been quite a difficult issue that I have been aware of over a number
of years of being involved with mental health services. Yes, I am aware of that
particular report, and, of course, it was reported in the paper as well. I
think I read it in the paper as well. It is of some concern, obviously.
As a result of that, I have asked
the Chief Psychiatrist to review the recommendations from the Victorian Mental
Illness Awareness Council report with respect to WA's situation and
provide some advice to me on where we need to go with this in WA. There are
some people, of course, who think that the only answer is to have separate
units for women and separate units for men, but I do not know that that is
necessarily the answer. In terms of CCTV, all mental health inpatient units
have CCTV located in areas that do not breach patient confidentiality and/or
privacy.
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.