❓ Mr. Love questions the Minister for Corrective Services about misclassification of suicide attempts as self-harm in custody, suggesting a deliberate attempt to disguise poor conditions. The Minister denies this, stating the classification aligns with national standards for comparison.
AnsweredQoN 367Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
INSPECTOR OF CUSTODIAL SERVICES REPORT — SUICIDE
ATTEMPTS AND SELF-HARM INCIDENTS
367. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Corrective Services:
The Inspector of Custodial Services
has delivered another scathing report, entitled Recording and reporting of
self-harm and attempted suicides in custody , which revealed nearly 40
occasions of misclassification of suicide attempts as self-harm. The Inspector
of Custodial Services went on to say that the accurate reporting of suicide attempts informs the department's
understanding of the extent of mental health challenges. Are these
misclassifications a result of an internal policy that is designed to
deliberately disguise just how bad conditions are in the department of
corrective services?
ATTEMPTS AND SELF-HARM INCIDENTS
367. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Corrective Services:
The Inspector of Custodial Services
has delivered another scathing report, entitled Recording and reporting of
self-harm and attempted suicides in custody , which revealed nearly 40
occasions of misclassification of suicide attempts as self-harm. The Inspector
of Custodial Services went on to say that the accurate reporting of suicide attempts informs the department's
understanding of the extent of mental health challenges. Are these
misclassifications a result of an internal policy that is designed to
deliberately disguise just how bad conditions are in the department of
corrective services?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for his
question. No, member, as I understand it, the nature of the classification of
self-harm is the practice intended to achieve uniformity across the country and
in other jurisdictions. Despite the view of the Inspector of Custodial
Services, who holds the belief that there should be a change to the
classification process, the agency, rightly, in my view, decided to comply with
the measurement or the practice of classification that other jurisdictions use
to enable comparison and an assurance of standards.
question. No, member, as I understand it, the nature of the classification of
self-harm is the practice intended to achieve uniformity across the country and
in other jurisdictions. Despite the view of the Inspector of Custodial
Services, who holds the belief that there should be a change to the
classification process, the agency, rightly, in my view, decided to comply with
the measurement or the practice of classification that other jurisdictions use
to enable comparison and an assurance of standards.
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