❓ WA Parliament Question on Notice regarding children in care who may have been victims of crime while missing. The Minister acknowledges the protocol but avoids providing specific numbers due to resource constraints.
AnsweredQoN 941Legislative Council
Asked
22 October 2025
Member
Portfolio
minister representing Minister for Child Protection
QuestionView source ↗
Children in care—Victims of crime
941. Hon Nick Goiran to
the minister representing Minister for Child Protection:
I refer to the media
statement of Saturday 18 October 2025 entitled " Child safety at the heart of Children's Week 2025 ".
(1) Is the minister aware that the child
protection guide requires caseworkers to establish whether a child in care was
a victim of crime during the time they were missing?
(2) Is the minister aware whether any children in
care have been identified as victims of a crime during the time they were
missing this calendar year?
(3) If yes to (2), how many?
(4) If no to (2), will the minister commit to
finding out and delivering a statement to Parliament in the November sittings?
941. Hon Nick Goiran to
the minister representing Minister for Child Protection:
I refer to the media
statement of Saturday 18 October 2025 entitled " Child safety at the heart of Children's Week 2025 ".
(1) Is the minister aware that the child
protection guide requires caseworkers to establish whether a child in care was
a victim of crime during the time they were missing?
(2) Is the minister aware whether any children in
care have been identified as victims of a crime during the time they were
missing this calendar year?
(3) If yes to (2), how many?
(4) If no to (2), will the minister commit to
finding out and delivering a statement to Parliament in the November sittings?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the Leader
of the Opposition for some notice of the question. The following response has
been provided by the Minister for Child Protection.
(1) Yes.
(2)–(4) All reported or disclosed
allegations or incidents relating to a child in care being a victim of crime
are treated as a priority and investigated accordingly. These matters are
reported to senior leadership of the Department of Communities and the Western
Australia Police Force as appropriate. As the government has stated repeatedly,
providing information related to a specific cohort would require a significant
diversion of resources to crosscheck individual case files to ensure that no
matters were reported following the period of each child being unaccounted for.
of the Opposition for some notice of the question. The following response has
been provided by the Minister for Child Protection.
(1) Yes.
(2)–(4) All reported or disclosed
allegations or incidents relating to a child in care being a victim of crime
are treated as a priority and investigated accordingly. These matters are
reported to senior leadership of the Department of Communities and the Western
Australia Police Force as appropriate. As the government has stated repeatedly,
providing information related to a specific cohort would require a significant
diversion of resources to crosscheck individual case files to ensure that no
matters were reported following the period of each child being unaccounted for.
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.