❓ Question on Notice regarding the Custody Notification Service (CNS) and its reach to Aboriginal people in custody. The Attorney General provides data on service usage and responses to demand.
AnsweredQoN 184Legislative Council
Asked
11 March 2020
Member
Portfolio
Leader of the House representing the Attorney General
QuestionView source ↗
CUSTODY NOTIFICATION
SERVICE
184. Hon ALISON XAMON to the Leader of the House
representing the Attorney General:
I refer to the Attorney General's
brief ministerial statement about the custody notification service and
specifically to the statement that ''the CNS contacted 57 per cent of
Aboriginal people the subject of custody notifications''.
(1) Will the
Attorney General please clarify whether the 57 per cent represents all those
people in custody who were advised of the service and indicated that they did
not wish to participate?
(2) If no to (1),
are there people who potentially would like to participate in the service but
are unable to do so because of a lack of service capacity?
(3) If yes to (2), does the
government intend to address this issue; and, if so, how?
(4) If yes to
(1), why do over 40 per cent of eligible people in custody not wish to
participate in the CNS?
SERVICE
184. Hon ALISON XAMON to the Leader of the House
representing the Attorney General:
I refer to the Attorney General's
brief ministerial statement about the custody notification service and
specifically to the statement that ''the CNS contacted 57 per cent of
Aboriginal people the subject of custody notifications''.
(1) Will the
Attorney General please clarify whether the 57 per cent represents all those
people in custody who were advised of the service and indicated that they did
not wish to participate?
(2) If no to (1),
are there people who potentially would like to participate in the service but
are unable to do so because of a lack of service capacity?
(3) If yes to (2), does the
government intend to address this issue; and, if so, how?
(4) If yes to
(1), why do over 40 per cent of eligible people in custody not wish to
participate in the CNS?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
(1) The 57 per
cent represents the proportion of Aboriginal people CNS staff spoke to during
the period 2 October to 31 December 2019.
(2) The CNS
received 7 961 incoming calls from WA police between 2 October 2019 and 31
December 2019 for 6 834 separate CNS notifications. Of those, 5 839 calls, or
73 per cent, were answered and 2 122, or 27 per cent, were missed. The CNS
returned all voice messages left by WA police when contact details were provided.
(3) The level of
demand for the CNS significantly exceeded the projected demand in the first
three months of operation. As a result, the
state government increased its contribution by a further $340 000 to $950 000 and the commonwealth increased its contribution by $680 000 to $2.93 million.
This increased the level of staffing by three FTEs for two years.
(4) Aboriginal people in custody are not obligated to
speak to the CNS and may choose not to do so for a variety of reasons.
In some cases, the detainee is unable to speak to the CNS and efforts are made
to call back to speak to the detainee. However, with the increase in staff
numbers, it is expected that the proportion of Aboriginal people spoken to by
the CNS will increase.
some notice of the question.
(1) The 57 per
cent represents the proportion of Aboriginal people CNS staff spoke to during
the period 2 October to 31 December 2019.
(2) The CNS
received 7 961 incoming calls from WA police between 2 October 2019 and 31
December 2019 for 6 834 separate CNS notifications. Of those, 5 839 calls, or
73 per cent, were answered and 2 122, or 27 per cent, were missed. The CNS
returned all voice messages left by WA police when contact details were provided.
(3) The level of
demand for the CNS significantly exceeded the projected demand in the first
three months of operation. As a result, the
state government increased its contribution by a further $340 000 to $950 000 and the commonwealth increased its contribution by $680 000 to $2.93 million.
This increased the level of staffing by three FTEs for two years.
(4) Aboriginal people in custody are not obligated to
speak to the CNS and may choose not to do so for a variety of reasons.
In some cases, the detainee is unable to speak to the CNS and efforts are made
to call back to speak to the detainee. However, with the increase in staff
numbers, it is expected that the proportion of Aboriginal people spoken to by
the CNS will increase.
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