WA Parliament Question on Notice regarding the whereabouts of children in care. The Minister provides an update on the status of missing and unaccounted for children, including the duration of time they were missing and any reports of them being victims of crime.

AnsweredQoN 1309Legislative Council
Asked
23 October 2024
Portfolio
Child Protection

QuestionView source ↗

CHILDREN IN CARE —
WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN
1309. Hon NICK GOIRAN to the minister representing the
Minister for Child Protection:
I refer to the answer to my question
without notice 1117.
(1) Have the two
children that the department reported to the Western Australia Police Force as
a missing person been found?
(2) Have the three children recorded
as ''unaccounted for—not in contact'' been found?
(3) Are the whereabouts of the six
children recorded as ''unaccounted for—in contact'' now
known?
(4) How many days
were the whereabouts of the 11 children unknown and have any reports been
received of the children being victims of crime during this period?
(5) How many children in the care of
the CEO have their whereabouts currently recorded as —
(a) unaccounted for—in
contact;
(b) unaccounted for—not in
contact; and
(c) missing?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
The following response has been provided
by the Minister for Child Protection.
The Department of Communities
provides the following advise as at 22 October 2024.
(1) Yes.
(2) Two of the
young people's whereabouts are now known. One young person remains
unaccounted for—not in contact.
(3) Yes.
(4) For unaccounted for—in contact, it is one,
three, five, six, 11 and 38 days; and for unaccounted for—not in contact, it is two young people for two
days. One young person remains as unaccounted for—not in contact for 11 days. For those who are missing, it is three days and 23 days. There
have been no known reports. Generally, the reporting of crimes may also be
delayed for a variety of reasons.
(5) (a) Two;
(b) two; and
(c) one.

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