❓ Hon Nick Goiran questions the Minister for Health regarding Louise Kirk's difficulty accessing her medical records from King Edward Memorial Hospital related to past forced adoption policies. The Minister acknowledges the issue and explains the records could not be located due to legislative requirements at the time.
AnsweredQoN 1267Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
FORCED ADOPTIONS
1267. Hon NICK GOIRAN to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Minister for Health:
I refer to the inquiry into past
forced adoptive policies and practices, which commenced on 22 February 2023 and
culminated in a report tabled on 22 August 2024.
(1) Is the
minister aware that Louise Kirk, who was a participant in this inquiry, has
been attempting to access her medical records from King Edward Memorial
Hospital for Women for the last five years?
(2) Is the
minister aware that Louise has received a string of unsatisfactory responses
from King Edward Memorial Hospital about the whereabouts of her medical
records?
(3) Is the minister aware that Louise has now been informed
that some of her medical records have been destroyed?
(4) Will the
minister, without equivocation, assist Louise so that she may access any of her
medical records that still exist and ascertain when, how and why any of her
medical records were destroyed?
1267. Hon NICK GOIRAN to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Minister for Health:
I refer to the inquiry into past
forced adoptive policies and practices, which commenced on 22 February 2023 and
culminated in a report tabled on 22 August 2024.
(1) Is the
minister aware that Louise Kirk, who was a participant in this inquiry, has
been attempting to access her medical records from King Edward Memorial
Hospital for Women for the last five years?
(2) Is the
minister aware that Louise has received a string of unsatisfactory responses
from King Edward Memorial Hospital about the whereabouts of her medical
records?
(3) Is the minister aware that Louise has now been informed
that some of her medical records have been destroyed?
(4) Will the
minister, without equivocation, assist Louise so that she may access any of her
medical records that still exist and ascertain when, how and why any of her
medical records were destroyed?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided by the
Minister for Health.
(1)–(4) I
am aware that Ms Kirk has been in contact with the Women and Newborn Health
Service freedom of information service and
that Ms Kirk has been advised of the outcome of the investigation into the
location of her medical records. An extensive search was conducted to
identify any records that exist for Ms Kirk relating to her care and, unfortunately,
no records for her admission could be located. I am informed that Ms Kirk has been advised that her records could
not be located on the basis that the legislative requirements at that
time did not necessitate that one-off records be kept for longer than seven
years.
I
understand this outcome is disappointing and express sincere regret at the
distress this has caused Ms Kirk.
some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided by the
Minister for Health.
(1)–(4) I
am aware that Ms Kirk has been in contact with the Women and Newborn Health
Service freedom of information service and
that Ms Kirk has been advised of the outcome of the investigation into the
location of her medical records. An extensive search was conducted to
identify any records that exist for Ms Kirk relating to her care and, unfortunately,
no records for her admission could be located. I am informed that Ms Kirk has been advised that her records could
not be located on the basis that the legislative requirements at that
time did not necessitate that one-off records be kept for longer than seven
years.
I
understand this outcome is disappointing and express sincere regret at the
distress this has caused Ms Kirk.
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.