❓ Ms. Mettam questions the Minister on the delay in criminalising coercive control in WA, suggesting it's not a priority. The Minister defends the government's phased approach, emphasizing community education and sector support.
AnsweredQoN 859Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
COERCIVE CONTROL — AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
859. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Prevention of Family
and Domestic Violence:
I refer to the minister's
inability to introduce legislation criminalising coercive control and her
comment that legislation for a law in itself does not mean there will be
change.
(1) Is the real
reason that WA does not have these laws that the Cook government has not made
it a priority?
(2) Why have
other jurisdictions been able to implement the very same laws without the
excuse of needing more time for community awareness campaigns?
859. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Prevention of Family
and Domestic Violence:
I refer to the minister's
inability to introduce legislation criminalising coercive control and her
comment that legislation for a law in itself does not mean there will be
change.
(1) Is the real
reason that WA does not have these laws that the Cook government has not made
it a priority?
(2) Why have
other jurisdictions been able to implement the very same laws without the
excuse of needing more time for community awareness campaigns?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I thank the member for the question. I start by
acknowledging that, yesterday, the 16 Days in WA campaign started. It was great
to see members from both sides of this chamber and the other place attending
the march in Perth to acknowledge
those who have lost their lives and raise awareness about the important issue
of family and domestic violence. That
included the Leader of the Liberal Party and the member for Roe, who attended in Perth. I know the member for Central Wheatbelt
attended a service in her local electorate, as did many other members from this house. Although this place is
often an environment of contention in debate, it is important to acknowledge that we have a shared commitment to
dealing with this issue in our community . In doing so, we should be
led by the experts and those with lived experience who so bravely tell their
stories so that we can learn from
them and improve the system. Members, that is exactly what the Cook government
is doing. That is also exactly what
we are doing with coercive control. I have said it before, I will say it again
and I will keep saying it: our phased approach to criminalising coercive
control is backed by the sector and the Commissioner for Victims of Crime. It is backed by Jennie
Gray, the CEO of the Women's Legal Centre and Alison Evans, the CEO of
the Centre for Women's Safety and Wellbeing. It is informed by the
learnings from other jurisdictions, which are each taking different paths on
the issue with, might I add, different levels of success. I have offered before and the offer still stands:
if the member for Vasse wants a briefing on the approach that we are
taking and to learn about the sector and the sector-backed system reform plan,
my door is always o pen. I am also
happy to facilitate meetings with key stakeholders so that the member can be
better informed. Our approach is
about getting it right. It is absolutely critical that we get it right for
victim–survivors . Our approach is making sure that we educate the
community and that we do not have unintended consequences. It should not be rushed. Our government will not rush it. Victim–survivors
are way too important for us to get this wrong.
acknowledging that, yesterday, the 16 Days in WA campaign started. It was great
to see members from both sides of this chamber and the other place attending
the march in Perth to acknowledge
those who have lost their lives and raise awareness about the important issue
of family and domestic violence. That
included the Leader of the Liberal Party and the member for Roe, who attended in Perth. I know the member for Central Wheatbelt
attended a service in her local electorate, as did many other members from this house. Although this place is
often an environment of contention in debate, it is important to acknowledge that we have a shared commitment to
dealing with this issue in our community . In doing so, we should be
led by the experts and those with lived experience who so bravely tell their
stories so that we can learn from
them and improve the system. Members, that is exactly what the Cook government
is doing. That is also exactly what
we are doing with coercive control. I have said it before, I will say it again
and I will keep saying it: our phased approach to criminalising coercive
control is backed by the sector and the Commissioner for Victims of Crime. It is backed by Jennie
Gray, the CEO of the Women's Legal Centre and Alison Evans, the CEO of
the Centre for Women's Safety and Wellbeing. It is informed by the
learnings from other jurisdictions, which are each taking different paths on
the issue with, might I add, different levels of success. I have offered before and the offer still stands:
if the member for Vasse wants a briefing on the approach that we are
taking and to learn about the sector and the sector-backed system reform plan,
my door is always o pen. I am also
happy to facilitate meetings with key stakeholders so that the member can be
better informed. Our approach is
about getting it right. It is absolutely critical that we get it right for
victim–survivors . Our approach is making sure that we educate the
community and that we do not have unintended consequences. It should not be rushed. Our government will not rush it. Victim–survivors
are way too important for us to get this wrong.
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.