❓ The Minister outlines a $3.125 million initiative to engage with male perpetrators of family and domestic violence after police call-outs, aiming to hold them accountable and prevent re-offending through specialist workers in family and domestic violence response teams.
AnsweredQoN 775Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FAMILY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE — EARLY INTERVENTION
775. Ms L.L. BAKER to the Minister for Prevention of Family
and Domestic Violence:
I
refer to the Cook Labor government's commitment to keeping Western Australians
safe from family and domestic violence. Can the minister outline how the
government is working in partnership with the commonwealth to strengthen early
intervention measures, and also advise on how this response will ensure that
perpetrators are held to account?
775. Ms L.L. BAKER to the Minister for Prevention of Family
and Domestic Violence:
I
refer to the Cook Labor government's commitment to keeping Western Australians
safe from family and domestic violence. Can the minister outline how the
government is working in partnership with the commonwealth to strengthen early
intervention measures, and also advise on how this response will ensure that
perpetrators are held to account?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Maylands for
her question. Of course, within her own electorate, there is a very important residential program for perpetrators called
Breathing Space, and I know that she has long advocated for those facilities.
Violence against partners and
families is never acceptable, and perpetrators must and should be held to
account. There is no excuse for violence. Importantly, by holding perpetrators
to account, we have a better likelihood of stopping the cycle of violence,
because in many instances, we know that it is a cycle of violence. I am happy
to inform the house that earlier this month,
with my commonwealth colleagues, I announced a $3.125 million innovative perpetrator response initiative to trial direct targeted engagement with men
after police call-outs to family and domestic violence incidents. This trial
will aim to hold perpetrators accountable, prevent them from reoffending and improve victim–survivor safety. In
effect, it will, in a direct way, challenge perpetrators to change their
behaviour . The trial will see specialist workers who work with male
perpetrators join five of the 17 family and domestic violence response teams
that we have in this state; the five locations are Northam, Bunbury, Midland,
Joondalup and Fremantle.
The family and domestic violence response teams are a really
great example of providing support for not only victim–survivors of
family and domestic violence, but also perpetrators. I was recently at Cockburn
Police Station with the member for Cockburn, where we had the opportunity to
see one of these family and domestic violence response teams in action. It is a
way in which we physically bring together child protection workers, police and not-for-profit organisations that provide supports,
so that proper triaging of police offences occurs on a daily basis, and
then those support services swing into action behind victim–survivors
and also to support perpetrators. This investment will see that important work
of those family and domestic violence response teams grow even stronger and
make sure that they directly engage with perpetrators, hold them to account and
challenge them to change their behaviour.
The expressions of interest to
deliver this initiative opened earlier this month to organisations that are
already delivering perpetrator programs with a service or branch agreement with
the department and will close on 5 November.
The trial will run for three years. As I said before, to stop the cycle, this
initiative aims to hold perpetrators accountable and to challenge them
to take responsibility for their actions and seek the help they need. We have
to break the cycle of family and domestic violence, and one of the key ways we
will break that cycle is by challenging perpetrators—always holding
them to account for their behaviour, but challenging them to do better.
The SPEAKER : The Leader of
the Liberal Party with the last question.
her question. Of course, within her own electorate, there is a very important residential program for perpetrators called
Breathing Space, and I know that she has long advocated for those facilities.
Violence against partners and
families is never acceptable, and perpetrators must and should be held to
account. There is no excuse for violence. Importantly, by holding perpetrators
to account, we have a better likelihood of stopping the cycle of violence,
because in many instances, we know that it is a cycle of violence. I am happy
to inform the house that earlier this month,
with my commonwealth colleagues, I announced a $3.125 million innovative perpetrator response initiative to trial direct targeted engagement with men
after police call-outs to family and domestic violence incidents. This trial
will aim to hold perpetrators accountable, prevent them from reoffending and improve victim–survivor safety. In
effect, it will, in a direct way, challenge perpetrators to change their
behaviour . The trial will see specialist workers who work with male
perpetrators join five of the 17 family and domestic violence response teams
that we have in this state; the five locations are Northam, Bunbury, Midland,
Joondalup and Fremantle.
The family and domestic violence response teams are a really
great example of providing support for not only victim–survivors of
family and domestic violence, but also perpetrators. I was recently at Cockburn
Police Station with the member for Cockburn, where we had the opportunity to
see one of these family and domestic violence response teams in action. It is a
way in which we physically bring together child protection workers, police and not-for-profit organisations that provide supports,
so that proper triaging of police offences occurs on a daily basis, and
then those support services swing into action behind victim–survivors
and also to support perpetrators. This investment will see that important work
of those family and domestic violence response teams grow even stronger and
make sure that they directly engage with perpetrators, hold them to account and
challenge them to change their behaviour.
The expressions of interest to
deliver this initiative opened earlier this month to organisations that are
already delivering perpetrator programs with a service or branch agreement with
the department and will close on 5 November.
The trial will run for three years. As I said before, to stop the cycle, this
initiative aims to hold perpetrators accountable and to challenge them
to take responsibility for their actions and seek the help they need. We have
to break the cycle of family and domestic violence, and one of the key ways we
will break that cycle is by challenging perpetrators—always holding
them to account for their behaviour, but challenging them to do better.
The SPEAKER : The Leader of
the Liberal Party with the last question.
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