❓ Ms. Mettam questions the Minister for Mental Health regarding alleged sexual safety breaches at Perth Children's Hospital, prompting a clarification from the Minister about the nature and severity of the incidents reported.
AnsweredQoN 715Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PERTH CHILDREN'S
HOSPITAL — MENTAL HEALTH UNIT — ALLEGED SEXUAL ASSAULT
715. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Mental Health:
I refer to the safety of Western Australian
children while in the care of our hospital system, and the 2022–23
Mental Health Advocacy Service annual report, which highlights four serious
issues regarding sexual safety in the last financial year.
(1) Is the
minister aware of the circumstances surrounding each of these cases, and were
they subject to a root-cause analysis and/or a Chief Psychiatrist review?
(2) Following the
alleged assault of Florence almost two years ago, did the family request any
additions to the recommendations of the report; and, if so, have they been
completed?
HOSPITAL — MENTAL HEALTH UNIT — ALLEGED SEXUAL ASSAULT
715. Ms L. METTAM to the Minister for Mental Health:
I refer to the safety of Western Australian
children while in the care of our hospital system, and the 2022–23
Mental Health Advocacy Service annual report, which highlights four serious
issues regarding sexual safety in the last financial year.
(1) Is the
minister aware of the circumstances surrounding each of these cases, and were
they subject to a root-cause analysis and/or a Chief Psychiatrist review?
(2) Following the
alleged assault of Florence almost two years ago, did the family request any
additions to the recommendations of the report; and, if so, have they been
completed?
AnswerView source ↗
First of all, I want to make a point
about the Leader of the Opposition's previous question to the Premier.
The premise of the question was completely wrong, because he referred to four
cases of sexual assault. That was not what was reported in the Mental Health
Advocacy Service report. It is very different. In its report, MHAS reported
four cases of serious breach of the sexual safety policies.
I am aware of the four and I have spoken to the Mental Health
Advocate, as well. They have not been subject to severity assessment code 1s
because they were not deemed to be required to be subject to SAC 1s. I have to
be very careful here around protecting the
privacy of young people, but I can tell members that one incident was c oded
twice, and therefore it was one incident, so there were three. That was an
error on the Mental Health Advocacy Service. Two incidents occurred at Perth
Children's Hospital but were nowhere near the severity of the incident
involving Florence.
A sexual safety policy breach can
be a number of things, and it has been a number of things. It is not
necessarily a sexual assault. It does not have to involve any physical
touching. It can be someone saying something or showing someone something—all completely inappropriate, but not of the
severity, as the Leader of the Opposition attempted to frame it, of the case of Florence. I have to
stress that that was an isolated case. That was an isolated case and it is the only case that the Mental Health Advocate has ever raised with me
personally as being a serious sexual assault.
The other incident occurred not at
Perth Children's Hospital, and the consumer was 17 years old. Again, it
was not a sexual assault; it was a breach of the sexual safety policy.
about the Leader of the Opposition's previous question to the Premier.
The premise of the question was completely wrong, because he referred to four
cases of sexual assault. That was not what was reported in the Mental Health
Advocacy Service report. It is very different. In its report, MHAS reported
four cases of serious breach of the sexual safety policies.
I am aware of the four and I have spoken to the Mental Health
Advocate, as well. They have not been subject to severity assessment code 1s
because they were not deemed to be required to be subject to SAC 1s. I have to
be very careful here around protecting the
privacy of young people, but I can tell members that one incident was c oded
twice, and therefore it was one incident, so there were three. That was an
error on the Mental Health Advocacy Service. Two incidents occurred at Perth
Children's Hospital but were nowhere near the severity of the incident
involving Florence.
A sexual safety policy breach can
be a number of things, and it has been a number of things. It is not
necessarily a sexual assault. It does not have to involve any physical
touching. It can be someone saying something or showing someone something—all completely inappropriate, but not of the
severity, as the Leader of the Opposition attempted to frame it, of the case of Florence. I have to
stress that that was an isolated case. That was an isolated case and it is the only case that the Mental Health Advocate has ever raised with me
personally as being a serious sexual assault.
The other incident occurred not at
Perth Children's Hospital, and the consumer was 17 years old. Again, it
was not a sexual assault; it was a breach of the sexual safety policy.
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