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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-05-07 Daily Xml
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Yarrow Place

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:12): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question to the Minister for the Status of Women regarding the topic of her answer to the question I asked yesterday on Yarrow Place rape crisis counselling.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: In this place yesterday, in response to my question as to whether she had responded to the YWCA on the issue of women in particular, but anyone who had been raped or sexually assaulted and that incident having occurred more than seven days ago, having to wait a period of six to eight weeks for counselling at Yarrow Place, the minister replied:

To the best of my knowledge, I am not aware of that particular statistic the honourable member has provided to the chamber. I would be very pleased to look into those details and work with the Minister for Health to address improving our services wherever we possibly can.

I draw the minister's attention to the letter she wrote to the YWCA, dated 21 February, in which she thanked them for the opportunity to respond to their position statement ahead of the 2014 election and indeed specifically noted, with regard to their concern that there needed to be increased funding for rape and sexual assault services to ensure that they are able to commit to a maximum two-week wait for the first counselling session for any person who reports rape or sexual assault and requests counselling, that 'a re-elected Labor government will continue to look at ways to reduce counselling waiting times'.

I ask the minister again: has she advocated for an increase to funding for Yarrow Place in this current budget round, and what has she done between 21 February and the current date to advocate on this issue?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (15:14): My answer still stands. The honourable member brought in information to the chamber about the wait periods, and she put specific times on the table. What I said in this place was that I was not aware of those statistics, and I'm not.

We have done a correspondence check, and I'm not aware that that length of wait for those services was current, and I'm still not sure whether that is so or not, but I take the honourable member at her word. Unlike the members opposite me, she actually does come into this place well researched and well informed. What I did was be completely honest. I was unaware of those particular figures, but I am prepared to look into it to have those verified and do what I can. My responses are completely consistent with the responses I gave to the Young Christians—

The Hon. T.A. Franks: The YWCA.

The Hon. G.E. GAGO: Thank you.

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