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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-04-28 Daily Xml
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Domestic Violence

The Hon. C. BONAROS (15:24): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Human Services a question about at-risk people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Leave granted.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: I am sure most of us were deeply disturbed at some of the hidden problems being exposed as part of the state's extended social lockdown. SAPOL has now revealed its officers are conflicted about a reduction in child abuse notifications they have received due to the absence of children from schools and the inability of mandated notifiers, namely teachers and school personnel, to make observations and reports. They fear some of the most vulnerable at-risk children are falling through the cracks because they have not been at school for several weeks. We can only hope that this is now likely to be addressed as a result of school returning, with the majority of schoolchildren returning to school this week.

In the same environment, police have also reported a 9 per cent increase in domestic violence incidents, which comes amid growing fears by domestic violence support agencies about the number of victims who can't make calls for assistance because they are isolated in the same household as their perpetrator. My questions to the minister are:

1. Do you and/or your department hold similar fears to police that at-risk children and DV victims are falling through the cracks due to COVID-19?

2. In light of the concerns raised by the police, what is the department doing to ensure that known at-risk people are getting the protection they need?

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (15:26): I thank the honourable member for her question and for her interest in this particular area. The Department of Human Services has been very active in this space in terms of keeping in close contact with agencies, indeed our own child and family networks, that we operate as dedicated Department of Human Services employees as well as, as I think I outlined in the last sitting week, domestic and family violence and the Office for Women.

The Department of Human Services, in terms of the particular families at risk, has been active in terms of programs—school holiday programs, food security programs—and a range of ways, being aware that while children have been on school holidays we have not had the same line of sight through the education system that we normally have had. So DHS, the child and family support area, has certainly had programs and has been providing activities, some of those online, to enable some of those services to continue and for families to continue to receive some support.

I will get some greater details about exactly what those services were for the honourable member, but it is certainly something that has been front of mind for all of us during this time and continues to be.

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