Family and domestic violence—Multi-agency case management
Brief ministerial statement
Mrs Jessica Stojkovski (Kingsley—Minister for Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence) (12:13 pm): I am pleased to inform the house of the early success of family safety services and multi-agency case management (MACM), which is a relatively new function introduced to support Western Australia's response to family violence issues.
Over the past three months, as Minister for Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence, I have met with many organisations, frontline service providers, lived-experience advocates and refuge staff, including the central triage team where the family and safety service is based. The state government first announced funding for this important service in November 2022 with an $11 million investment to phase in its introduction over three years, including recruiting 34 family safety officers to deliver this important program. These dedicated family safety officers work with the state's most vulnerable victim-survivors by helping to coordinate service provision across agencies and organisations through a process known as multi-agency case management, which is an integrated interagency approach to supporting people at high risk of serious injury, harm or death due to family and domestic violence. The aim of multi-agency case management is to provide short-term, joint safety planning to identify and manage risk posed by perpetrators. This approach provides opportunities for the risks and needs of all impacted family members to be considered through the combined and collective resources and efforts of agencies and organisations. Since its establishment, the family safety service has accepted over 600 referrals to support families and individuals at the highest risk of high harm. Three-quarters of these cases involve families with children. It has convened over 1,400 multi-agency case management meetings statewide and so far over 300 families and individuals have been supported to achieve their safety goals. The dedication and expertise of the family safety service staff is instrumental in our efforts to prevent family and domestic violence and to support affected individuals and families. Working together, sharing critical information and collectively supporting Western Australians to escape family and domestic violence is undeniably improving the safety of children and adult victim-survivors, helping them to live happier, safer and healthier lives. This is another example of the Cook Labor government's steadfast commitment to support victim-survivors of family and domestic violence.
