Family and domestic violence
Notice of motion
Hon Michelle Boylan gave notice that at the next sitting of the house she would move:
That this house:
(a) is deeply troubled that our state has experienced record levels of family and domestic violence, including in 2024–25:
(i) 35,806 FDV-related assaults reported to police, being a 12% increase on the previous year and a 72% increase in the past decade;
(ii) 20,082 breaches of family violence restraining orders, an increase of almost 20% in just 12 months and nearly double to number recorded in 2015–16; and
(iii) 9,969 acts of threatening behaviour towards a family member or partner, up 31% from the previous year and more than triple the figure a decade ago; and
(b) notes that:
(i) WA Commissioner of Police, Col Blanch, has stated that these statistics likely represent only 30% of actual cases, noting that around 70% of women presenting to refuges do not report to police;
(ii) the Centre for Women's Safety and Wellbeing has described current funding levels as the "bare minimum" and frontline services as overwhelmed and under-resourced;
(iii) shadow Minister for Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence, Libby Mettam MLA, has warned that refuges are being forced to turn away women and children due to capacity constraints; and
(iv) meanwhile, the Minister for Police, Mr Reece Whitby, has honestly but worryingly described himself as an “amateur in this area”; and
(c) calls on the Cook Labor Government to urgently:
(i) strengthen enforcement of family violence restraining orders and expand perpetrator accountability programs;
(ii) ensure that refuges are equipped to meet demand; and
(iii) review the Path to Safety 2020-2030 strategy to ensure it reflects the current scale and complexity of the crisis and delivers real, measurable reductions in FDV across our state.
