Children in care—Whereabouts unknown
555. Hon Nick Goiranto theminister representing the Minister for Child Protection:
I refer to the minister's answer to my question without notice on 12 August 2025, which revealed that six children in the care of the state were missing.
(1) Was the minister alerted to their missing status prior to signing off on the answer to the question?
(2) Have they been found?
(3) For how many days were the whereabouts of the six children unknown?
(4) Have any of these children previously been reported by the department to WA Police as a missing person?
(5) If yes to (4), on how many occasions?
Hon Jackie Jarvis replied:
I thank the Leader of the Opposition for some notice of the question. The following response has been provided by the Minister for Child Protection.
As at 19 August 2025, the Department of Communities advises:
(1) The Department of Communities provides information to the Minister for Child Protection daily in relation to young people reported as missing.
(2) The whereabouts of the six young people are now known.
(3) The period the six young people's whereabouts were unknown varied between three days and five days.
(4) Yes.
(5) Since 1 January 2025, these six young people have been reported by the department to WA Police between two and 13 occasions.
