Abortions—Pacific labour mobility stream visas
789. Hon Maryka Groenewald to the parliamentary secretary representing the Minister for Health:
I refer to a 19 June 2025 ABC report indicating that hundreds of migrant women on Pacific Australia Labour Mobility stream visas have undergone unwanted abortions due to visa and work-related pressures.
(1) How many visa holders in Australia have accessed these services?
(2) What steps will the government take to ensure that migrant women are not pressured or coerced into these procedures?
Hon Pierre Yang replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided by the Minister for Health.
(1) This information is not held within WA Health.
(2) WA Health frontline staff regularly screen for family and domestic violence, including for coercive control. Mandatory training is provided to WA Health staff in antenatal, postnatal, mental health and emergency departments. Training is also made available to health service providers, migrant and refugee services, University of Western Australia medical students and community health and non-government organisations. Social workers are trained in family and domestic violence identification, assessment and intervention, as well as trauma-informed practice.
