Tuesday, 13 August 2024

Ministers statements: Victoria Police family violence training

Vicki WARD (Eltham – Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Minister for Employment) (14:45): Last week the member for Glen Waverley, the Attorney-General and I visited the nation’s first centre for family violence at Victoria Police Academy. We heard that up to 60 per cent of police work can be family violence related, with over 95,000 incidents reported to Victoria Police in the last year. There are over 56,000 perpetrators annually. Sixty-two per cent of family violence incidents reported to Victoria Police involve a current or former partner, and over a third of reported family violence incidents have a child present. Since the royal commission, Victoria Police now has 21 regional family violence units servicing our state, 29 specialist family violence investigation units, 27 sexual offence and child abuse investigation teams, nine psychiatrists to support units and 415 specialist family violence positions.

We saw some of the intensive training police recruits undertake to respond to family violence incidents as safely and respectfully as possible. Importantly, lived experience is recognised, which is why members of Victoria’s Victim Survivors’ Advisory Council help to inform aspects of this training. Their state-of-the-art simulation laboratory reflects a range of domestic and public settings. They use actors to help cadets understand the complexity and diversity of family violence incidents. We saw how police can be confronted with challenging situations. Diverse strategies are employed to assess a situation, defuse the aggression and keep themselves, the affected family member and the primary aggressor safe. After 18 months in the community these new police officers return to the academy and debrief and reinforce their learnings. I thank Victoria Police, along with the Minister for Police, for their willingness to keep learning, reforming and improving and for the work they are doing.

The SPEAKER: I acknowledge in the gallery Dr Mark Robinson MP, member for Oodgeroo in the Queensland Legislative Assembly.

The time for questions has ended. The house will move to constituency questions.

Roma Britnell: On a point of order, Speaker, I am still to receive an answer from the Minister for Health to question on notice 660: can the minister categorically rule out the Labor government merging any of the South West Healthcare services within the next two years? Using tricky words like ‘no forced mergers’ is not answering the question. Speaker, you ordered the minister to answer the question, and she continues to defy your directive.

Bridget Vallence: On a point of order, Speaker, I have a number of questions that are overdue. These are all to the Minister for Skills and TAFE in the other place: questions 1135, 1137, 1138, 1139, 1140, 1141, 1148, 1149, 1151, 1215, 1220, 1221, 1222 – Richie Benaud – 1227, 1229, 1231, 1233, 1234 and 1235. And questions unanswered by the Minister for Jobs and Industry are questions 1216, 1223 and 1240. What are they hiding? If they could please have answers provided to my constituents, that would be much appreciated.

The SPEAKER: Could you please give your list to the clerks, member for Evelyn.