Thursday, 24 September 2026

 Moira DEEMING (Western Metropolitan) (12:45): (2658) My question is for the Minister for Prevention of Family Violence or police or the Attorney-General – I am not sure. We know that police must identify a predominant aggressor when they attend a family violence incident, and that statistically that is likely to be the male. But a father who is wrongly identified can face interim intervention orders restricting contact with his children, denying those children a good parent until the mistake is rectified. That initial misidentification can also flow into police and service records, impacting every other area of his life. Recent legislation requiring police and courts to consider the possibility of misidentification and allowing requests for review are sadly ineffective because the published review process states no deadline and correcting one record may leave others untouched. My constituent asks: will the minister please set a clear timeframe for reviewing a disputed identification and establish a coordinated process to correct the resulting orders, records and referrals when a mistake is confirmed?

The PRESIDENT: We will have a look at that and pick one of those ministers. Is that okay?

Moira Deeming: Yes, thank you.