Media Release | 19 March 2026
Libby Mettam MLA
Shadow Health Minister; Mental Health; Prevention of Family and Domestic
Violence
A damning report tabled in Parliament today has exposed a systemic failure by the Cook
Labor Government to protect women and children from family and domestic violence.
The WA Ombudsman’s Review of Family and Domestic Violence in Western Australia
report found that 61 per cent of victim-survivors were assessed as being at high risk of
serious harm – yet the coordinated multi-agency response designed to protect them
was triggered in just 2.5 per cent of cases.
Shadow Minister for the Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence Libby Mettam said
the findings pointed to a catastrophic breakdown in the system.
“Critical safeguards are clearly not working, and women and children are being left
exposed,” Ms Mettam said.
“The report also found almost a quarter of critical police risk-assessment questions
were left unanswered or marked ‘unknown’, meaning life-and-death decisions about
victim safety were being made without complete information.
Ms Mettam said the findings come as family and domestic violence continues to surge
across Western Australia.
“WA remains the most unsafe state in Australia for women, with FDV rising more than
54 per cent under Labor since 2017,” she said.
“New ABS data shows family and domestic violence cases in WA have soared 20 per
cent in the past 12 months alone, and more than 70 per cent from 2021/22.
Ms Mettam said the Government must urgently explain why high-risk cases are not
triggering the response designed to protect victims.
She said while the Cook Government continued to refuse to acknowledge the
confronting reality of domestic violence, women and children would continue to live in
fear.
“Just a couple of months ago Premier Roger Cook stood in Parliament and said he was
‘rightfully proud’ of his government’s record on domestic violence prevention,” she said.
“The Minister for Prevention of Domestic Violence also told Parliament the government
had spent “over half a billion dollars” addressing family and domestic violence and she
was “very proud” of the Government’s work in preventing domestic violence.
“It’s quite clear more needs to be done.”
“This government has been talking about criminalising coercive control for years, yet
there is still no standalone coercive control legislation before Parliament.”
“Western Australian women deserve more than announcements, strategies and
taskforces – they deserve action.”
“This report makes it clear that the systems designed to identify high-risk domestic
violence cases are not functioning properly, and the Cook Labor Government must
urgently explain why.”
ENDS
Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence
March 19, 2026
