2020-05-04
Reacting to the COVID-19 crisis, in the areas of mental health, family and domestic violence, disability, education and internees (asylum seekers and prisoners)
By Hon. Alison Xamon, MLC, Member for North Metropolitan Region
The COVID-19 crisis has impacted, and will continue to impact, every aspect of our lives. This has very much been reflected in my work both inside and out of Parliament these past many weeks. There has been much to say, question, respond to and do in almost all of my portfolio areas. My team and I have been working at full capacity, while adjusting to working remotely, to keep up regular contact with stakeholders; respond quickly to the roll-out of Government measures; prepare for and debate emergency legislation; and ensure everyone who contacts my office receives a timely response, on both COVID-19 and other matters.
As the crisis deepened in mid-March, I called on the Government to ensure it provided adequate financial support for the community sector. I told the Government strongly that it was more important than ever that the sector continue to provide support for people who are vulnerable. I reminded the Government that the financial impact of the COVID-19 crisis was just one aspect which needed to be considered as part of the its response to the pandemic, because mental health and crisis-support need was likely to grow, as people began isolating.
I urged the Government to ensure community-managed mental health services are adequately resourced to meet the expected increase in need during the crisis. This is of course a worrying time for everyone, but particularly for those with acute and ongoing mental health conditions. Self-isolation is an added risk factor for many vulnerable Western Australians. They must be able to access support if and when they need it. Despite the 10-Year WA Mental Health, Drug and Alcohol Services Plan setting out the need to realign our mental health services towards better community care, these services remain underfunded. I urge the Government to view its response to the current crisis as an opportunity to transform our mental health service. Now, more than ever, it is vital that we keep people out of hospitals by providing better community support.
I was very concerned to hear reports that employees providing essential personal care to seniors and people with disability were not being provided with face masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment (PPE). These workers did not have the option to self-isolate, or to practice social-distancing, creating a risk of infection for themselves and the people they were caring for. I called on the Government to ensure PPE was available to people working in care homes and other residential facilities.
In the weeks before the Easter holidays, I backed calls for the Government to immediately close schools to the majority of (but not all) students. At the time, testing regimes did not include those who were asymptomatic, meaning there was no way of knowing how many children had the virus. International data at the time was showing school closures were necessary to protect the whole community. I emphasised that social distancing was very difficult for students and staff in crowded classrooms – and impossible for those working in education support. At the very least, I told the Government, vulnerable staff must be able to take immediate leave.
In the ensuing days, I urged the Government to immediately move TAFE learning online. It was ludicrous to expect TAFEs to remain open, particularly amid reports of a case of coronavirus being detected at Armadale TAFE. Closing TAFEs at that time was needed to allow lecturers to prepare online resources for use in Term 2. I reminded the Government of the need to ensure TAFE students were not disadvantaged in their studies, particularly as placement opportunities quickly became non-existent. In the fallout from the pandemic, it will be more important than ever that we have a well-functioning TAFE system, which is producing properly trained people.
I emphasised in late March that is was crucial the Government ensure family and domestic violence (FDV) services were adequately funded to provide support to survivors during the COVID-19 crisis. Early in the crisis, I had already been hearing reports of increased need, as self-isolation and job losses began to impact families. Evidence from overseas showed that instances of FDV increased during lockdown. Worryingly, isolation means opportunities for survivors to seek help, such as when a perpetrator leaves for work, have effectively closed down. The pandemic has certainly added to the burden for people experiencing FDV. I urged the Government to ensure funding was provided to allow people to stay safe in their homes; for more crisis accommodation, and to enhance service providers’ ability to provide counselling and other services remotely. I was pleased to support the Government’s Family Violence Legislation Reform (COVID-19 response) Bill 2020, which covers a number of reforms to the Restraining Orders Act, Sentencing Act, and Bail Act, which the sector has been calling for, for a long time. Significant reforms include the doubling from one year to two years of the limitation period for court proceedings for breaches of family violence restraining orders, restraining orders and police orders, and the ability for courts to make interim orders ex-parte.
I called on the Federal Government on 30 March to immediately release refugees and asylum seekers from Manus and PNG, as well as from overcrowded WA detention centres, including Yongah Hill Detention Centre in Northam and the centre at Perth Airport, to protect them against coronavirus. I backed calls from the Refugee Council of Australia for the Federal Government to ensure all refugees and asylum seekers had access to the same financial and other supports as other Australians. I urged the Federal Government to ensure this group has access to Medicare, and reminded the McGowan Government of its responsibility to provide access to education, domestic and family violence support and other services. It is crucial that the legal status of refugees and asylum seekers remains consistent at this time, with no unnecessary delays in bridging visa grants and renewals. Many refugees and asylum seekers come from backgrounds of trauma, and they are already living with uncertainty. We must ensure that we are upholding our legal and moral responsibility to protect them as best we can from the virus’ health and economic consequences.
I have been calling on the Government to consider releasing low-risk prisoners from WA prisons, to reduce the risk of any outbreaks of coronavirus. The measure, at the third week in March, had been taken in NSW – and in other countries, who took note of findings from research undertaken by the World Health Organisation and others, that infectious diseases are likely to spread among prisoners at 100 times the rate of the general population. I pointed out that prisoner health outcomes were already worse than in the community on the whole. I was particularly concerned about the health of prisoners at Hakea after I revealed through questions in Parliament that several health-related roles were vacant. I have also been calling on the Government to ensure it does not send any Western Australians to prison for fine default during the COVID-19 crisis, particularly as legislation for much needed reform to the fines enforcement system, has been delayed. We must get people out of prisons, not send more people in.
I have also been contacted by a number of community members who have concerns about a lack of necessary equipment in prisons like hand sanitiser, and about their access to virtual visits and phone calls. I have questioned the Government about this on several occasions since the crisis hit – and also written to the Inspector for Custodial Services. We can see from the disturbance at Hakea on 26 March that tensions are mounting. I urged the Government to urgently implement solutions for prisons, and particularly in light of the cancellation of jury trials, which means more people are likely to languish on remand before being tried.
By 25 March, WA was lagging worryingly behind other Australian jurisdictions in its spread-prevention measures for the justice system. Before Parliament resumed in early April, I pushed the Government to ensure provisions were made in its upcoming COVID-19 emergency legislation, including to increase capacity for judge-alone trials, which are not generally commonplace in WA compared with other states. I was also concerned to learn that people on remand and appearing by video-link were not always receiving the support that they needed and were entitled to. I reminded the Government to ensure checks and balances were still in place and justice was still provided, despite the quickly changing situation.
Parliament was called to return early from the Easter recess, to debate a suite of bills designed to enable the Government and its agencies to respond to the crisis. That week, we in the Upper House debated five COVID-19 related bills, which I acknowledge were necessary to ensure WA survives the crisis. I acknowledge the urgency, but debating bills with sometimes just hours’ notice was at odds with my usual practice of researching things through in great detail. I made sure to make mention during each of my contributions that our abilities as Parliamentarians to scrutinise legislation, had been severely truncated. Again, while I supported the bills on the whole, I was concerned by some of the new mechanisms put in place, particularly around transparency and accountability.
Aside from my work of late, relating to COVID-19, all of the things I was doing before the crisis started, have also continued.
On a separate note, pre-selection fell during this tumultuous period. And I am very happy to have been selected to run for election again in 2021. I very much hope to continue to represent the Greens in North Metro in the 41st Parliament.
I hope that you and your loved ones are safe and healthy, and that you are receiving the support that you need, to navigate through these difficult times. It is more important than ever that we treat one another with kindness.
Header photo: Alison at the WACOSS International Women’s Day breakfast with CEO of Uniting Care West, Amanda Hunt