Col Blanch says WA domestic violence figures are tip of the iceberg and don’t expose true extent of crisis

Shocking police figures revealing domestic violence offending reached a decade-high in WA last year do not come close to exposing the true extent of the crisis, WA’s top cop says. Police Commissioner Col Blanch on Friday said the number of reported number of assaults, threatening behaviour and breaches of violence restraining orders investigated likely represented only about 30 per cent of the real number of cases. Mr Blanch said his advice was that 70 per cent of women who present to women’s refuges fleeing dangerous situations in WA still did not report to police. “I think that’s the number we should be concerned about,” he said. “So the number of incidents going up is really not the conversation — how do we encourage more victim-survivors to come forward?” According to police statistics released this week, 35,806 reports of family and domestic violence-related reports were made to police across the State in 2024-25. That is almost 100 assaults every single day. The number of breaches of family violence restraining orders increased by almost 20 per cent from 16,993 in 2023-24 to 20,082 in 2024-25. And reports of acts of threatening behaviour increased by 31 per cent. The Cook Government was forced to defend its handling of the crisis on Friday, with Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence Minister Jessica Stojkovski insisting “the safety of women and children is my top priority.” Responding to The West’s front page, which was emblazoned with the words “blah, blah blah — the sound of politicians talking while 100 women a day . . . are beaten by men” — Ms Stojkovski said she welcomed “any public attention of family and domestic violence.” “I think if you look at since we came into Government in 2017, we’ve taken more action on FDV than any other,” she said. “Even the fact that we have a Minister for the Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence is one of the first steps we did in Government in 2017. “But it’s not just that, it’s been the half a billion dollars in investment that we’ve had since 2017, the system reform plan that came out of the taskforce and the achievement that’s already had to date but the work that’s still ongoing.” But Centre for Women’s Safety and Wellbeing chief executive Alison Evans said that funding was just the “bare minimum” of what was required, saying “many years of inaction and neglect prior to 2017 left WA lagging behind other states and territories.” Premier Roger Cook, asked whether funding was needed immediately for overwhelmed front line services, said: “If it was as simple as writing a cheque, we would have written it yesterday.” “We continue to make sure we build out the services, the capability and the resources they can draw on as part of the ongoing growth in family and domestic violence resources,” he said. “And we will continue to make sure that we are informed by people with lived experience, by experts to make sure that we can do more as a Government and as as leaders in the community.” Police Minister Reece Whitby again insisted the figures could be attributed to more victim-survivors reporting, which he said was “a good thing”. “This is a scourge on the community,” he said. “I talked yesterday about how I was a young journalist many years ago and how this issue was ignored by media, by police, by the community generally. It was seen as something that was private, behind closed doors and was almost a taboo issue to deal with. “That has changed. We accept the truth. That is unacceptable, and so we’ve had a massive step change from those years. But of course, with the acceptance of having to deal with that issue comes the fact that more and more people are reporting.” In Budget estimates last month, Mr Whitby was asked if the shocking increase in FDV statistics was purely a product of increased reporting, to which he admitted he was an “amateur in this area so I am not the one to deliver expert commentary”. “But I imagine that the amount of drug use in the community, the amount of unemployment, other economic factors and other societal factors all play into this issue,” he said. Asked whether she thought blaming the increasing rate of FDV only to a higher prevalence of reporting was a cop out, Ms Stojkovski said, “I think it’s too hard to tell the numbers are this, or the numbers are that”. “The numbers are what they are,” she said. “I’m glad women are reporting because I want them to report. I want them to feel safe to come forward, to know that they will be taken seriously and to know that they can access those supports that they need.” Mr Cook echoed that sentiment, saying the statistics were “alarming but were also a sign that we are increasing awareness in the community”. “Dr Alison Evans says this is the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “I think she’s right. But we are seeing more of the iceberg today than we have ever seen, because we have that extra level of awareness and higher levels of reporting.” Dr Evans told The West that “while we cannot know with certainty, increased awareness and media attention on family and domestic violence could be contributing to the increase in incidents reported to police”. “However, such attention also increases the level of demand our frontline services face,” she said. “These specialist family and domestic violence services must be adequately resourced to ensure no woman or child is turned away or let down when seeking life-saving support. “They are the emergency response for victim-survivors who don’t want to call the police.” Shadow minister for prevention of family and domestic violence Libby Mettam said WA “remains the most unsafe State in the nation to be a woman”. “While we enjoying the largest boom our State has ever seen, there is a desperate need to support women living in fear and children right across the community,” she said. “We are seeing refuges having to turn women and children away because they can’t keep up with demand, we are seeing police under resourced to be able to respond and we are seeing many across the community sector being challenged in being able to deal with this issue. “And with the housing crisis as well, many women feeling they have no option but to return or live with a violent partner.” Ms Mettam said the latest FDV statistics were “tragic.” “They are alarming, and they are representative of women whose lives are at risk or lives that have been lost or lives that are at risk,” she said. “When you look at the increase in breaches of family violence restraining orders, and we’ve seen a 20 per cent increase in those breaches, it points to a Government who has their priorities are all wrong.” On Friday, the Cook Government announced $1.2 million in finding over two years to establish three new senior counsellor roles to support children and young people impacted by domestic violence. 1800 RESPECT