Every Western Australian deserves to feel safe in their own home but increasingly, many do not.

Since Labor was elected, family-related assaults have increased from 19,000 to more than 29,000, and the number of violence restraining order breaches has also blown out by 3,000 per year.

WA now has one of the highest rates of reported family and domestic violence in the nation.

Support services believe those cases are just the tip of the iceberg, with many victims too afraid to report the true extent of this violence.

Adding to the often physical trauma, family and domestic violence has a flow-on impact on homelessness, financial stress, mental health, the involvement of Child Protection, and long-term judicial intervention.

Currently, more than half of the women seeking homelessness services are doing so as a result of FDV, with many turned away because there are not enough places at refuges or support services available.

There have also been cases recently where violent offenders have been released from prison early, only to commit horrific assaults and murders.

It is clear the system is broken.

In a state as prosperous as WA, it is inexcusable that Labor has failed to tackle this scourge, failed to implement effective deterrents and tracking measures, and failed to properly fund the support services needed to help these victims.  

Labor is failing the basics.

The WA Liberals won’t stand by while vulnerable Western Australians suffer further abuse.

Victim-survivors deserve a government that will actively work to prevent family and domestic violence, one that focuses on their rights and needs over those of the offender, and one that properly funds appropriate support services.

Only a WA Liberal Government will make this a priority.

The WA Liberals believe anything that can be done to prevent family and domestic violence should be done.

Family and domestic violence is a scourge on our society and the issue is only getting worse, with a devastating increase in assaults and homicides in WA since 2017.

Many victims are living in fear and don’t believe the current system can or will help them.

Over the last financial year, there were 11,259 breaches of Family Violence Restraining Orders, up 47 per cent from when WA Labor took power in 2017.

While Labor continues to sit idle, the WA Liberals understand that urgent and immediate action is needed to keep Western Australians safe.

The WA Liberals will commit $100 million over four years to rapidly expand the GPS tracking program to ensure repeat offenders are monitored and victims are kept safe.

The commitment provides for an additional 300 GPS tracking bracelets and funding to employ additional Community Corrections and WA Police staff to monitor the program.

GPS tracking is currently used in more than 30 countries as a deterrent for reoffending, and to support and reassure victims.

We will also tighten parole and bail laws to ensure that any offender who tampers with a GPS tracking device or reoffends while wearing one is sent back to prison.

The commitment includes an additional $10 million over four years for wrap-around services, including preventative community and offender education campaigns to encourage healthy and respectful relationships.

Victim-survivors deserve a government that is taking proactive steps to deter reoffenders and protect the community from abusive and violent individuals.

Only the WA Liberal Party is committed to prioritising the rights and safety of victim-survivors, their families, and the wider community over that of offenders.