Reports that alleged rape victims have been turned away from Queensland hospitals and advised to take photos of their injuries are “completely unacceptable”, the state’s health minister says.
Allegations of victims’ failed attempts to access forensic examinations after alleged assaults were aired by the Liberal National party opposition during question time on Tuesday.
The shadow health minister, Ros Bates, said a whistleblower had revealed that an alleged rape victim was taken to one hospital in August, transferred due to a lack of available trained staff and then spent eight hours waiting on an ambulance ramp at the second hospital.
The whistleblower also claimed another woman was turned away from a hospital, asked to take a photo of her injuries and return the next day, the shadow minister for domestic violence prevention, Amanda Camm, said.
In a third alleged case, a rape victim in Brisbane was told by hospital staff to go home and not wash before returning, due to a lack of rape kits and trained staff.
New forensic medical examination kits were rolled out to all Queensland hospitals from June after the state’s women’s safety and justice taskforce last year recommended that Queensland Health improve the quality of rape kits.
However, LNP MP Deb Frecklington said the opposition had been told that rape kits are only available in two hospitals across greater Brisbane and that police are often advised the Royal Brisbane and Women’s hospital (RBWH) has no weekend capacity to attend to victims.
Guardian Australia has seen an email sent by a senior staff member at the RBWH on 3 October stating the hospital had “limited forensic examination coverage”.
The chief executive of the Queensland Sexual Assault Network, Angela Lynch, said she is aware of gaps in the rollout of rape kits and delays in women accessing examinations.
“It’s already hard enough to be able to get a conviction in the criminal justice system in relation to sexual violence and rape,” Lynch told Guardian Australia.
“We’ve got a 1.7% conviction rate. So those are very concerning statements that are being made if women are essentially being asked to gather their own evidence [by taking photos].”
Lynch said the government must urgently encourage more medical staff to undertake training to administer the new kits, which have been required to be used from 1 September.
The health minister, Shannon Fentiman, said she had urgently written to the leader of the opposition, David Crisafulli, seeking more information about the claims, so the government can “thoroughly and urgently investigate”.
“It is absolutely my expectation that any woman that has experienced a sexual assault … is seen quickly … and is dealt with in a trauma-informed way … If it’s not happening, it’s not good enough,” Fentiman said.
She confirmed the state government had engaged a consultancy firm in April to track the progress of the rollout. The report will be publicly released after she is briefed on the matter, Fentiman said.
“We have provided the kits, there is training available. There is a 24/7 hotline,” she said.
“I have made it very clear to my department today and I’ll be making it clear to every chief executive of every [hospital and health service] that it is unacceptable and women will be treated in a timely compassionate way.”
The chief medical officer, Catherine McDougall, accepted that the health department has “more work to do” but said a lot of progress has been made in recent months.
“We have 11 more training sessions locked in between now and early 2024. We need to train more people, we need to ensure that we’re able to provide that access to timely and compassionate care or care across the whole state.”
• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. International helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org
