The Latest Breaking News from Department of Communities

Gordon Lyons commits to attending GAA match amid criticism

Sport falls within the responsibilities of the DUP minister’s Department of Communities.

Evening Standard · Mar 14, 2025

Indigenous leader who runs social programs wants tougher consequences for parents of young offenders

An Indigenous organisation head who signed a joint letter to WA's leaders highlighting Kununurra's youth crime crisis wants child protection workers to come down harder on parents of children who roam the streets at night.

ABC News · May 24, 2023

Remote Indigenous communities spared by Cyclone Ilsa but evacuees unable to return home

Severe Tropical Cyclone Ilsa has made its passage through Western Australia but many evacuees from the Great Sandy Desert are yet to return home, cut off by floodwaters.

ABC News · Apr 15, 2023

Cat wandering ban at Tasmania's new Huntingfield housing development due to endangered bird species

Cat-owning residents who want to live in this new suburban housing development will have to prove to the local council their pets won't roam nearby bushland, where an endangered bird species lives — and while bird watchers have welcomed the rule, one expert doubts it will be enforceable.

ABC News · Oct 18, 2022

Tenant advocates call for halt to public housing evictions 'without grounds' after human rights complaint

Tenancy rights organisations have called on the WA government to cease evicting public housing residents under "no-grounds" provisions after a Federal Court injunction and a racial discrimination complaint.

ABC News · Oct 8, 2022

More alleged WA public servant corruption

Western Australia's corruption watchdog has made further allegations against people employed by the Department of Communities.

AAP · Sep 21, 2022

CCC unearths alleged 'serious misconduct' at Department of Communities, less than a year after Paul Whyte jailed

A former executive assistant to disgraced public servant Paul Whyte allegedly broke the rules in exchange for expensive gifts and luxury dinners before agreeing to pin the blame on Whyte himself, a Corruption and Crime Commission report finds.

ABC News · Sep 20, 2022

Allegations of cover-ups, staff frustration and management inaction at Ashley youth prison, abuse inquiry hears

Shredded documents, missing reports and staff too scared to speak up, or ignored — Tasmania's commission of inquiry hears more evidence of what goes on behind the gates at the island's only youth prison.

ABC News · Aug 22, 2022

WA childcare centre fined over open gate

A Perth childcare centre has been fined after three young children walked out of an open gate.

AAP · Aug 12, 2022

Paul Whyte corruption hearing told he started charging for fake services two days after being hired

Notorious former public servant Paul Whyte began the web of deception that led to him stealing $27 million from the Department of Communities almost as soon as he started working there, a CCC hearing is told.

ABC News · Jun 22, 2022