Victoria Police must implement Coroner’s findings from Inquest into the death of Raymond Noel
MEDIA RELEASE 20 September 2021 Raymond Noel Lindsay Thomas (referred to as “Raymond Noel” for cultural reasons) was a proud Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Wiradjuri man. Raymond Noel died in a police pursuit on 25 June 2017. Four years on, Raymond Noels’ family and community still feel tremendous grief and pain from his tragic and preventable […]
The Andrews Government’s love affair with policing is cheating Victoria out of an effective pandemic strategy
MEDIA RELEASE 17 August 2021 The imposition of curfews this week raises the troubling prospect that the Andrews Government has not learnt from the decision-making errors it made during the first year of the pandemic. It is detracting attention from vaccines and public health messaging and still thinks it can police its way out of […]
The Andrews Government won’t meet its Closing The Gap justice targets if it refuses to reform its punitive bail laws
JOINT MEDIA RELEASE 29 July 2021Victorian Aboriginal Legal ServiceFitzroy Legal ServiceHuman Rights Law Centre The Andrews Government must urgently reform its punitive bail laws if it is to meet the justice targets it signed on to in the new Closing the Gap Agreement last year. The first Annual Data Compilation Report mapping progress under the […]
Lack of oversight and transparency in prison disciplinary processes: Ombudsman finds
Joint Media Release7 July 2021 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, legal, human rights and civil liberties organisations have called on the Andrews government to take urgent steps to increase transparency and prevent mistreatment behind bars after a new report has highlighted serious deficiencies in disciplinary processes in Victorian prisons. The Victorian Ombudsman’s Investigation into good practice […]
This International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the Andrews Government must do better on OPCAT
JOINT MEDIA RELEASE 1 July 2021 This International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the Andrews Government must do better on OPCAT Last week, on the same day that IBAC released its damning report into Victorian prisons, we marked the 15 year anniversary of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and […]
Uniformed Victoria Police attend Coronial Inquest for ‘security’, compounding the grief and trauma of the Thomas Family
MEDIA RELEASE 1st July 2021 Uniformed Victoria Police attend Coronial Inquest for ‘security’, compounding the grief and trauma of the Thomas Family Quotes Attributable to Uncle Ray, Raymond Noel’s father “It is disgusting and offensive behaviour from the police once again towards us as an Aboriginal family at such a critical time like this, when […]
IBAC report finds that prison expansion and privatisation are contributing factors to corruption and abuse within Victoria’s Corrections system
MEDIA RELEASE 24 June 2021Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) IBAC’s Special report on corrections: IBAC Operations Rous, Caparra, Nisidia and Molara makes a clear link between the expansion in prison capacity and an increase in corruption within the corrections system. The Andrews Government’s tough on crime agenda, including the implementation of draconian bail laws, and […]
Daniel Andrews and Jaclyn Symes have put the Governments legacy on Aboriginal justice at risk
MEDIA RELEASE 20 May 2021 Daniel Andrews and Jaclyn Symes gave VALS $1 million dollars per year for two years to pilot our Place-Based Delivery Model in the Victorian Budget 2021/22, but our model requires $26.5 million over four years. The Place-Based Delivery Model was to include 10 offices across Victoria, but this “pilot” funding […]
It is time for a Victorian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner
Friday 26th March 2021 Joint Media Release from Djirra and Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service: No Justice, No Peace – It is time for a Victorian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner We call on the Victorian Government to immediately establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner. The Commissioner must be […]
The Victorian Government Must End Its Harmful Obsession with Expanding Victoria’s Prison System
MEDIA RELEASE 19 March 2021 Today the Victorian Government made two announcements celebrating prison construction. It is their sixth media release regarding prison construction works in the last six months and highlights the alarming expansion of the carceral system in Victoria. This is nothing to celebrate. Today’s announcements come after National Close the Gap day […]