Premier urged not to bungle bail reform
Last week the Coroner found that Victoria’s bail laws were a “complete and unmitigated disaster” as part of the Inquest into the passing of Veronica Nelson. Uncle Percy Lovett, Veronica’s partner, has been fighting to fix the systems that failed Veronica since she died at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre Prison on 2 January 2020. Today, […]
Statements from Veronica Nelson’s family
Click here to download statements Statement by Aunty Donna Nelson, Veronica’s mother My name is Donna Nelson and I am Veronica’s mother. Veronica was my first-born child, and she was my best friend. She was kind, caring and compassionate. She was loved by her family, her community, and her friends. She was a proud Aboriginal […]
VALS’ Invasion Day Webinar 2023
Statement on bail reform reports
Quotes Attributable to Nerita Waight, CEO of VALS: “The Victorian Government said punitive bail laws would make communities safer. In reality, these laws have led to a massive increase in the prison population, which has destroyed families and drained government resources away from communities.” “In Victoria, the Aboriginal imprisonment rate has almost doubled in the […]
Statement regarding the appointment of public health services to provide healthcare in Victoria’s women prisons
Statement attributable to Uncle Percy Lovett, partner of Veronica Nelson: “I can’t believe it. It just shows how bad the healthcare was in Dame Phyllis Frost Centre- Prison and how bad these companies are.” “I hope this means that things will be better for the other women in prison, and that what happened to Veronica […]
VALS urges Victorian Government to overhaul justice system for Aboriginal people
VALS is calling on the Victorian government to make urgent changes to the criminal justice system, following two weeks of startling evidence given to the Yoorrook Justice Commission. Yoorrook Commissioners heard emotional and damning evidence from Aboriginal people and experts in the criminal justice and child protection areas which highlighted the damaging effects the systems […]
VALS to push for systemic transformation in historic Yoorrook hearings
A panel of representatives from VALS will appear before the Yoorrook Justice Commission today to call for radical change to address the ongoing harm inflicted upon First Peoples in Victoria by unjust laws and practices. The Commission, which is now into its second week of public hearings focused on the criminal justice and child protection […]
Sasha’s father hopes coronial inquest will uncover ‘fault in the system’
A coronial inquest will be held this week into the death of a 12-year-old Aboriginal girl who tragically died in 2019 at the Royal Children’s Hospital, after spending almost four days at a regional hospital. The girl will be known as Sasha during the proceedings. At the time of her death, parental responsibility for Sasha […]
VALS gives voice to our clients in Yoorrook submissions
Empowering our clients is a core part of VALS’ purpose. Empowering our clients is crucial to breaking the generational impacts of invasion and colonisation. Today VALS made our first two submissions, known as nuther-mooyoop, to the Yoorrook Justice Commission and we are proud to contribute the experiences, and the demands for reforms to the criminal […]
Over 230 Victorian candidates committed to raising the age of criminal responsibility
Over 230 candidates running in the 2022 Victorian State Election have stated they support raising the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14 in survey results published today by Smart Justice for Young People. This is in addition to the 65,799 Victorian residents who have signed the petition calling on the Victorian government to […]