Earlier this year, VALS warned the Allan Labor Government that tightening the bail laws would be a costly and dangerous mistake for Aboriginal people. So, the Victorian Premier’s announcement of ill-informed funding for corrections facilities this morning came as no surprise. 

The Victorian Government’s announcement of $727m into Victoria’s prisons is an inevitable outcome due to the most recent bail laws and will result in one of the biggest increases of unsentenced people across the nation. In an already tight fiscal environment, today’s announcement shows that Premier Allan’s invested in expanding prisons and not programmatic solutions that would create a safer Victoria for all of us not just some of us.   

VALS urges the Government to double today’s investment amount in next week’s State Budget in programmatic responses and legal services uplift to mitigate the worst impacts of the governments disastrous approach to bail – one that will cost us our humanity and see a continuation of cyclical incarceration.  

To celebrate numbers of children, young people and adults held on remand — people who are yet to be sentenced — as an indication of achieving community safety is flawed, deeply troubling and misguided. This goes directly against the premise of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, something that the Victorian government has stated it is committed to implementing. 

The reported 71 per cent increase in young people being held on remand since April last year means we have more young people than ever unnecessarily sitting in cells without access to the education and programs they need. This does not equate to community safety and only causes further distress, trauma and cycles of harm.  

The evidence is undeniably clear that the earlier a young person becomes involved in the criminal legal system, the more likely they are to reoffend. Balit Ngulu, VALS’ dedicated youth legal practice, has seen a 300 per cent increase in young people being held on remand since June last year. This is a crisis for Aboriginal young people who, when in contact with the legal system, are unable to remain connected to family, community and culture, or access support services. Instead, they are learning that the state does not have hope for their futures, and that they do not deserve second chances. Once released, the Allan Labor government’s lack of investments in their transition back to community will likely result in more offending behaviour.  

For adults, there has been a reported 22 per cent increase of people being held on remand. VALS has seen a 216 per cent increase in our clients being held on remand since June last year. We cannot adequately support this significant increase in demand across our services without major investment in legal assistance.  

Today’s announcement also included that if someone is convicted of assaulting or injuring a Corrections worker while incarcerated additional time will be added onto their sentence. Where is the government’s accountability for the harm caused by ongoing lockdowns across state prisons or the abuses of power we see within the Corrections system? These environments as they stand are not a place of rehabilitation, we have heard reports of distressing declines in mental health including suicide ideation. The tolerance for ongoing breaches of human rights in correctional facilities is deplorable and should be a national shame. The state government having to incentivise people to work in prisons shows what a broken system it is.  

The Community and Public Sector Union Secretary has already indicated that there aren’t enough staff to operate additional beds which will lead to ‘concerns around safety and security’. The Cultural Review into Adult Custodial Corrections clearly showed this as well. Unless the government invests in therapeutic support programs for young people and adults alongside education and training, housing and support – community safety will not improve. Prison cells are not the solution. 

As we await the release of Yoorrook’s final report, the timing of the first truth-telling process in this country coming to an end, is tinged with the ongoing injustice and discrimination experienced by our peoples. The Victorian Government will be held accountable for the indisputable harm our communities are facing. 

May it not be at the cost of another life. 

Quotes Attributable to Nerita Waight, CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service: 
“What has been announced today is unsurprising given the government’s reckless and ill-informed approach to bail. Prisons are not the answer to community safety. Investment in mental health, family violence, housing, community-based diversion programs alongside legal assistance is the only way to address the underlying causes of offending behaviour. The government is taking the Victorian public as fools, even the Opposition Leader can identify the need for critical investment into therapeutic supports.” 

“At next week’s state budget, we call on the government to invest in the legislative and programmatic off ramps so we are not left with another ‘unmitigated disaster’. There are no unintended consequences for the impact of these bail changes, the government knows full well what they are doing.” 

“As it stands currently, there are not enough corrections staff to oversee the prison population, which is resulting in ongoing and protracted lockdowns. This is harming the wellbeing of our clients and is akin to torture and no one in government is listening. The announcement of more beds is deeply concerning, no amount of incentivisation will find the staffing cohort to adequately oversee this expansion.” 

Case Study – Balit Ngulu  Prior to these new bail laws coming into effect, VALS worked with an Aboriginal young person with a diagnosed disability which made him vulnerable to being exploited by older peers. He had been charged with committing serious offences including carjacking and armed robbery as part of a cohort of young people. He grew up experiencing poverty and disadvantage. VALS worked intensively with the young person to ensure he was engaged with culturally safe, therapeutic, intensive supports. On this basis, the young person was released on bail. With VALS’ support the young person engaged in a community conference, where his family members were able to attend alongside the young person and a neutral space. This was a reflective and therapeutic space where the young person was able to hear about the impact of their actions, and the young person spoke to what they would do not to return to being involved in that same group of young people. Over many months of intensive wrap around supports provided by VALS and other Aboriginal Community Controlled Services and mainstream service providers, the prosecution consented to a diversion. There has been no further offending in the last two years, this is because there were appropriate community supports and relevant interventions provided to support the young person. Under the current bail laws it is highly likely that this young person would not have been granted bail, and the outcome will have been very different.

Case Study – Family Violence Misidentification  Our client was arrested on persistent breach of Intervention Order (IVO) due to continuing to return to her partner’s address, who was the reported affected family member (AFM).  The partner invites her home on the basis of reconciliation, which has instead returned to a violent and volatile environment and includes threats to extended family. The partner has been verbally and physically aggressive towards her, initiating the physical confrontation and then calling the police. Without adequate alternative accommodation our client has nowhere to go. Our client was remanded at Court for the persistent breach of IVO, despite the fact she was the affected family member.  Misidentification of the user of violence in family violence scenarios has devastating consequences. It limits the service supports available, it can impact housing and employment, as most critically, it can lead to children being removed from their care, while needlessly criminalising someone who has been traumatised and harmed. Adequate access to supports services, including housing, refuge and intensive specialist Aboriginal-led family violence supports, including legal assistance is critical. This client story demonstrates the significant risk and harm caused to women who are forced to spend short periods of time on remand because of ineffective family violence legislation, alongside more punitive bail laws. VALS fears that the government’s approach will result in more women being incarcerated and forced to spend longer and longer times on remand for behaviour that would not attract a custodial penalty.