Tuesday, 29 August 2023

Bills

Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023

Second reading

Debate resumed.

Gabrielle WILLIAMS (Dandenong – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ambulance Services, Minister for Treaty and First Peoples) (14:54): Before I had my contribution somewhat disrupted by a very lively question time, I was in the process of lending my support to the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 and highlighting that the remarks that I wish to make are those that pertain to my responsibility as the Minister for Treaty and First Peoples. I was saying that, whether it be through numerous coronial inquests or powerful testimonies that we have recently heard at the Yoorrook Justice Commission, we know that the criminal justice system has too often failed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The structural inequities across many, many systems have led to an over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our justice system and sometimes very poor outcomes within our justice system for them.

We know that addressing this injustice requires engaging with those systemic barriers that lead to that over-representation. It is why we have, here in Victoria, chosen structural reform, particularly through pursuing truth, treaty and voice, the first jurisdiction in the country to action all three elements of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. But while we progress that important work, we know it is also important to progress urgent reform that needs to take place right now. So the bill before us today does that in a few key areas by making some critical changes that will reduce, for example, the risks of deaths in custody. The bill will help to address the over-representation of First Peoples in our justice system through a range of key changes to the operational nature of the system. It re-emphasises the custody notification criteria to ensure that the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, better known to many of us as VALS, is notified whenever a person that is taken into custody advises police that they identify as First Nations, irrespective of police’s assessment of a person’s identity. VALS plays a really critical role in ensuring that Aboriginal people who come into contact with our justice system are able to access prompt and culturally appropriate legal assistance. We know the outcomes for them are much better when they have that assistance available to them.

Previously, prior to these changes, the investigating police officer needed to be of the opinion that a person is Aboriginal, and I think we can all see on the face of it that that is clearly fraught. This amendment, which effectively enables self-identification, is really important. It also, importantly, responds to a recommendation from the report of the Parliament’s Legal and Social Issues Committee’s inquiry into Victoria’s criminal justice system. I want to take the opportunity to acknowledge the work of that committee, which was chaired by Ms Fiona Patten in the other place in the last term, which made a suite of recommendations and delved deeply into the issues of over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the justice system.

The bill also implements legislative recognition of the role of police coronial investigators as distinct from police. This reform was recommended by the recent coronial inquest into the tragic death in police custody of First Nations woman Aunty Tanya Day. This aims to increase public trust in coronial investigators by cementing their independence from police, and it is also in alignment with recommendation 29 of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody as well as recommendation 42 of the Victorian parliamentary Law Reform Committee review of the Coroners Act 1985. Until now, coronial investigators have not had a formal role under existing legislation. This has meant, effectively, that their engagement and approach to working with the Coroners Court has been somewhat unclear. Coronial investigators’ function is usually to attend a scene where there has been a reportable death and assist the coroner by preparing a report of the death, which can involve making relevant inquiries to ascertain, for example, the identity of the deceased and their next of kin. These reforms will formalise that role and also allow a coroner to direct a coronial investigator who will be required to comply with reasonable and lawful directions. In making that change we are effectively improving the accountability and transparency involved in that function. It will also of course reduce potential conflicts of interest where police coronial investigators are investigating deaths where police themselves were involved.

Beyond these reforms and ensuring the safety of people in custody, it is critical that we continue to pursue reforms that help us meet our Closing the Gap commitments. I would like to think that that is an objective that is shared on all sides of this house, even if we have sometimes, and particularly at the moment, different ways of getting there. Alongside our commitments under the Victorian Aboriginal Affairs Framework 2018–2023, falling within both those sets of commitments is a commitment to eliminate the over-representation of Aboriginal people in our justice system. As we all know from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, reducing the number of Aboriginal people in prisons and police custody is fundamental to also reducing the risk of deaths in custody.

As Minister for Treaty and First Peoples I am acutely aware of just how much work is ahead of us in that area. To realise that substantive change, we really must work alongside and walk with First Peoples. We must listen to them and learn from them and make sure that we are being led by their experience and that we are listening to their ideas about solutions. The Yoorrook Justice Commission, the nation’s very first truth-telling body, is currently inquiring into both historic and ongoing injustices against Aboriginal people across all areas of social, political and economic life. As many of you know, the commission will shortly hand down its interim report, which will contain recommendations for further reform of the justice system. I look forward to considering those recommendations and the reform work that is handed down by the commission.

In winding up my remarks, I want to just add my thanks not only to the commissioners for doing that important work, but also to the many people who have given testimony to the commission and in doing so have often relayed personal trauma and told their stories, many of them horrific, all with the view to improving our systems and structures so that those experiences do not have to be perpetuated in our system and that others do not have to experience the same types of pain they did. Testimony like that is often given at great personal cost, and we should never be flippant about what goes into allowing people to speak about these matters, let alone for the commissioners to hear about them and to come up with thoughtful ways of recommending change. To that end, it is also worth acknowledging the work of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, who will carry forward much of this work through the process of treaty.

This is about a foundational, transformational and structural change, because this is going to be the only way that we start to finally shift the dial on those Closing the Gap targets and priorities that we as a state and all of our counterparts have agreed to. I have often been given cause to reflect on the fact that if the definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome, then we really need to be open to doing things differently if we are going to finally start shifting the dial and ensuring that we can be driving better outcomes for First Nations people here in this country. Whether it be by improving life expectancy, which still sits about 10 years behind the non-Aboriginal population, whether it be by reducing over-representation in our justice system, as this bill goes partly to, or whether it be by improving child removal rates – which are still at record highs here in Victoria and indeed the stats are not great across the nation – or any other number of measures that we too often are given cause to reflect upon and feel ashamed by, we need to start doing things differently, and truth, treaty and voice are an essential part of that.

Martin CAMERON (Morwell) (15:03): I also am pleased to stand to talk about the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. Firstly, thanks to the member for Malvern, who led off today and spoke, as he said, about a wideranging bill with a lot of stuff in it, and it is terrific to be able to listen to both sides of the house talk about this legislation amendment bill. What we are trying to do on both sides here is to make sure that we get everything right for people in the community as we move forward with this bill.

The bill seeks to improve the operation of the Victorian legal and justice system by implementing the following reforms: making certain temporary provisions in the Court Security Act 1980 and the Open Courts Act 2013 permanent, with appropriate modifications, to assist the courts and tribunals to operate safely and efficiently; legislatively recognising the role of police coronial investigators to give effect to recommendation 2 of the Tanya Day coronial inquest findings, recommendation 29 of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and recommendation 42 of the Victorian parliamentary Law Reform Committee review of the Coroners Act 1985 – as you can see, the bill is cleaning up a few technical terms and changing a few things, which is just for the benefit of the general community and population; amending the Spent Convictions Act 2021 to address unintended barriers to eligibility to have convictions spent, and data sharing and judgement publication; and amending the Firefighters’ Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2019 and the Forests Act 1958 to expand presumptive rights legislation to three additional female-specific cancers. As you see, it is a wideranging bill. Of course we need to look after our firefighters, and it is going to be especially beneficial if we can have these cancers recognised and put into legislation for particularly our female CFA members as they go forward.

We are amending the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 to clarify the application of the legal profession uniform law in Victoria and to enhance protections for Victorian consumers of legal services by enabling the register of disciplinary action taken against lawyers to be updated immediately and amending the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 to support the rollout of an electronic case management system portal in the family division of the Children’s Court. Also, this amendment bill is amending the Jury Directions Act 2015 to clarify that certain jury directions are available in all sexual offence trials; making minor and technical amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 to allow specified employees under the Dairy Act 2000 and the Meat Industry Act 1993 to witness statements that are provided in a criminal prosecution brief; addressing various legal and procedural issues in respect of VCAT’s jurisdiction by amending the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998, the Wrongs Act 1958, the Limitation of Actions Act 1958 and the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995; acquitting a recommendation of the parliamentary inquiry into the Victorian criminal justice system to require mandatory notification of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service where a person taken into custody self-identifies as an Aboriginal by amending the Crimes Act 1958; and amending the Victoria Police Act 2013 to maintain the existing ability to prescribe fees for the provision of a broad range of police services.

On the streets in the Latrobe Valley, law and order, which takes in everything that we are talking about here today, is a really hot topic with the constituents down there. Last week I was at a community safety committee which is organised by our local Latrobe City Council. We have all the police come from the different towns, and we sit down in a bit of a forum and discuss what the topics are and what is happening in each of our towns. The community safety committee know about the safety of our older constituents, who are feeling vulnerable and unsafe on the streets, whether they be going into the front of the Traralgon plaza to do their shopping, where we have young and old people starting to mill around and cause unrest down there, or whether it is at the Morwell bus exchange in the main street of Morwell. These are things where we are actually speaking to the community and they are giving us feedback on what needs to be done.

The proposed changes to the Spent Convictions Act include removing the onerous requirements for children and young people to allow them to have their convictions spent. This will give children and young people a chance to be rehabilitated and reintegrated into society despite past offending, especially if they have been caught up in that system where they have offended before and have reoffended, and try to break the cycle and have an avenue to get them out, so to speak.

Undoubtedly this is a positive outcome for the broader community, providing this is accompanied by strategies to prevent youth offending in the first instance – so prevention – thereby reducing the need for spent convictions. We can do other programs around our local municipalities to stop them the first time that children and youth make a decision when there is an opportunity to do something that is untoward. If we have got these programs, it will prevent them at the very start from doing that, and it just takes the pressure off the judicial system moving forward. This can be done by increasing public housing and providing more resources for mental health services, accessible and stronger drug and alcohol health treatment options and addressing domestic and family violence in its infancy.

I have spoken about this before in the chamber. We have a youth space program in Morwell which up until the end of last year was being funded by the Andrews Labor government. It is an absolutely fantastic program. I have been there before and spoken about it. There were 500 youths that actually accessed this facility. I sat down and spoke with them last week. Their numbers have increased from 500 to 700 people accessing the youth space program at the moment. So we are doing what we can diligently behind the scenes to see if we can get some more funding from the government. This is a program that shows that it works and, going back to what I was saying before, it actually stops the process of youth criminals being thrown into that system. We are trying to stop it at the source and give them other options and pathways where they can see a way out of the life they are leading now, whether it be going in there and having a shower or getting something to eat or being put in touch with services. This is what we need to be able to do to help out our youth. As I said, the youth space program in Morwell is a fantastic set-up, and hopefully we can do some more work in that area.

As the member for Malvern said, it is a very wideranging bill with amendments that we are dealing with. I have just been able to touch on a few bits and pieces of it. As he said, we will not be opposing this amendment.

Nina TAYLOR (Albert Park) (15:13): I am very pleased to be able to speak on the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. I will also say it is pleasing that the opposition are not seeking to oppose this bill. There are some really important reforms, and they certainly are consistent as part of our government’s ongoing reform agenda with the justice system, not only in researching and consulting extensively with stakeholders but actually delivering on those reforms.

I will zone directly, in the time that we have, initially on the presumptive rights expansion. We know that our Andrews Labor government has a proud record of supporting workers, including through the delivery of the firefighters presumptive rights compensation scheme. Our government extended our landmark presumptive rights reforms to ensure that FRV and CFA vehicle and equipment maintenance workers who attend fires and may be exposed to carcinogens present at fire events have the same presumptive rights as volunteer firefighters. This bill is seeking to provide fairer access to compensation for women under an expansion to the Andrews Labor government’s presumptive rights scheme. This will be achieved by including primary-site cervical, ovarian and uterine cancers to the scheme’s prescribed list of cancers.

The Minister for Emergency Services announced the commitment to adding the three female-specific cancers to the existing legislation on 9 June 2023, and we can see by the fact that we are in the chamber debating this specific issue here and now that the government has acted quickly to bring the necessary bill to the Parliament to enact this change expeditiously as well. We know that firefighters and personnel provide an invaluable service to community, and this requires them to work in inherently dangerous conditions and exposes them to carcinogens. The presumptive rights scheme means that if people are diagnosed with the specified cancers, they do not need to prove that the cancer is directly attributable to their service in order to access compensation. I said from the outset that the expansion of presumptive rights to include these additional cancers follows – and this is very important – consultation with stakeholders to ensure more equitable access to cancer compensation. Our government said we would consult on these cancers, and this bill is really another example of our government delivering on its commitments.

We want to enact these changes quickly to afford our growing number of female firefighters the same rights and protections as their male counterparts. It is the right thing to do. I will note there is a lack of international research into female-specific cancers in firefighters because there are not that many at this point in time. But of course we know that in the modern era, when we are increasingly focused on gender equity, the equalisation, for want of a better word, of men and women, having more and more women in professions that once were specifically for males is ever evolving. Those restrictions, can we say, to date, because of the number of firefighters in international research with regard to female-specific cancers, should not mean that those women who have joined the profession should miss out. Accordingly, it can be difficult to prove a particular event or exposure caused the development of these cancers, but this is not a reason to not take this step forward. Certainly that priority for equalisation or for creating a fairer system is why we are at this important juncture taking this reform forward.

Our presumptive rights scheme has already provided peace of mind and support for literally thousands of career and volunteer firefighters, so we know that it is delivering on what it set out to do. Presumptive rights for cervical, ovarian and uterine cancers will be subject to a qualifying period of 10 years to align with other Australian and international jurisdictions, and I note that the scheme will continue to be administered by WorkSafe Victoria. Importantly, and I think this is also an important aspect when we are looking at adding further categories to the presumptive rights scheme, the proposed changes will not impact existing entitlements to the scheme. FRV, CFA and Forest Fire Management Vic firefighters and vehicle mechanics are all covered under the scheme equally, so that is a really important aspect as well. Our Andrews Labor government will continue to work with our fire agencies’ personnel and volunteers to ensure they are supported on and off the ground. They are certainly some very important reforms coming through.

As has been discussed, there are many important aspects to this justice legislation. I would like to zone in on the element pertaining to lawyer misconduct. We know it can be hard to find the right lawyer. I myself went through an admission process, and I certainly found that you do consider carefully all the duties that are imposed as a lawyer and you want to make sure that you fulfil those duties to the absolute best of your ability. However, there are unfortunately – and I would say it is a minority – those who might do the wrong thing, and there can be a significant power imbalance in the event that that occurs. That is why this bill will strengthen the consumer protections available for Victorians to engage legal services and clarify potential uncertainties about how the legal profession uniform law applies in Victoria.

Due to a legal technicality, the offences of improperly taking money from a trust account and destroying regulated property have been subject to a 12-month limitation period, meaning that action needs to be taken within 12 months of that conduct occurring. Often this kind of wrongdoing takes time to detect, so the bill makes it clear that the 12-month time frame does not apply to these offences. That is a really important clarification.

To be as objective as possible, I will say it can be hard for consumers to know if the lawyer they are considering using has behaved poorly in the past. I think you want some peace of mind when you are engaging the services of a lawyer to, as best as possible, know that you can rely on them to do the right thing and to fulfil their duties. So the bill will allow the Victorian Legal Services Board to publish details about lawyers that they determine have engaged in unsatisfactory professional conduct immediately within the 28-day period in which the lawyer can seek to appeal the determination. Of course if any action is successfully appealed, that information must be removed.

I understand the delicate nuance of this situation, because in the event that initially you are put on the register and then after it was found that you were not guilty of the particular misconduct that that certainly would be disconcerting, and I understand that there might be concerns about what that might do to one’s reputation. However, this has to be seen within the broader context that this particular change within the legislation brings Victoria in line with other uniform law jurisdictions and is consistent with how comparable professions like doctors and engineers manage publishing information about bad behaviour. So when we see it within that broader context, we can see that it is actually a reasonable change. It is not unreasonable, if I can put it that way, to expect lawyers to adhere to that particular bar or those particular standards, and these changes make sure that consumers will have up-to-date information, just as they would in any other uniform law jurisdiction, which will help them make informed decisions. So we are thinking about consumers and making sure that they have some sense of comfort with their decision on engaging a lawyer, and conversely when we reflect on the fact that the majority of lawyers, I would like to think, are doing the right thing, it gives them comfort knowing that if they are not on that register, more likely than not, that lawyer will undertake the duties appropriately as well. It also sends a clear message that lawyers who do the wrong thing will be held to account, and I think that is appropriate.

Jess WILSON (Kew) (15:23): It is a pleasure to rise today on the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023, and I would like to start by thanking the Shadow Attorney-General, the member for Malvern, for his contribution this morning. As he noted, this is a piece of legislation that we will not be opposing, as it does provide a relatively large range of uncontroversial fixes to a number of pieces of justice legislation aimed at improving the operation of our justice system as a whole. I think we have heard contributions from both sides of the house today speaking to the importance of making sure we have a justice system that is operating for Victorians and a justice system that is operating efficiently. Many of the amendments outlined in this bill to the various pieces of legislation it seeks to amend will make it a simpler process, a more transparent process in many cases and a clearer process as to what are the responsibilities and the requirements of those operating in the space.

The bill itself seeks to amend a number of pieces of legislation and seeks to clarify pieces of legislation, including the Open Courts Act 2013, looking at alternatives to physical court hearings. It seeks to amend the Coroners Act 2008 and the Spent Convictions Act 2021 regarding the facilitation of information sharing and access. As we have heard a number of members speak about, it does seek to amend the Firefighters’ Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2019 around expanding the presumptive rights scheme to include three additional cancers under that piece of legislation, making sure that as we see the growth in the number of female firefighters in Victoria, we are ensuring that the legislation keeps pace with that. I will speak more broadly about that a little later.

It also seeks to amend the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014; the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 by looking at how electronic case management can be deployed in that space; the Jury Directions Act 2015 around a number of important changes around sexual offence cases; the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 by looking at who may witness statements in briefs; the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998; the Wrongs Act 1958; the Limitation of Actions Act 1958; the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 regarding recent court decisions by making sure that the federal issues can play out under VCAT and other judicial bodies; the Crimes Act 1958 by looking at ensuring the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service are contacted in all cases where a person is taken into custody who identifies as Aboriginal; and the Victoria Police Act 2013 by correcting errors in previous amending legislation.

To touch on some of these briefly, the changes to the Open Courts Act make permanent a number of measures that were due to expire in October this year that were put in place during the pandemic. These include the power to require compliance with pandemic orders made in accordance with the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 regarding the fact that authorised officers can exercise those powers beyond pandemic orders to ensure compliance with health and safety obligations to court employees and court users. Essentially, the provisions will mean that in the event of a future pandemic court officers will be empowered to enforce not only the relevant pandemic orders but also measures necessary to safeguard the health and safety of court users. We know that during the pandemic courts still had a role to play. We know that many courts were able to shift to online to help the justice system to continue during that time, but the backlog caused in that has had a long-term impact on our justice system, something that continues to this day.

The amendments relating to the coronial investigators look at giving explicit power to a coroner to direct coronial investigations at all stages of an investigation and impose a duty to comply with reasonable directions of the coroner. They make clear that the coroner is directing the coronial investigation rather than relying on the current arrangements, which are currently a convention with the police. So they put in place clearer directions, and the coroner will be responsible for that.

The amendment to the Spent Convictions Act seeks to remove unintended barriers to spent convictions by narrowing that definition from ‘term of imprisonment’ to ‘custodial term’. The custodial term does not include drug rehabilitation, home imprisonment, intensive correction, a residential treatment order or any part of the term that was suspended or elapsed without being served. For youth offenders this bill removes from the requirement that children and young offenders must be sentenced under specific legislation in order to be eligible to have convictions spent.

I spoke briefly before about the changes to the firefighters presumptive rights compensation legislation. The original purpose of this bill was to provide a rebuttable presumption to claim compensation under the Workplace Industry Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 for career firefighters and volunteer firefighters who are suffering or will suffer from specified forms of cancer. This is to ensure that there is more equitable access to cancer compensation for eligible personnel. It will remove barriers to that compensation. Previously, it has been difficult to prove a particular event or exposure caused the development of that cancer due to the significant number of incidents that our brave firefighters respond to throughout their careers. The expansion of presumptive rights recognises the invaluable service that firefighters and personnel provide to our community. I know everyone in this place is very proud of the work that their local firefighters do and that the CFA does in times of need, particularly over the summer months and the peak bushfire seasons. The expansion of this presumptive right for three additional cancers under this piece of legislation will particularly ensure that female-specific cancers are listed. The additional three cancers will impact female firefighters in particular by including cervical, ovarian and uterine cancer.

There are amendments to the legal profession. We heard from the member for Albert Park the process that you go through when you are admitted as a lawyer and the duty that you undertake to the court, to the client and to the legal profession more broadly. This amendment seeks to ensure that there is a 28-day time limit for appeal or review of disciplinary action. This means that the Victorian Legal Services Board will be able to publish any details of a determination on unsatisfactory professional conduct on the register of disciplinary action after this time has elapsed. The bill clarifies that the offences of causing a deficiency in trust and the improper destruction of a regulated property are indictable offences and that they will be triable summarily. It is incredibly important that there is trust in our legal profession, that people are able to ensure that when they seek representation, seek to undertake the services of a lawyer, they are able to trust that lawyer, and this piece of legislation will go further there.

A few more important amendments are around the introduction of electronic case management under the amendment to the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005. This will allow for the electronic filing and issuing of documents, creating a more efficient system. The amendment to the Juries Act 2000 looks to clarify that certain jury directions are available in all sexual offence trials regardless of whether the prosecution is required to prove a lack of consent. This seeks to remedy errors made in 2002 when the juries directions were worded in a way that was unnecessarily referenced to a lack of consent. So it is seeking to amend a previous change to the legislation and ensure its proper reading within this omnibus bill.

It also looks at a number of changes, particularly around VCAT-related amendments, that have come about as a result of recent court decisions that held that VCAT has no power to hear matters that involve the exercise of federal jurisdiction, including matters where there is indirect connection to federal law. This has potentially invalidated a number of VCAT decisions and required the referral of matters initiated in VCAT to courts that can exercise that federal jurisdiction. These reforms will expand the class of VCAT members who can make orders to transfer to a federal jurisdiction and provide courts with the power to extend the limitation period for federal jurisdiction matters referred to them by VCAT. This is an important change that will affirm that VCAT holds power previously assumed by VCAT and the legal profession and applies more broadly around the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 as well, which is very important, given we have seen a number of ongoing issues in the domestic building industry. The opposition does not oppose this bill and we appreciate the number of reforms it seeks to undertake.

Steve McGHIE (Melton) (15:33): Today I rise to contribute to the debate on the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. I am pleased that the opposition are not opposing this bill, and I acknowledge all the contributions so far. Like in most weeks in this place, we are making some very important amendments to a number of acts, chiefly the Open Courts Act 2013 and the Court Security Act 1980. It addresses some of the ways in which the Spent Convictions Act 2021 operates. There are a great deal of important changes in this legislation. I do not think 10 minutes will allow me to go to all those amendments, but I will give it a crack on the areas that have taken my interest and of course what concerns the Melton community and right across Victoria.

These amendments detail our proposal to create efficiencies, safety and accessibility in our courts. I want to acknowledge the member for Albert Park’s contribution in regard to speaking to that part of the amendments. Certainly we are making some temporary measures permanent, including pieces in the Open Courts Act 2013 and the Court Security Act 1980, with some changes to improve outcomes for those of us who rely on the legal system. Strengthening these bills through these amendments improves how our courts operate and updates them with today’s technologies to make them more accessible. That is exactly what we want – for people to have free access to our court system. Of course one point is about remote access, and I do not think it is out of step to say that I feel like we are still catching up to the lightning-speed changes that business had to make in early 2020. This bill wants to make sure that people can still participate in court hearings even when they are not physically present, and keeping our legal system up to date with technology and the way Victoria works today is really important. Joining a court hearing from your own home or office is about convenience and fairness.

This bill also looks at situations where physical attendance might not be the best option, when health risks or accessibility might be of concern. The bill allows the courts the flexibility to find alternatives to having people show up in person. This is about balancing safety and justice. By supporting this bill we are supporting a legal system that is modern, efficient and inclusive. It means that no matter where we are or what our circumstances are, we can still be part of court proceedings where necessary, and it means justice is not limited by physical barriers.

I also welcome the introduction of the self-identification amendment. If an Indigenous person tells me that they are Aboriginal, my personal opinion should not come into that consideration. We take it on their word that they are Aboriginal. By changing the threshold for mandatory reporting to the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service we increase the self-governance of our Indigenous people, and through self-identification triggering mandatory reporting we see improvements to the treatment and the futures of this vulnerable cohort of Australians. It is another way that the Andrews Labor government is improving the lives of all Victorians. Of course in instances where Victoria Police may be of the opinion that a person is Aboriginal but that person might be unable to self-identify for a range of different reasons, a notification to VALS is still permitted. Access to culturally appropriate legal assistance improves the outcomes for those individuals. It also leads to the saving of lives, and it keeps families together.

Just one of the reasons that the upcoming referendum is so vital is we are at the precipice of righting some horrific wrongs and voting yes to the introduction of the Voice to our constitution and the recognition and respect that go along with that. I notice the member for Kew is at the table here. She has publicly come out supporting the yes vote for the Voice, and it is a shame that not more of her colleagues have come out in support of the yes vote for the Voice. But you never know; they may do; they may be flushed out at some stage. I commend the member for Kew publicly coming out about the yes vote.

I want to acknowledge of course our wonderful firefighters who have returned from and still currently are in Europe and in Canada assisting with those extreme fires overseas. I know that Minister Stitt from the other place welcomed back 45 firefighters in June after a month-long deployment supporting Canadian personnel across Alberta and British Columbia. Those fires are expected to burn until the snow comes later this year. We have seen those tragic fires overseas, and clearly we will be heading into a dire fire season here if what has happened in the Northern Hemisphere is any indication. We sent 148 forest fire management personnel to those fires overseas – 95 firefighters and 53 incident managers and plant operators – and of that cohort of firefighters and fire personnel, 40 women were part of that deployment. It is fantastic that we can support our friends in other countries with our great fire expertise from here in Victoria, and of course they will return to look after and protect us in the upcoming fire season here. We all know what the effects of climate change are now in regard to these extreme disasters that are happening around the world.

Investing in training and upskilling for our firefighters is vital, and last week in Melton the crews of Toolern Vale, Rockbank, the Melton fire brigade, Coimadai, Bacchus Marsh, Eynesbury and Mount Cottrell as well as others came together to do just that in a training exercise. I have certainly written letters to a number of those units, both Toolern Vale and Rockbank, in support of them seeking additional equipment to be able to perform their duties in protecting our local communities, in particular in such a fast-growing area. I want to shout out to our local firefighters and commend them for all the work that they do and, as I say, the way that they protect us. Both the FRV firefighters but also the CFA and the Forest Fire Management Victoria crews do an amazing job. They are unsung heroes at times, and we really support them in all their efforts. We have 140,000 volunteer firefighters who make up our unique system in bushfire response. They do a wonderful job, and we thank them all for that. This legislation speaks specifically to the dangerous nature of their work and the training of our firefighters. This legislation includes those three areas of female cancers – uterine, ovarian and cervical cancers – for our firefighters.

As the former head of a union, I know how dangerous first-responding roles are, and the safety and wellbeing of our dedicated firefighters and fire services personnel are of the utmost importance. It should be that when someone sustains an injury at work they are able to be rehabilitated and compensated through a proper injury scheme, that being our WorkCover scheme. For too long women’s cancers have been overlooked, and I am proud of this government and the work of the Attorney-General to fix these issues. Of course it is undeniable that these individuals expose themselves to profound risk and perils in the line of their duty. Obviously when they are heading towards a fire, we are all running away from it, so it is an amazing role that they play. We take for granted that they just fight these fires and nothing will ever happen to them – they go home in a normal state; they go home in a normal physical state. We do not even understand how some of these cancers will evolve over the many years.

As I say, we introduced our presumptive legislation for firefighters previously and then added to that the mechanical people in the fire services, and now we are adding these three female cancers to be included in the presumptive legislation. Obviously there has been some discussion around extending that even further. I think we have got to get this bill passed in this house and the other house. I know that the Attorney-General has alluded to the fact that there could be further discussion about other cancers that could be introduced based on the proper research and data that is available to us, but let us get this bill done. It is a very important bill in supporting our firefighters across the board, but also there are some significant changes to other acts. I am going to run out of time, so I am not going to get to those. But this is an important bill, and I commend this bill to the house.

Peter WALSH (Murray Plains) (15:43): I rise to make a contribution on the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. As previous speakers have said, this is an omnibus bill that amends a significant number of pieces of legislation, some of more consequence than others. It clarifies to confirm temporary changes to the Open Courts Act 2013 and the Court Security Act 1980 that were made during the pandemic, such as supporting remote public access and other alternatives to physical court hearings. There were some learnings out of COVID that have actually streamlined some of those issues, which have been clarified in this piece of legislation. It amends the Coroners Act 2008 in relation to coronial investigators. It amends the Spent Convictions Act 2021 to facilitate information sharing and to increase access to that particular scheme.

It amends the Firefighters’ Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2019 and the Forests Act 1958 to expand the firefighters presumptive rights schedule to include cervical cancer, ovarian cancer and uterine cancers – and I will come back to that after I have been through the rest of the purposes of the bill. It amends the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 and the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 in relation to offences and disciplinary action. It amends the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 to support the introduction of electronic case management in the family division of the Children’s Court. It amends the Jury Directions Act 2015 in relation to sexual offence cases. It amends the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 in relation to persons who may witness statements in briefs. It amends the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998, the Wrongs Act 1958, the Limitation of Actions Act 1958 and the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 in response to recent court decisions. It amends the Crimes Act 1958 to ensure the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service is contacted in all cases where a person taken into custody identifies as Aboriginal, and it amends the Victoria Police Act 2013 to reinsert the regulation-making provisions erroneously omitted in earlier amending legislation.

There are two things I want to particularly draw the attention of the house to in my contribution, and they are the amendments to the Firefighters’ Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2019, and this is in both the firefighters’ legislation and the Forests Act 1958. As the opposition, we are supportive of these particular clauses being inserted. I think it is part of the modernisation of that presumptive rights compensation, as now both genders are very active in the fire services. I know in the CFA there have been women involved for a long time, and this actually starts to recognise that they can have some issues with cancers and issues with their health because of what they do as firefighters. So this is modernising legislation and is not before time on those particular issues.

Can I give a big shout-out to our CFA volunteers, both male and female, who continue to protect our community. For political reasons Peter Marshall and the United Firefighters Union have gone to war with the volunteers. For political reasons the Andrews government has sided with the UFU and not with the volunteers far too often, in my personal opinion, and that has led to quite a few volunteers actually hanging up their helmets because they do not believe they were being respected enough by the government of the day. We have seen a decline in the volunteer numbers. I think the issues around how volunteers have been treated from a training point of view and the fact that some of the mandatory training they have to do is done at times that are inconvenient or impossible for people that have to make a living as well as be a volunteer are to the detriment of the volunteer numbers that we have in Victoria, and I think that whole structure needs to be changed to be friendly to volunteers that make a commitment out of their own time and have an impost on their own family lives to keep our community safe. The least that the fire service could do is bend a little bit to make sure that training times and the structure of training are more friendly to families where one member or other in the family gives up their time to be a volunteer. My observation from talking to CFA members is that they believe there is a deliberate strategy just to make it harder and harder for volunteers to do the work they do in protecting our community.

From our side of politics, we are extremely supportive of the volunteer structure of the CFA and at the time opposed the fact that Fire Rescue Victoria had staff seconded across to the CFA rather than the CFA having their own dedicated staff to manage the CFA. That is something I personally would like to see returned. The very first role I had in public life was as a secretary of the local fire brigade. Through that you actually learned a lot. There is a lot of paperwork, and for a secretary now there is a lot more paperwork than when I was a fire brigade secretary, but you actually get to appreciate what everyone does in volunteering to keep our community safe. I would like to see the government and particularly Fire Rescue Victoria be more receptive to the needs of volunteers when it comes to training and how they are involved in the CFA in the future to protect our community.

The other issue that I would like to make some comments on is around Victoria Police. This particular piece of legislation talks about reinserting a regulation-making provision that was erroneously omitted in the earlier amending legislation, but I suppose that opens the door for me to speak about the great job that our one-man police stations do and the fact that I think police command – and I know the government says ‘We’re hands off; this is a command issue; we can’t interfere in this’ – saying that they are effectively going to close about 90 one-man stations across regional Victoria is an absolute disgrace. Those one-man police station officers, both male and female, are a unique breed of police. They know how to be involved in their community and to actually stop a lot of things happening before they happen because of their community involvement, and I think it is wrong that they will be drawn away to keep 24-hour stations operational. I am told by some in the police force that they are concerned that it will not stop at the one-man police stations; they will be drawn back into the major regional centres or into Melbourne to keep 24-hour stations open. Ninety-odd police officers are not going to make a huge difference to the rosters at those 24-hour police stations. There is a real concern by some in the police force that this will go one step further, and at the stations with what is called ‘a sergeant and three’, which are in the larger regional towns, there will be a risk that they will start to be drawn back in to keep the 24-hour stations open as well. We are going to see a domino effect as country police are drawn into the major regional cities or into Melbourne to fill the rosters, because the numbers that the government has used about police recruitment just have not delivered with those retiring and those who are off on various provisions of sick leave. There are just not enough police to fill the roster that is there that needs filling. So there is a very real risk that our country communities will not be protected by their one-man police station officers, and in our larger country communities there is a risk that those sergeant-and-three stations will find that they are being drawn back into the major regional centres to fill the roster to keep the 24-hour stations open. It cannot be ‘them or us’; the police are there to police the whole state. It was interesting – an article was in the Weekly Times about those 90 police officers and the actual physical percentage of the geographic footprint of Victoria and just how much of Victoria 90 police officers actually police. So I would urge police command and I would urge the Andrews government to use whatever influence they can with Victoria Police to make sure that they see the folly of their ways in actually closing down or drawing those police away.

They will never close them, because that is bad publicity for the Andrews government, but they will make sure they are de-staffed – that the staff are actually drawn away. We can ask a question about closing the Gunbower police station in my electorate or closing the Pyramid Hill or the Boort police stations in my electorate, and the government will say, ‘No, we’re not closing them’. But they are effectively de-staffing them by making sure there is never a police officer there, similar to what they do with some of the schools in Victoria. The Andrews government have not closed any primary schools but they have de-staffed quite a few, and in my electorate there are a number of schools that have effectively been closed because no teachers have actually been made available at that particular school. So given this piece of legislation deals with the Victoria Police Act 2013, can I put a strong plea to the government and to police command to make sure that those one-man police stations are kept open and the sergeant-and-three stations do not have staff drawn away to the major regional centres.

Lauren KATHAGE (Yan Yean) (15:53): I rise to speak on the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 and in particular a section which I am sure is of great interest to the Leader of the Nationals as the Shadow Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and that is the amendment to the Crimes Act 1958 to ensure that investigating officials must contact the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service in all circumstances where a person taken into custody advises police that they are an Aboriginal person. This is a further strengthening of the safety net for Aboriginal people who are taken into custody. Previously it has been already required that VALS are notified when an Aboriginal person is taken into custody. However, self-identification was not the only and sufficient definition of an Aboriginal person; instead the investigating official had to be of the opinion that they were and did not need to have regard for any statement made by the person. What this seemingly small step for the justice legislation – but what I would consider a large step for Aboriginal self-determination – does is put back into Aboriginal people’s hands the right to self-identify as an Aboriginal person.

Of course we are all aware of the Aboriginal deaths in custody report from 1991, and I was only seven years old when that report came down. Sadly, it is still relevant for us today. Just a few short years after the Aboriginal deaths in custody report, I met Senator Neville Bonner AO, Australia’s first Aboriginal parliamentarian. I was in grade 7, and he spoke with us about Aboriginal over-representation in the Aboriginal justice system. Looking back now, I understand a little bit more about the context or the times that he was speaking from, but at the time, regrettably, I just did not really understand. Neville Bonner had already been working hard for decades on Aboriginal justice by then. He was born up in Tweed Heads, a Jagera man, and during his youth worked as a rural labourer on properties around Queensland and northern New South Wales. In 1945 he relocated to Palm Island and became a foundation member of the Palm Island Social and Welfare Association. I think for so many people, me included, being involved in community work you cannot help but then somehow be drawn to politics as you seek to create change. It was the same for Neville Bonner. By the early 1960s he had developed an interest in politics: he was involved in the One People of Australia League, OPAL, in Ipswich in Queensland, and he was its president for many years.

I do need to inform the house that he joined the Liberal Party in August 1967. You know what, 1967 – that year should ring a bell. It was just months after the referendum enabling the vote that Neville Bonner joined the Liberal Party. He was third on their Senate ticket at the next election and did not get up but then entered Parliament on a casual vacancy and was later able to win elections in his own right. He described himself as having ‘an all-consuming burning desire to help my own people’, and in 1974 he moved a motion that the Senate acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the prior owners of the Australian continent. We have a lot to thank Neville Bonner for, not least of all the fact that he crossed the floor on some 34 occasions, so we thank him for that as well. I was just young, I was in year 7, and I did not realise who I was speaking to or who I was learning from – these generations of activists, these generations of leaders that we have been lucky enough to build our current community environment on.

A while after that I took a walking tour in university of Aboriginal services and their histories – legal services and medical services and how they were established. What we learned was how they were established by people who stood up. These services were established by activists, people who had a voice and who worked for their community. This is the character of Aboriginal community controlled organisations (ACCOs) around Australia. This is their foundation. It is organisations like the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, and VALS is the service that we are talking about in the legislation before us today.

Why is this change, this seemingly minor change, so important, and why are we still talking about Aboriginal deaths in custody? It is quite straightforward. I recall as a university student standing with an older friend as her daughter was driven away in a windowless van from the courthouse to the jail and her sobbing and her fear. Looking back now as a mother, I understand a little bit more about the worries that would have been passing through her mind at the time. Regrettably, again, I did not fully understand. You see, the Aboriginal deaths in custody report set down on paper the risks already well known by Aboriginal members of the community. It was a landmark report, and sadly it is still relevant. But the context has changed; the system has changed since then. In Victoria, for example, this government has the Victorian Aboriginal Affairs Framework 2018–2023.

This framework is built on the deeply held understanding, belief, commitment, conviction, deeply known truth that Aboriginal people know what is best for themselves, their families and their communities. Because self-determination is the human right that underpins the work of this government, we truly believe in Aboriginal self-determination, and the framework that this government follows to guide us in this comes about from extensive community engagement – more than 600 Aboriginal Victorians sharing their views and their visions. We heard from elders, community members and Aboriginal organisations in a range of settings: community halls, Aboriginal co-ops and ACCOs that I was speaking of previously. There is a diversity of views, but we did hear common themes at that time, and the work of the government really, truly, we acknowledge, is being built on the contribution of generations of Victorian Aboriginal leaders, and we thank them so much for that.

I do want to say that Aboriginal self-determination is not a new concept, but it is gaining currency in the news because it is time for us to put pen to paper – I guess like we did with the report – with things that Aboriginal people know deeply in their hearts to be true and a growing number of non-Aboriginal Australians know to be true and that is that Aboriginal self-determination works. It works. They hold the knowledge and expertise about what is best for themselves. There are numerous studies in Australia and overseas that show that better outcomes are gained when Aboriginal people are able to determine their own outcomes. We know it is what the community wants, and we know that it is a human right under instruments that we are signatories to, such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

As I said, this seemingly small change to the Crimes Act, where an Aboriginal person themselves is the authority to say ‘I am an Aboriginal person’ rather than the investigating official, may seem like a small change, but in fact this is the true identity politics that those opposite are obsessed with worrying about. This is the identity that you need to be concerned with – that of Aboriginal people who stand up and say, ‘I am an Aboriginal Victorian. I have a view. I care for my community. Listen to my voice’. So I hope all those opposite will join with us and the member for Kew in proudly writing three letters – Y-E-S – at the upcoming referendum.

Chris CREWTHER (Mornington) (16:03): I rise today to speak on the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 before us not only as the member for Mornington but also as the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Justice and Corrections. This is generally a sensible omnibus bill that will implement important changes to a number of existing acts – namely, the clarification and confirmation of changes to the Open Courts Act 2013 and Court Security Act 1980 made during the pandemic, as well as amendments to the Coroners Act 2008, Spent Convictions Act 2021 and Firefighters’ Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2019 – and in relation to the legal profession and more.

On presumptive rights legislation I would first like to comment on what has been, I guess, a particularly salient issue lately, and that is the presumptive rights compensation legislation for our firefighters. Clause 26 of this bill adds three cancers to schedule 1 of the Firefighters’ Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2019, and clause 27 adds a further three cancers to the third schedule of the Forests Act 1958. Many firefighters in my electorate of Mornington and nearby, such as Matt from Mount Martha or Greg from Frankston and indeed from across Victoria, have contacted me about this and related legislation. While many female firefighters will be protected by these amendments – more than 5000 operational female firefighters and mechanics – the Andrews government is still failing to protect firefighters who develop thyroid, pancreatic, skin and lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma.

Our brave Victorian firefighters put their lives on the line to protect life and property and in doing so are exposed to a cocktail of toxins and carcinogens – indeed up to 10,000 different toxins, which are the by-products of combustion within a structure fire. I acknowledge at this time many of our local firefighters in my electorate and nearby, whether from Mornington CFA or Mount Martha, Moorooduc, Mount Eliza, Baxter or Frankston CFAs or indeed across from the electorate in, say, the member for Nepean’s electorate or the member for Hasting’s electorate. In 2022 the federal government built upon its presumptive legislation for federal firefighters by increasing the number of prescribed cancers. This leaves now a situation where firefighters, for instance, at Tullamarine airport are protected by an expanded list of cancers but FRV firefighters just a few kilometres away are not. The irony is that Victorian firefighters could be fighting the same fire yet do not have the same protection.

I want to go further in this regard and note that it would not be the first time that the Andrews government has allowed for inconsistent laws for our firefighters. I have both written and spoken in Parliament about how many Victorian firefighters are barred from returning to their jobs due to mandates preventing them from doing so. This means less firefighters protecting Victorians. Bizarrely, these same firefighters can volunteer as firefighters at the same fire station doing the exact same work they would be doing if they were formally employed but cannot be paid for doing so. Indeed a recent response from the Attorney-General to a representation that I made on behalf of several firefighters in my electorate and nearby indicates that both Country Fire Authority and Fire Rescue Victoria are now in the process of reviewing mandates. While this indicates that hope is on the horizon, it is simply not good enough, and I again call on the Andrews government to take a strong position on this issue and ensure that remaining mandates are abolished for firefighters.

Further on this justice amendment bill, it will implement recommendation 2 of the Tanya Day coronial inquest findings to provide clarity around the role of police coronial investigators in coronial investigations into reportable deaths, essentially giving effect to recommendation 29 of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and recommendation 42 of the Victorian parliamentary Law Reform Committee report. These changes are important, particularly for our Indigenous community. I particularly note that, having formerly worked on a native title claim up in Queensland and with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies and in Indigenous affairs in relation to the department of agriculture federally as well, these changes are so important for our Indigenous community and Indigenous Victorians. Such a procedural initiative is important, as noted, and welcomed to ensure that during coronial investigations the powers of the coroner and coronial investigator are transparent and that the investigation is conducted as smoothly and as independently as possible.

Importantly, the justice bill also includes several VCAT-related amendments in part 10, such as clauses 64 to 75, which provide certainty around the jurisdiction and rights of parties in impacted cases. The reforms will essentially (1) expand the class of VCAT members who can make orders to transfer federal jurisdiction, (2) provide courts with the power to extend the limitation period for federal jurisdiction matters referred to them by VCAT and (3) preserve the rights and liabilities of parties involved in previous VCAT decisions which are no longer valid due to the matters having an indirect connection to federal law. Indeed recent court decisions have held that VCAT has no power to hear matters that involve the exercise of federal jurisdiction, including matters where there is only an indirect connection to federal law. This has potentially invalidated a number of VCAT decisions and required the referral of matters initiated in VCAT to a court that can exercise federal jurisdiction. Cases like Thurin v. Krongold Constructions deal with these issues, where the Victorian Court of Appeal held that VCAT, which has primary jurisdiction over domestic building disputes in Victoria, can no longer hear domestic building disputes involving the interpretation or application of federal legislation. Cases like this demonstrate the potential to cause disarray in not only the domestic building list of VCAT but other lists as well, as questions relating to federal legislation often permeate disputes before VCAT. Because of the Victorian Court of Appeal’s decision, such matters must now be transferred out of VCAT and relisted, with associated delay and increased expense, in a court. The ease with which a VCAT matter can be converted to a federal matter has become a live issue in recent years, and I imagine it will be for some time. Such ease means that there is wide scope for matters to stall in VCAT only to be referred out. Already it is difficult for the court and litigants to navigate the murky and sometimes upended waters of VCAT, and we should be exercising every measure possible to make the process smooth and accessible for litigants in particular.

In relation to the Spent Convictions Act 2021, in part 4, clauses 16 to 25, the bill amends the Spent Convictions Act 2021 by expanding the eligibility for a spent conviction order by narrowing the definition from ‘term of imprisonment’ to ‘custodial term’ under new section 5A. The new definition only includes periods when someone is physically detained or imprisoned and excludes non-custodial sentences such as suspended sentences. There are other important technical changes outlined in new section 5B, subsections (2), (4) and (5), as well. While these amendments to the act are welcome, there are still grave concerns held about the Spent Convictions Act, which were touched upon by my colleague the member for Malvern. While I of course acknowledge the importance of low-level criminals moving on with their lives and not allowing one or two mistakes to loom over them forever, the Spent Convictions Act has meant that offenders convicted of serious violent offences and even sex offenders can apply to have their convictions disappear from the record. These hearings are held in secret, completely isolating the victims, the media and the public. While this may be justified for those who have been wrongly convicted, that means for the last 13 months, since the legislation came into effect, offenders have been having their records wiped clean: a sex offender potentially living next door to your family and young children or, worse, in a spare room you have rented out or, say, a violent criminal applying for a job without anyone knowing their history – you name it. That is not to say that people should not have the opportunity for redemption, which I do believe in, but those who are taking on such people should have the right to know their history. While opening up these proceedings to the public would perhaps compromise the confidentiality of the offender, there is no reason why these hearings could not be open to the media, who could then report on them, potentially without identifying the parties. As such, while the spent sentencing amendments in this justice bill are welcome, there is much more work that this Andrews government should be doing which they are not doing, and that goes widely across the justice and corrections space.

On that note, before I conclude, I would like to note the presence today of Sabe Saitta from Mount Martha in my electorate, who was in the chamber with me today and has received an award via a representative of the Queensland Corrective Services, who is also here with us today. I acknowledge his bravery and service in the corrections field and that award for an act that he did over 27 years ago.

To conclude, back on the bill, the opposition will of course not be opposing this bill, which is largely an omnibus bill. But again I note that this bill touches upon a wealth of other policy areas where the Andrews government simply needs to do more.

Alison MARCHANT (Bellarine) (16:13): It is a pleasure to also rise and add my contribution to the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. This bill is really about getting on with that ongoing business of improving our justice system. As we go into a third term of government, it is a really important part of our legislative work that we do. This bill is important in maintaining a fair, efficient and effective legal system that responds to those ever-changing needs and that complexity of society. It ensures that laws remain relevant, they are just and they are aligned with the principles of a democratic and equitable society.

As we have heard from contributions today, there are a whole range of changes and amendments that this bill speaks to. It will do several things, but I thought I would touch on a couple of those today that are of interest to me. One, I would like to speak about the bill making changes to enhance the administration of justice by improving those efficiencies, clarifying legislation uncertainties and further supporting the courts and tribunals. These changes ensure that Victoria’s legal systems are inclusive for all Victorians and get that balance right of safety with opportunities for rehabilitation. I would also like to speak, secondly, on the bill expanding the firefighters presumptive rights legislation to include three female-specific cancers – cervical, ovarian and uterine. This bill, thirdly, also implements some changes recommended by the Tanya Day inquest, and I will speak to those. If I have time I would also like to speak about ensuring those consumers have up-to-date information in relation to lawyer misconduct.

Speaking to that first part, making permanent those remote hearings and court security arrangements, if we do not make these changes they will lapse in October this year. The bill confirms that the authorised officers can use their existing powers to effectively manage court and tribunal premises in response to public health risks. This of course was very evident during the pandemic. Government had introduced temporary measures to allow the courts and tribunals to use a variety of technologies and continue to operate remotely. These measures were very much a success, really, and helped support public access to those hearings.

These provisions will authorise officers to restrict access to courts and tribunals by giving reasonable directions for the health of all people on premises. This is when a pandemic declaration is in force. The reason is to give those courts and tribunals the confidence and flexibility to introduce measures, and I believe it will help mitigate delays to the administration of justice. It is really important to note here that this is not an expansion of authorised powers for those authorised officers. This is simply clarifying that the powers can be used to respond appropriately to those public health events.

Just on the measures to amend the Open Courts Act 2013, this bill will continue to support – as I have spoken about – remote public access so courts and tribunals can continue to have remote hearings as part of their business-as-usual operation. It also allows courts to provide alternatives to physical access. We know that ordinary hearings must be held in open court in accordance with the Open Courts Act. This is really just to satisfy the open justice approach that we have, but this concept of open court really has traditionally meant open in a physical sense. With the technological changes that we have seen, we need to be flexible. Public and media attendance is really an important part of that process, and it obviously promotes scrutiny and builds confidence in our system, but those technological advances that we have had and having remote hearings have allowed us to have a different openness to our courts, for example, through live streaming. I just want to note at this point that the circumstances and risks that may be identified in doing those things will be taken into account when they assess which method is best in the interests of justice. This amendment, as I have said, will be a positive step in addressing some of the backlog and reducing the number of hearings that need to be adjourned. We know that these reforms are supported. They can manage their premises safely and digital technology can be administered in the justice system in a flexible, effective and efficient manner.

The second point I want to speak about is addressing that this bill does expand the Firefighters’ Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2019 to include the three female-specific cancers, cervical, ovarian and uterine. The Victorian government has acknowledged there are significant risks and dangers to our firefighters and other fire service personnel. They are exposed in the course of their service. In recognising that, in 2019 the government did legislate the firefighters presumptive rights compensation scheme. It is a scheme that recognises the invaluable services provided by firefighters. Earlier this year the government did make that commitment to expand this scheme, and we have acted quickly to bring this bill and these changes. The presumptive rights scheme does mean that if people are diagnosed with specific cancers they do not need to prove that the cancer is directly attributed to their service in order to access this compensation. This will ensure more equitable access to cancer compensation for female firefighters. With the growing number of female firefighters, having the same rights as their male counterparts is absolutely the right thing. At this moment I would like to thank our own local firefighters on the Bellarine, who do a tremendous job keeping our communities safe. The contribution they make to the Bellarine is immeasurable, and I would like to thank them.

With the time that I have got left, I will touch on a few other things that this bill does do. This will implement recommendation 2 of the Tanya Day coronial inquest, making sure that there are changes to clarify the role of police coronial investigators in coronial investigations. This bill will allow the coroner to direct coronial investigators, who will be required to comply with reasonable and lawful direction. This will improve the transparency and independence of our system and provide a clear framework around their role. This is also about making sure we reduce any potential conflict of interest where police coronial investigators are investigating deaths where police were involved. I note that these changes are particularly important for our First Nations community.

Finally, part of the amendment is to ensure that consumers have up-to-date information about lawyer misconduct. We know that finding the right lawyer may be hard, but when you do have a lawyer that does the wrong thing there is a significant power imbalance there. There are changes in this bill that will talk to making sure that our consumers are protected and that wrongdoings are transparent. That sends a clear message to lawyers who do the wrong thing that they will be held to account.

In conclusion to this debate today, in summary, this bill does make a whole variety of amendments, but ultimately it is about improving our justice system. As new challenges and new issues and technologies have emerged, justice legislation does need to be updated to address these changes efficiently, and the legislation that we are putting forward today does that. Amendments help rectify and promote equal treatment under the law, regardless of factors such as race, gender, socio-economic status and other characteristics. This bill is certainly important in maintaining a fair, an efficient and an effective legal system that can respond to the ever-changing needs and complexities of our society. It ensures that the law remains relevant and aligns with those principles of a democratic and equitable society. It is a pleasure to speak on this bill, and I commend the bill to the house.

Ellen SANDELL (Melbourne) (16:23): I rise to also speak briefly on this omnibus bill, the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. As many other speakers have canvassed, the bill does quite a number of things. One of those things is improving the spent convictions scheme, which the Greens absolutely support. Another is that it ensures that the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service is notified when an Aboriginal person is taken into custody, which is really important, especially to tackle the scourge of deaths in custody of First Nations people here in Victoria. It also does a number of other things which the Greens absolutely support. The one part of the bill that I want to focus on, though, is the presumptive rights cancer compensation scheme for Victorian firefighters, and I will focus my speech on this element of the bill as it is an area that needs some improvement and which we have amendments to.

First of all, it is really great to see this bill come before the house and Labor take the move to add another three cancers – cancers which mostly affect women – to Victoria’s presumptive rights scheme. We know that firefighters are exposed to many chemicals and conditions that are known to be carcinogenic, and that is because of the work that they do protecting us. It means that they put themselves in harm’s way to protect the rest of us, and therefore it just makes sense and is more than fair to make sure that they are looked after if they do contract cancer because of this. That is why the state government and the Greens supported presumptive rights legislation for firefighters in the first place. In fact it was something that the Greens pushed very hard for. We pushed very heavily for this legislation early on, and it was in fact Greens MLC Colleen Hartland in the upper house – I know Labor does not like to think that they were not the first and it was not their idea, but if we look back over the record, it was Greens MLC Colleen Hartland in the upper house first bringing this issue to the Victorian Parliament. I am sure that the Labor members of this house can go and look back to those years, around 2014, 2015 –

Mathew Hilakari: She was a Labor member first.

Ellen SANDELL: She was a Labor member first? I do not think so. She is a Green through and through, let me tell you. She is a proud unionist, but she is also a very proud Green. Also, our federal Greens leader Adam Bandt actually wrote the private members bill for the federal firefighters presumptive rights legislation that became the law in the Commonwealth Parliament, and since then we have seen several Labor and Liberal governments pass and extend schemes at the state level.

The state scheme here in Victoria currently only lists 12 cancers. The issue with that is that it stands in contrast with federal legislation, which covers 21 cancers linked to risks from firefighting. It does not really make any sense that state and federal firefighters would have different rights. If federal firefighters are called, say, for example, to a fire at the airport and their state colleagues are working just down the road, potentially even on the same fire, why should one group have access to certain protections if the other group does not? We surely cannot have a scheme that essentially expects two groups of Victorian workers to run into the same burning building but only compensate one group if they are injured doing so. So we do need consistency with the federal scheme and with equivalent schemes in other states. Currently this bill proposed by the state Labor government is only proposing to add three more cancers to the list, so that means that federal firefighters will still be significantly more protected than our state firefighters. In Victoria 15 cancers will be covered versus 21 federally, so we do need to fully align our scheme with the federal scheme and include those further six cancers in Victoria to make the schemes equal. That is why I am putting forward amendments today to cover all 21 cancers, and under standing orders I wish to advise the house of these amendments to this bill and request that they be circulated.

Amendments circulated under standing orders.

Ellen SANDELL: These amendments will mirror the Greens bill, the Firefighters’ Presumptive Rights Compensation Legislation Amendment Bill 2023, which the Greens introduced in the upper house of Victoria’s Parliament two weeks ago. Extending the scheme to include these additional cancers will make our scheme comparable to the schemes currently operating in other states as well as internationally. Crucially, this bill is not just about compensation for those who contract cancer, although of course that is incredibly important; putting all 21 of these cancers in legislation means that these workplaces where our firefighters are will have more incentive to help prevent exposure to carcinogens and to identify harm and disease early on. So if this legislation means that more firefighters are able to access early screening for cancers, for example, or workplaces offer more protection, then surely that is a really good thing. As I mentioned earlier, it is something that we have been champions of. I am pleased to see that all parties have actually been able to work together on presumptive rights legislation across the country. In this spirit of multipartisanship I ask that all parties help to finish the job and support these amendments that am putting forward today to fully align the Victorian scheme with the federal scheme so all our firefighters have the same protections.

On a personal note, I want to share a little bit about some of my personal reason for being passionate about this issue. Of course I am very passionate about protecting all Victorian workers and our firefighters in general, but my dad was involved in firefighting for a number of years. He worked with the Department of Sustainability and Environment and Parks Victoria for than two decades, including playing a significant role in the Black Saturday bushfire response amongst many, many other fire events. In 2014, just before I was elected, he passed away from cancer. He had two different types. I am not suggesting it was caused by exposure to chemicals as part of his work. I know that many were exposed to chemicals a lot more than he was. We were in the country, so he was not necessarily always attending chemical fires, for example. He was not always also a frontline responder. But who knows, maybe there was a contributing factor there. I do not think that we will ever know, and I think that there will be many, many families that are like mine, maybe in the back of their mind just wondering the same thing. Many will know for sure that their family member’s cancer was caused in part because of the work that they did to protect the community; many will not know. But it is more than reasonable and more than fair that people who protect us then have protection as well.

It really is the least we can do to assist these families and assist these firefighters when they face that horrible situation but also to introduce legislation that does everything that we can to try and prevent it happening in the first place. I very much commend this bill, not just this part about presumptive rights but all the other elements of the justice legislation to the house, including commending the amendments that I have circulated.

Meng Heang TAK (Clarinda) (16:30): I am delighted to rise today to speak on the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. This is another important bill that we have on the agenda this week and one that I am really happy to have the opportunity to speak on. There are wideranging amendments that will introduce miscellaneous changes to support the courts and VCAT, implement recommendations regarding police coronial investigators and improve the operation of various justice and legal acts. Further to this, there are also important changes to expand the firefighters presumptive rights legislation to include three female-specific cancers, and I will come back to that a bit later.

As I mentioned, there are a wide range of amendments being made here and an important host of amendments being made to our justice legislation. The first of the various justice changes is with regard to open courts, mainly for open courts to permanently have remote hearings and court security for management of the court premises, which would otherwise lapse on 26 October 2023. Just talking about open courts, last week I had the opportunity to show off to two of my friends from other jurisdictions our legal system – our court system – here, and it was amazing when they told me about the legal systems in other countries. The open courts that we have here and also the remote court hearings allow access for those who would not otherwise be able to make the trip, especially with the Children’s Court, which involves sensitive information. We do have a lot of inquiries through the electorate office seeking assistance, advice and services related to court matters, and I have been really impressed with some of the remote hearing functions and am glad to see some of those functions continue here with these amendments.

Moving on, there are further amendments to recognise the role of police coronial investigators. This is related to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody’s recommendation 29 and recommendation 2 of the Tanya Day coronial inquest, coming after the tragic death of Yorta Yorta woman Tanya Day in 2017. Of course we are really glad to see those recommendations being progressed here today, and a lot has happened since the inquest, which also recommended decriminalising public drunkenness. Just earlier this month there was some exciting news on the Collingwood sobering-up centre, and we have all heard about that. We know the issue of public drunkenness is one that has been discussed over many decades, and this vital reform will ensure some of the most vulnerable people in our community are not met with stigma or locked up unnecessarily. Every Victorian deserves a safe place where they have access to the support that they need. For those battling with addiction or their mental health, a jail cell is not the place where they ought to be.

I have been proud to see the extensive trial at Gertrude Street in Fitzroy and the health-led response modelling that has highlighted the importance of these services for many and that access to a permanent sobering-up centre may be the difference between life and death. I was very excited and proud of the announcement earlier this month that the Andrews Labor government will establish a dedicated sobering-up centre in Collingwood, keeping people who are intoxicated in public safe by treating public drunkenness as a health issue and not a crime.

The plans are for a 20-bed centre. It is part of the new health-led response modelling following the passing of the legislation decriminalising public drunkenness, which will see current offending transition away from a justice-based response in November this year. I am very happy to see the advancement there on the Collingwood initiative as well as the advancement of the recommendations on public drunkenness and the recommendations here in this bill to recognise the roles of police investigators. In addition there are also changes to the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 to support the introduction of the electronic case management system portal in the Children’s Court family division.

These are positive changes. These changes clarify that certain jury directions are available in all sexual offences trials. As well there are changes to spent convictions. As I said last week, I had the opportunity to actually talk to two friends, lawyers from other jurisdictions, other countries basically, and also to visit the actual court and to have explained and to see how jury directions work and the application they have in our court system. As we have heard, it is also important that they will remove the unintended limitations of eligibility for under-18s to have convictions spent, with the removal of requirements that they must have sentences under specific legislation and adding a new defined custodial term to provide certainty about when the conviction can be spent.

I would like to move on quickly through the remaining changes. There are changes to legal professions law to clarify consumer protections by enabling the registering of disciplinary action taken against lawyers to be updated immediately – and this is very important. As we have heard, other speakers before me have already contributed on these very important changes. As well there are changes to criminal procedure amendments to allow specific employees under the Dairy Act 2000 and Meat Industry Act 1993 to witness statements that are provided in criminal prosecution briefs. Finally, there are various amendments to address issues in respect of VCAT’s jurisdiction in response to a recent court decision; amendments to the Crimes Act 1958 to require mandatory notification of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service where a person taken into custody self-identifies as Aboriginal; and amendments to the Victoria Police Act 2013 to maintain the existing ability to prescribe fees for the provision of police services. I have mentioned a wide range of important and necessary changes right across our justice legislation and justice system and change that I am very happy to support here today.

I am very happy to support the changes here to expand the presumptive rights legislation to include three additional female-specific cancers in the presumptive rights scheme for firefighters, as we have already heard. So all in all there is progress being made here today and we are delivering some very good results. I would like to thank everyone from the district that made contact with me and my constituency and thank them for all the amazing work of keeping our community safe. I am talking about our firefighters’ and CFA volunteers’ hard work to keep our community safe. And we had a really positive result in our budget, namely in Clarinda and next door in the electorate of the hardworking member for Mordialloc. There is some really positive investment in the facilities and equipment that they need to stay safe, and we are investing half a million dollars for Keysborough CFA to plan for station upgrades so our hardworking volunteers there can continue keeping our community safe. So I am really proud to support that important investment, and I am very proud to support these important changes here in front of us today. I commend the bill to the house.

Annabelle CLEELAND (Euroa) (16:40): I rise today to speak on the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023, a bill that we do not oppose. This omnibus bill is rather uncontroversial, making several fixes to the wording and clarity of various pieces of justice legislation. This is a bill that we have seen in other forms previously, with the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2022 passing through both chambers last year. Much like this bill, last year’s version was introduced to make a number of minor but necessary amendments to existing justice legislation and to help clarify the law and support procedural improvements. A similar bill was also passed through both chambers the year prior to that, with several temporary COVID-19 measures for our justice system implemented through these changes. While these bills may appear to be merely a formality, they introduce necessary changes and ensure that legislation relating to our justice system is kept relevant and appropriate – well, at least for another year. I will run through some of the changes this year’s bill will address and what kind of impact these changes will have. From looking through the bill, there are 11 key areas where changes are made, with nearly all areas of our justice system covered, including courts, criminals, coroners, police, lawyers, firefighters, juries and tribunals.

One of the amendments will be to clarify and confirm temporary changes to the Open Courts Act 2013 and the Court Security Act 1980. These amendments apply directly to court proceedings and include supporting remote public access, proposing alternatives to physical court hearings and making changes to the enforcement powers of court officers. These were initially introduced as temporary fixes during the pandemic and were due to expire on 26 October this year. Under these new provisions, court officers will be empowered to enforce not only relevant pandemic orders but also measures necessary to safeguard the health and safety of court users. At the same time court officers exercising their power to seize prohibited items will need to demonstrate reasonable grounds that an item is prohibited before taking this action. The accessibility of court proceedings also features heavily in these amendments, with changes upholding the legality of holding these proceedings online should it be necessary. There are also updates to account for some modern realities we face with the justice system, particularly when it comes to digitisation of records and management.

The Spent Convictions Act 2021 is updated to facilitate information sharing and increase accessibility within the scheme. This also intends to provide safeguards to ensure that identified data is not made publicly available, although clause 23 does state it will not be an offence to publish de-identified data. The Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 is also amended, with a focus on supporting the introduction of electronic case management in the family division of the Children’s Court. These reforms will allow certain documents to be filed electronically, a necessary update to the system, considering the digital world we now live in.

The Coroners Act 2008 is another section of our justice legislation that is amended, with recommendations for coronial inquest findings being implemented as well as recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Additionally, through amendments to the Crimes Act 1958, the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service is now contacted when a person taken into custody identifies as Aboriginal. This must be done within 1 hour of the person being taken into custody or, if not practicable to do so, as soon as it is.

The Victoria Police Act 2013 will be amended too, correcting what seems to have been the inadvertent removal of regulation-making powers to prescribe fees for services provided by police officers, PSOs and Victoria Police employees. The legal profession also is included in these amendments, with language changes to remove current impediments to prosecution, including hefty delays. For juries, the Jury Directions Act 2015 is amended to clarify that certain jury directions are available in all sexual offence trials, regardless of whether the prosecution is required to prove a lack of consent. This remedies errors made in 2022, when new jury directions were worded in a way that unnecessarily references a lack of consent. A new section in this legislation provides that, if an absence of consent is not an element of the offence, the direction still applies in the same way as some other sexual offences.

I want to quickly touch on some of the changes that will be made through this legislation to tribunals such as VCAT. These amendments are in response to recent court decisions that seem to shrink the jurisdiction of VCAT and to provide certainty about the jurisdiction and rights of parties in impacted cases. The reforms to VCAT will expand the class of VCAT members who can make orders to transfer federal jurisdiction matters to a court for determination as well as provide courts with the power to extend the limitation period for federal jurisdiction matters referred to them by VCAT. They will also preserve the rights and liabilities of parties involved in previous VCAT decisions which are no longer valid due to the matters having an indirect connection to federal law. Recent court decisions held that VCAT has no power to hear matters that involve the exercise of federal jurisdiction, including matters where there is only indirect connection to federal law. This has potentially invalidated a number of VCAT decisions and required a referral of matters initiated in VCAT to a court that can exercise federal jurisdiction.

Lastly, there are some crucial changes made to amend presumptive rights compensation for firefighters. This is done by adding an additional three cancers to schedules in both fire services legislation and the Forests Act 1958. The additional three cancers impact female firefighters and include cervical, ovarian and uterine cancers. Firefighters are the backbone of many regional towns, with CFA volunteers being such an essential part of our communities. So often they show a selfless determination in the face of danger, and it is time that they were supported accordingly by this government. While it might initially be difficult for some to grasp the necessity of these changes, they are covering several bases of our justice system that require updates and clarity.

Our justice system has suffered in recent years, with outrageous backlogs in our courts and tribunals and difficulties with increasing crime in regional areas. Recent data from the Crime Statistics Agency have shown a rise of both criminal incidents and the number of offences recorded in my region during the past year. In the Mitchell shire, which includes many towns in the Euroa electorate, there has been a 10 per cent rise in criminal incidents and a 13.5 per cent rise in offences recorded. These are primarily offences relating to breaches of family violence orders, theft, assault and drug offences. Benalla has had similar jumps, with criminal incidents well above the state average and 921 criminal incidents recorded in the last calendar year – for a town with a population of 14,000. Even reading the newspapers recently there has been an alarming amount of violent crime, with shootings, stabbings and break-ins.

I will not oppose any legislation that encourages a more effective and efficient justice system, but while an effective justice system is important, so is the need to invest in our police’s resources and preventative support services. Just this week we have been hearing chatter about the one-person police stations across Victoria that are under threat. Sadly, like much of the government’s policy we see introduced, this will be of particular detriment to regional towns, including those in my electorate. Violet Town, Stanhope and Pyalong are all home to one-person stations in my electorate, and each one of these towns is set to be negatively impacted by this change. These small country towns are often too far away from any major centres for a response within a reasonable time, and the loss of a single-officer station equates to further pressure on incident response times. We need more cops, not less. Police in small towns are more than just the local officer. They are an integral part of the community and have to balance the fine line of enforcing the law and being mates with locals. This is another example of small country towns being sacrificed in the name of bureaucracy and decisions being made in Melbourne. The Andrews Labor government needs to fix its issues with police recruitment and retention and keep its hands off our single-officer police stations in rural areas.

Bronwyn HALFPENNY (Thomastown) (16:48): I also rise to speak in support of the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. As previous speakers have mentioned, this bill provides the mechanism to amend numerous pieces of legislation. Each one of these individual amendments – I think there are around 11 of them – could actually be an individual bill to be debated in Parliament, but of course sometimes it is much more efficient to bundle up amendments into one bill to be debated and presented to the Parliament and have those items dealt with in one go. In doing that there is a power of work that is required to look at all those pieces of legislation, not only the 11 pieces of legislation which we are talking about amending today but also of course any consequential pieces of legislation and what the effects will be on those. This shows how complicated and difficult it can be to amend and change legislation but also how absolutely important it is to do so, because often legislation changes because of changes in community attitudes.

It might be because of changes in the way we do things. It might be because of advancements in technology or other advancements. Of course it could also be due to scientific evidence that means that further changes to legislation are required. It could also be experiences that have come across as a result of the legislation, which may indicate it is not doing exactly what it ought to do. It is very important that we have legislative changes for justice, to ensure that we have a system that is very fair and equitable, and that we make sure that our legislation, whatever it is, applies to everybody equally and for the best possible outcome.

I am just going to talk about a couple of the amendments. Of course with the 11 that are in here I could go on for far more than 10 minutes, but I will just talk about a couple of the amendments that are being proposed. The first one is around the amendment to the Court Security Act 1980 and the Open Courts Act 2013. The amendments that are proposed and that we are discussing today are really about things that occurred when we changed the way we do things. It may also be because in those changes we found that it is more equitable, and this is the case with the amendments to these two pieces of legislation. Basically they came about as a result of the terrible pandemic and the need for the courts to do things a bit differently, both in the use of remote appearances and videoconferencing. All of us would remember at the very start of the pandemic how proficient we became with things like Zoom and Teams and all the videoconferencing and group video things that we were doing at the time to keep ourselves connected and also working. The courts were using this type of technology to ensure that the virus did not spread but also to ensure justice was served and people had their day in court and were not on remand for indefinite periods as a result of the inability to open the courts in person due to the terrible pandemic that we were facing and trying to control at that time when we were not sure what was going to happen. The other aspect of this legislation is around some of the security measures that were required at the time. Some of those were put in on a temporary basis, and it has been demonstrated that they have worked and made things a little bit easier without infringing on people’s rights. Therefore those changes are also part of these amendments that we are talking about. In terms of the use of videoconferencing, there was a review of this, and it did in many cases in remote areas provide better access and better engagement for people in those areas to participate in court hearings and also watch what was going on.

The second one that I would like to also talk a little bit about are the changes to the Coroners Act 2008. This amendment is about ensuring that the coroners themselves are the ones that can direct a coronial investigator, because of course a coronial investigator is actually a police officer that is nominated by the Chief Commissioner, but it may not always be that the coronial inquiry is the same or in step with a police investigation. It may well be that there is a conflict of interest. If the terrible situation of a death has occurred and there has been some form of involvement by police – I am not saying in a deliberate sort of way – for example, in cases of Aboriginal deaths in custody, of course there ought to be an independent process to ensure that justice is done, that the matter is properly investigated and that the police and their actions are also properly investigated. This is why there is an amendment is to ensure that the coroner themselves has control over the coronial investigator. This is nothing new – this is the sort of thing that is happening in other jurisdictions in other states – and it means that it is a fairer system with more impartiality. As I have said, it was also a recommendation in the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and it has been the subject of parliamentary committee recommendations. This is the time to make this change and make sure that the Coroners Act is in step with other states and also ensure that little bit more independence.

The third amendment that I would like to talk about is the amendment to the Firefighters’ Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2019 and the Forests Act 1958. Of course I think we all know about the firefighters presumptive legislation. Presumptive legislation is really just based on the science and the evidence, where particular diseases are caused by particular occupations, and those diseases are spelt out so that there is not a situation where in each case that a person in that occupation contracts that disease or illness they then have to prove that it is linked to the illness that they have – for example, that the chemicals or some other practice are linked to the illness that they have and the sort of exposure that they have had and every little minute detail of what happened. It is assumed that, for example, if you worked with lead in days gone by and you have lead poisoning, it is an occupational disease, and you will be compensated for it. So the presumptive legislation for firefighters is not new in principle, even in the workers compensation legislation as we have it. For many years and decades there have been provisions for industrial disease. There is a schedule of those diseases and the occupations that are related to those, and therefore there is a presumption that the illness was a result of that occupation. What we are doing here is including some additional cancers. It is always awful to think about your work actually causing serious illness and in some cases terminal illness, and of course we do not want to see anybody dying at work. But I guess the issue with firefighting is that often firefighters are coming into contact with all sorts of chemicals – often unknown – and mixtures of all sorts of things. I know the Fiskville inquiry that I chaired many years ago looked at the Fiskville CFA training college and how terrible the chemical contamination was there and the way that people were exposed. So it is really important that we update again based on evidence to ensure that other cancers are included as a result of that evidence.

Paul EDBROOKE (Frankston) (16:58): It is a pleasure to rise this afternoon to speak on the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023, and I thank the Attorney-General and her team for this bill and their briefings as well. The context behind this one is of course enhancing the administration of justice by improving efficiencies, by clarifying legislative uncertainties and by supporting courts and tribunals to respond to case backlogs and to effectively manage their premises. It also responds to recommendation 2 from the Tanya Day coronial inquest findings, which I think everyone in this house would be intimate with. It will give effect to recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the Victorian parliamentary Law Reform Committee review of the Coroners Act 1985. It also ensures Victoria’s legal and justice systems are inclusive for all Victorians, consistent with government cost recovery principles, appropriately balanced rehabilitation opportunities and community safety considerations, and it responds to a recommendation from the report of Parliament’s Legal and Social Issues Committee inquiry into Victoria’s criminal justice system.

We have heard quite a bit from those opposite in regard to this bill. I think where they are accurate and correct is that it is somewhat of an omnibus bill. It makes amendments to the Court Security Act 1980, the Open Courts Act 2013, the Coroners Act 2008, the Spent Convictions Act 2021, the Firefighters’ Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2019 and, with that, the Forests Act 1958, which we will go to in a second. It amends the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014, the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 and the Jury Directions Act 2015. It also makes minor technical amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 and it amends the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998, the Wrongs Act 1958, the Limitation of Actions Act 1958 and the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 to address various legal and procedural issues.

I would like to thank the previous speaker, the chair of the Fiskville inquiry, who we heard from just then. That was a very, very important inquiry for everyone in Victoria but especially for firefighters. Those opposite at the time were campaigning to keep Fiskville open against the facts and the foundation of evidence that this was a facility that was poisoning people to the point where we now know the board at the time had EPA reports telling them that. Thank you to everyone that was on that inquiry. It led to quite a lot of the reforms that we have seen this government carry through.

Just on that, obviously I have spoken about this amending the Firefighters’ Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2019 and that is actually to carry through a previous commitment to include three additional female-specific cancers. I well remember a time where in 2013, I think it might have been, we had a minister who had said that there was no link that they could draw between firefighters and cancer – going from not having enough science to now having firefighters covered. I am not saying that things will not change in the future, because they obviously will as more evidence and more scientific facts come to light about the dangers of that particular profession, but I am a proud member of the Andrews Labor government that stood here and even went through the Good Friday incident in the other house, where we saw members of the opposition come in on Good Friday after saying they were leaving, and there was a pairing agreement in that. But we will not rehash history. It is good to see three cancers added to this list.

One of the things that has been spoken about is what those presumptive rights mean and what that presumption is legally. For the profession of firefighting, I think it comes down to the fact that when firefighters, male or female, are responding to a job they often do not know what they are going to. It could be a car accident, it could be a hazmat incident, it could be a house fire or an industrial fire, but they do not know what is actually on fire at the time. They can make some kind of size-up decisions on arrival, they can tell certain things by the colour of the smoke and whatnot, and that is of course why they are provided with the protective equipment that they have – breathing apparatus, different styles of turnout gear, flash hoods. The one thing we do know from international science is that at the moment we have not got any way of preventing firefighters from being exposed to unknown carcinogens, and they come from a range of fires, a range of things that firefighters are exposed to. But we know from that international scientific research that there are certain types of cancers that firefighters are predisposed to because of their work, and legally that has been able to be proven and that is why we have this presumption that if a firefighter is diagnosed with a certain cancer, if they have been working in that job for a certain time, whether it be as a volunteer or a permanent firefighter, that is actually because of their work and the work they have done for this community and the government will provide that coverage for them. It has been interesting to hear that some of the opposition are still fairly confused about the volunteer and staff separation there. It is my understanding that regardless of whether you are staff or a volunteer, you are covered by this legislation.

As someone who was fairly heavily involved in its inception and its rollout, that is what we spoke to people about; that is what we agreed to do. You find yourself as a former firefighter going to funerals, and all too often, but certainly there are firefighters now who are better off because of the legislation that this government has put in place. That is just one part of this omnibus bill that is coming through today.

There is another really important part of this bill that I think has been touched on by some members on this side of the house. People have been talking about the Voice and whatnot with it, but it is actually to ensure that our First Nations people can identify as First Nations and that a legal service is actually notified. That is really important. We have heard about self-determination, and that has been spoken about quite a bit in this chamber this afternoon. Self-determination is something that we cannot speak about enough and cannot take action on enough. Obviously there are reforms that we are putting in place: we have got the First Peoples’ Assembly. We have got a referendum on the Voice that is really important, and that is going to become, I guess, more and more a feature of everyday life as we move towards that campaign.

Certainly it is something that this bill allows people to self-nominate as someone of Indigenous heritage, and that is really important for other agencies to know about – other Aboriginal agencies, like Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service. I think it is an amendment to the Crimes Act 1958 in fact that specific investigating officials can retain that discretion to notify VALS in the absence of self-identification. Victoria Police did apparently show some concern that it may conflict with those principles of self-determination. VALS have confirmed quite a few things and that it is appropriate to be notified in all circumstances where a person might be taken into custody.

Once again, it is really quite an interesting piece of legislation. We talk about omnibus bills all the time, and we pick and choose what we might like to talk about, but certainly in this climate, where we are actually just about to step into a national reform – hopefully – I hope people can find it in their hearts to vote yes for an Aboriginal Voice to our constitution. The understanding is that we need to not just move forward with that but also with bills like this to make sure that we are doing the right thing. We are a progressive Labor government that people know, and they acknowledge the work we do. Certainly in my area there is a very conscious effort to make sure that we do the right thing. I think people are considering that and people are thinking about that. People are actually educating themselves on why we need to do this and what the history is. There are generations of people that maybe did not have that education. So this bill goes a long way across the context of many of these legislative objectives to do the right thing, whether it be with firefighters or whether it be with our Aboriginal community and our legal community. I commend the bill to the house.

Dylan WIGHT (Tarneit) (17:08): It gives me great pleasure this evening to rise and contribute to the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. This is an omnibus bill, as has been mentioned by previous speakers, that goes to amending 11 different areas. The heart of the bill is really about refining Victoria’s justice system. This bill tackles the crucial issue of firefighters presumptive rights and expands that coverage to include three specific female cancers: cervical, ovarian and uterine. It is a change that is so incredibly important given that we now have a large portion of female firefighters here in Victoria, something that Victorians and this government are indeed incredibly proud of, but it also goes to the fact that we would like to recruit many, many more female firefighters going forward.

On that point, and on presumptive rights, I think that it is important just at the start of my contribution that I speak briefly to the contribution of a few of those opposite but perhaps in particular the member for Mornington, who stood up earlier – I was lucky enough to be in the chamber – and spoke about the fact that he had consulted with members of his community and did not think that this legislation went far enough. Just to be abundantly clear, the Liberal and National parties, the coalition that sit opposite us, have opposed presumptive rights for firefighters and for workers in that industry every single step of the way. When we passed legislation for presumptive rights for firefighters in the CFA and in FRV, the Liberal and National parties opposed it. When we extended those rights to maintenance workers, both with the CFA and with FRV, the Liberal and National parties opposed it. So the audacity of the member for Mornington to stand up here this afternoon and tell us that the Andrews Labor government is not going far enough in presumptive rights, quite frankly, is incredible. If it was not for the Andrews Labor government, if it was up to those opposite, nobody working in those industries in Victoria would have presumptive rights right now. They would not have presumptive rights right now.

Furthermore, presumptive rights for workers in those industries has always been based on science. It has always been evidence-based. It has been an incredibly important part of it. So what we have right now is a situation where we can here this week pass legislation which includes those three very, very important cancers in relation to female firefighters and maintenance workers; we can pass that legislation to strengthen presumptive rights once again. The fact remains that for the list of cancers that the member for Mornington would like to include the work just simply has not been done for us to be able to stand here with confidence and say that with an evidence-based model we can include those cancers right now. Furthermore, what it would do if we were to wait for that work to be done is hold up those three cancers that are being included as part of this legislation. It would take longer for those rights to be offered to workers in those industries.

This bill also embraces the information gathered across the Tanya Day inquest, the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and the Victorian Parliament Law Reform Committee’s review of the Coroners Act 1985. The bill’s overarching aim is to bolster the administration of justice by streamlining processes, clarifying ambiguities and lending support to courts and tribunals.

Now, the roots of this bill trace back to a commitment made during a parliamentary debate in 2021 –a parliamentary debate that I was not in this place for but a parliamentary debate that I have a really clear and strong memory of because I was working for the AMWU at the time. During that debate they committed to consider scientific evidence in the expansion of presumptive rights for forest firefighters. And I also remember around the same time that we extended presumptive rights to cover maintenance workers with both the CFA and with FRV. I would like to commend the AMWU and the ASU in Victoria on all the work they did in lobbying for those changes – changes that were so incredibly important and, once again, changes that those opposite did not support. Once again, for them to come in here and tell us that we are not going far enough is a bit of a laugh. As I said, this legislation was borne out of that debate, and today we aim to fulfil that commitment.

The expansion of presumptive rights is a significant step towards ensuring fair access to compensation, as I said, particularly for women, who now make up a significant portion or cohort of that workforce that are covered by presumptive rights. We hope indeed into the future that they will make up an even more significant cohort of that workforce that are covered by presumptive rights, and absolutely the hope is that this legislation will continue to encourage that. With a strong track record of supporting workers, the Andrews Labor government has championed the firefighters presumptive rights compensation scheme. Building on this foundation, the government extended the presumptive rights reform to include FRV and CFA vehicle and equipment maintenance workers, as I spoke about just before, aligning their rights with those volunteer firefighters who face carcinogens at fire events. This current bill aims to take the commitment further by broadening access to compensation for women within the presumptive rights scheme. Specifically, the bill proposes the inclusion of primary site cervical, ovarian and uterine cancers in the prescribed list of covered cancers in line with an announcement made by the Minister for Emergency Services on 9 June this year. Recognising the urgency of this change, the government promptly introduced this bill to the Parliament, and that goes to what I said earlier about the need to include these cancers now, given that we are doing this and have always done this on an evidence-based model.

Firefighters and personnel undertake a vital role in our community, and I would like to briefly, with the time that I have left, touch on the incredibly important role that firefighters play in my community of Tarneit and Hoppers Crossing. I am lucky enough to have two fire stations in my electorate – one FRV station in Tarneit as well as the Truganina CFA. Truganina is just outside of my electorate, but the Truganina CFA depot is actually within Tarneit. Those volunteer and career firefighters play such an integral role in keeping my community safe, whether that be from accidents at home, from house fires, or from grassfires in some of the vacant land that still exists around my community. This legislation is aimed at protecting those that are protecting our community, and I commend the bill to the house.

John MULLAHY (Glen Waverley) (17:18): I rise to speak in favour of the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023, and from the outset I would like to thank all of those who have contributed to making the bill a reality, from the relevant ministers and their advisers in departments through to the many activists who have been agitating for the reforms contained in this bill. While it is, as my colleagues have already reflected upon, an omnibus bill of sorts with a variety of legislative changes, that does not make it any less important.

There are two significant elements of this bill I would like to take a moment to address today. The first has come about because of a deep tragedy, namely the passing of proud Yorta Yorta woman Tanya Day. On 5 December 2017 Tanya boarded a V/Line train in Echuca bound for Melbourne, but she never made it to Melbourne that day. Instead she was taken off the train at Castlemaine and arrested for public drunkenness and taken to Castlemaine police station. She went for hours in her cell unchecked. In the process she fell multiple times, hitting her head and suffering a brain injury. Tanya died in the days afterwards.

In the aftermath of her passing, Tanya’s family and community campaigned together with human rights lawyers from the Human Rights Law Centre and the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission. Thanks to their campaign, the coronial inquest into Tanya’s death took into account the role of systematic racism in her death and made a number of important recommendations for reform. Of these recommendations two were directed to the Attorney-General. The first was the recommendation to decriminalise public drunkenness and repeal the associated section in the Summary Offences Act 1966. I am proud to stand here today before you as part of an Andrews Labor government that has done just that. After receiving and accepting the coroner’s recommendations, the then Attorney-General the Honourable Jill Hennessy appointed an expert reference group to examine how we best shift from a custodial criminal response to public drunkenness to a health-based response, because we know that public drunkenness is not a moral issue or a legal issue, it is a health issue, and this government believes it is best viewed through a health and wellbeing lens. That is why we passed legislation, which came into effect in November last year, to this very effect, removing public drunkenness from the statute books and replacing it with a health-based response.

That being said, we are here today because the legislation before us implements the important second recommendation made by the coronial inquest into the death of Tanya Day. The inquest recommended to the government that the powers of the coroner should be clarified, especially around the role of directing police officers during coronial inquests. While these powers have been established informally, until now they have not been bound in legislation. Today this bill changes that for the better. By providing this clarification and codifying these powers in law, we will improve transparency and accountability in the justice system. Just like the recommendation to decriminalise public drunkenness, this recommendation is not new. In fact this is a changed form of recommendation 29 of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and recommendation 42 of the Victorian Parliament Law Reform Committee report into the Coroners Act 1985. In hearing of the need for this reform from the royal commission, from the Law Reform Committee and now from the inquest into the death of Tanya Day I am proud to be part of a government that is taking real action and delivering that positive change. In doing so we will be making Victoria’s justice system more fair and more transparent for all, and that is deeply important for both our justice system more broadly and the healing journey of Tanya Day’s family and community.

In addition to this important reform, this bill before us today, the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023, makes important steps forward in expanding presumptive rights for firefighting staff across Victoria. Firefighters do invaluable work in our community. It is something many of my colleagues have already spoken about in this place, and I would like to give a shout-out to the two firefighters I am aware of in our Labor caucus, the member for Frankston and the member for Pakenham. I am more than happy to be corrected if there are any further firefighters –

A member interjected.

John MULLAHY: And the member for Bass; I do apologise.

Members interjecting.

John MULLAHY: The member for the Benambra – excellent. Firefighters, whether they are part of Fire Rescue Victoria, the CFA or the organisation that makes up Forest Fire Management Victoria, all do critical work in keeping our community safe. Whether they are responding to structure fires or bush or grassfires or arriving – often first – at the scene of traumatic accidents, the Andrews government truly appreciates their service. So often in their work they are exposed to carcinogens, which puts their health at high risk. Many end up developing cancers as a consequence of their work and service in keeping our communities in Victoria safe. For too long firefighters have had to fight hard to access compensation after a cancer diagnosis, with difficulty in linking the diagnosis to a particular event or exposure. The challenge is only compounded by the fact that, at the same time, these Victorians also have to take on one of the hardest health challenges one can face.

For this reason the Andrews government is proud to have commenced a presumptive rights scheme for firefighters diagnosed with cancers which are likely due to their work protecting our community. The scheme first commenced operation in 2019, and it means individuals diagnosed with specific cancers do not need to go through the arduous process of proving a direct link to workplace exposure, because the science and research tells us their diagnosis is likely due to their service. This landmark reform has provided peace of mind to thousands of firefighters and their loved ones since it was introduced, and has seen hundreds of claims made since the scheme came into effect back in 2019.

But we are not stopping at that initial piece of legislation that brought this scheme into being. As a government we are working to expand the scheme so more firefighters have access to the justice and comfort afforded by this important reform. This includes recent expansion of the presumptive rights scheme to cover the CFA and FRV vehicle and equipment maintenance workers who also attended fires in their career. But we are not stopping there. Today marks another step in the expansion of the scheme. The bill before the house will ensure three female-specific cancers – namely, cervical, ovarian and uterine cancers – are included in the presumptive rights scheme. Just like the existing scheme and similar models across Australia and overseas, presumptive rights will be subject to a 10-year qualifying period. It will continue to be managed by WorkSafe Victoria and will cover FRV, CFA and Forest Fire Management Victoria firefighters and vehicle mechanics equally. I am proud to be part of the Andrews Labor government for taking this important step to protect our firefighters and provide the resources they need both when fighting fires and when fighting for their wellbeing.

I truly hope this comes as good news to the thousands of firefighters across the state. In particular I would like to give a shout-out to those based in two fire stations in my electorate, FRV station 28 in Vermont South and FRV station 31 in Glen Waverley, and I extend that shout-out to all those in the eastern and southern D1 districts more broadly. Thank you sincerely for the work that you do every day to keep our communities safe. This government stands with you in providing the resources you need to do your jobs well. On this side of the house we say the last thing you need when fighting the evil that is cancer is trying to prove the specific cause of your illness – because the science and the research tell us that the job is highly likely the cause, and we believe the science. That is what this legislation is about.

The bill is all about improving Victorians’ access to justice. As legislators it is absolutely our responsibility to create a stronger and fairer justice system for all, and the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 is a strong step in that direction. Whether you are a female firefighter diagnosed with cancer because of your work fighting the bureaucracy to access compensation, or whether you are a family member of Tanya Day who has spent years fighting for a fairer and more just world, this bill is for you – for those fighting for a more equitable society – and I am proud to be part of a progressive Andrews Labor government that has your back every day that it has the privilege of being in government. I am pleased to commend the bill to the house.

Anthony CIANFLONE (Pascoe Vale) (17:27): I rise to speak in support of the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2023. As we have heard from the debate thus far, this is a wideranging omnibus bill that amends a number of acts to support and improve the operation of Victoria’s justice and legal systems. It is a bill which seeks to do a number of things, as we have heard, but I will just run through those as quickly as I can. It seeks to amend the Court Security Act 1980 and the Open Courts Act 2013 to permanently embed temporary measures for remote hearings and management of court premises which would otherwise lapse on 26 October 2023. The bill amends the Coroners Act 2008 to make the coronial system more transparent by providing coroners with an explicit power to direct coronial investigators in coronial investigations. The bill amends the Spent Convictions Act 2021 to address unintended barriers to eligibility to have convictions spent, data sharing and judgement publication. The bill amends the Firefighters’ Presumptive Rights Compensation and Fire Services Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2019 and the Forests Act 1958 to expand presumptive rights legislation to include three additional female-specific cancers, which we have heard about just recently from the last contributors.

The bill amends the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 to clarify the application of the legal professional uniform law in Victoria and enhance protections for Victorian consumers of legal services by enabling the register of disciplinary action taken against lawyers to be updated immediately. The bill also amends the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 to support the rollout of the electronic case management system portal in the family division of the Children’s Court. And the bill amends the Jury Directions Act 2015 to clarify that certain jury directions are available in all sexual offence trials.

The bill makes minor and technical amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act 2009 to allow specified employees under the Dairy Act 2000 and the Meat Industry Act 1993 to witness statements that are provided in criminal prosecution briefs. It also amends the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998, the Wrongs Act 1958, the Limitation of Actions Act 1958 and the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 to address various legal and procedural issues to identify certainty in respect of VCAT’s jurisdiction and processes in response to recent Supreme Court decisions. The bill also amends the Victoria Police Act 2013. When combined, each of these reforms will help to ensure that we continue to improve the operation of Victoria’s justice and legal system for a modern, fair and contemporary setting.

However, it is part 11 of this bill that I really would like to focus the substantive part of my contribution on. Part 11 of the bill makes changes to the Crimes Act 1958 to ensure that the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, VALS, is contacted in all cases where a person taken into custody identifies as Aboriginal. This change is important to ensuring that the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service is able to provide prompt and culturally appropriate legal assistance to First Nations people who come into contact with the justice system, a key factor in tackling the over-representation of Aboriginal people in custody. Whenever an Aboriginal person is in custody, Victoria Police are required to notify the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service. However, currently a notification is only required where an investigating official is of the opinion that that person is of Aboriginal descent. While an official must take any statements by the person into account, a statement of self-identification is a consideration, rather than a mandatory trigger for notification. The amendment in this bill will make sure that a statement of self-identification as an Aboriginal person always meets the threshold for mandatory notification, regardless of any other factors or opinions held by investigating officials. Investigating officials may still notify the Aboriginal legal service if they know or are of the opinion that the person is of the First Nations community. This may be in circumstances where the person is unwilling or unable to self-identify or, for example, if they are unwell.

This amendment responds to a recommendation from the report of the Parliament’s Legal and Social Issues Committee inquiry into Victoria’s criminal justice system, and it is this parliamentary committee report, which underpins this reform contained in this bill, that I would like to draw the house’s attention to. On 3 June 2020 the Legislative Council resolved:

That … the Legal and Social Issues Committee … inquire into, consider and report … on various issues associated with the operation of Victoria’s justice system, including …

(1) an analysis of factors influencing Victoria’s growing remand and prison populations;

(2) strategies to reduce rates of criminal recidivism;

(3) an examination of how to ensure that judges and magistrates have appropriate knowledge and expertise when sentencing and dealing with offenders, including an understanding of recidivism and the causes of crime …

But it is section 4.3 of the report that I draw the house’s attention to and which specifically considered the experience of Aboriginal Victorians with the criminal justice system, where on page 151 of the report it states:

Most Aboriginal Victorians never come into contact with the criminal justice system. However, those who do are more likely to have long-term, sustained contact.

… Aboriginal Victorians are overrepresented throughout the criminal justice system. Intergenerational trauma, culturally unresponsive institutional structures, complex disadvantage and racism place Aboriginal people at greater risk of …

coming in contact with the criminal justice system or becoming the victim of a crime, compared to other populations of our community.

The Victorian Aboriginal Community Services Organisation explained in its submission …

Due to the ongoing effects of colonisation, Aboriginal people experience adverse outcomes across almost every social determinant, including lower levels of employment, reduced access to healthcare and housing, financial disadvantage, increased rates of family violence and adverse health outcomes. This economic and social disadvantage directly contributes to the overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in Victoria’s criminal justice system.

The facts and statistics set out in the inquiry’s report outline these issues and challenges very, very clearly and starkly and show that, despite good-faith efforts by governments of all persuasions over many years, we still have so much more to do to support First Nations communities, and this of course all begins by listening and not lecturing. I refer the house to page 61 of the inquiry’s report, where the Victorian Government and Corrections Victoria

… told the Committee that Aboriginal Victorians ‘continue to be over-represented in the prison population when compared with the prison rate of all people in prison.’

…

In 2010, the imprisonment rate for Aboriginal adults was 1,106.4 per 100,000 Victorian Aboriginal adults. In 2020, the rate for Aboriginal adults had risen to 1,837.7 per 100,000 Victorian Aboriginal adults.

This is contrasted with:

… figures with the general adult imprisonment rate, which was 107.2 per 100,000 Victorian adults in 2010 and 135.1 per 100,000 Victorian adults in 2020 –

stark indeed –

Between 30 June 2010 and 30 June 2020, the number of incarcerated Aboriginal people rose by 148% ...

The average age of Aboriginal Victorian prisoners is 34.5 years, however 7% of the Aboriginal prison population were 50 years and older, a 3% growth from 2010 numbers.

… between 2009 and 2019, there was a 774% increase in number of unsentenced Aboriginal Victorians within the prison system, totalling 48% of all Aboriginal prisoners for the 2019 year.

In the Victorian prison population, Aboriginal women are also over-represented. Data notes that in 2020 more than one in 10 women in prison were Aboriginal. In response to these stark figures, and as stated by the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service submission, which is quoted on the very first page of the inquiry’s report, they say:

Given the many inquiries and royal commissions into the criminal legal system, it seems safe to conclude that we have reached consensus. That is, we all agree that the current system and approaches are failing … to reduce offending, and to lead to just outcomes. If we are serious about addressing this, we need root and branch reform of the criminal legal system.

Based on the evidence and submissions that were received by the committee, they put forward over 70 recommendations for reform, including recommendation 58, which specifically called on the Victorian government to:

… identify and remove barriers to culturally appropriate bail processes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and in particular:

support the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service to continue to facilitate the Custody Notification Service in conjunction with increases in demand …

amend … the Crimes Act 1958 … to provide that an investigating official must contact the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service in all circumstances where a person taken into custody self‑identifies as an Aboriginal person …

I acknowledge and commend that this bill today goes towards fulfilling much of that recommendation. However, another key theme that emerged from the committee’s report was the need to enable self-determination by First Nations communities as part of the criminal justice system to better address longstanding and systemic issues that they experience. At the heart of the Victorian government’s approach in this regard is the state’s commitment via the Aboriginal affairs framework to partner with First Nations communities to improve Aboriginal justice outcomes and family and community safety and to reduce their over-representation in the Victorian criminal justice system. The Victorian government’s approach essentially is to listen to and to partner with First Nations communities on issues that impact them deeply.

While at the state level we continue to do more in partnership with the Aboriginal community to address these longstanding issues, there is also so much more we can do at the national level. That is why the proposal to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the traditional custodians of the land by enshrining a Voice to Parliament in the constitution is so critical. Victoria has been the first jurisdiction in the nation to action voice, treaty and truth – all three elements of the Uluru Statement from the Heart of 2017. We have long been guided by the principle of self-determination in our work with First Nations people and will continue to work in partnership to deliver on these elements. That is why I will be voting yes at the upcoming referendum, because it is time we listen to First Nations people about the issues that directly impact them. I commend the bill to the house in that regard.

Natalie HUTCHINS (Sydenham – Minister for Education, Minister for Women) (17:37): I move:

That the debate now be adjourned.

Motion agreed to and debate adjourned.

Ordered that debate be adjourned until later this day.