Wednesday, 18 June 2025

Bills

Corrections Legislation Amendment Bill 2025

Second reading

Debate resumed.

John LISTER (Werribee) (18:03): As you can see, I am very enthusiastic to speak on this legislation. After the indulgence of those opposite for the last few hours, it is refreshing to return to the priorities that our community and particularly my community have put me in this place to speak to. Before I go into detail on the bill, I do just want to reflect that before we paused for the Liberals’ matter of public importance I looked at the chamber and the state of the chamber, and I saw my good colleagues here on this side, on the government side, talking to this bill, and I noted that there were no other speakers from those opposite speaking to this really important piece of legislation that goes to the heart of community safety. This is despite the fact that the member for Caulfield has circulated an amendment on this important legislation. You would think that they would have the time for their communities to come in here and debate this really important bill.

There is a lot of bluster that comes from those opposite about community safety, and these amendments that have been circulated are something that you would expect the Liberal and National caucus, I suppose you would call them, or whatever they call themselves – assembly, rabble – would want to be in here to actually discuss. So I was pretty disappointed, and I am going to remind every person in my community whenever I see the bluster on Facebook from those opposite about community safety and crime that they are not in here, save for our learned friend at the bench at the moment the member for Polwarth. Save for the member for Polwarth, the other Liberals and Nationals are not in here talking about community safety, and I think that is pretty abhorrent.

However, I do digress slightly, and I would like to return to the bill.

Across the Wyndham LGA 329 people are corrections workers out of a statewide figure of around 3250. That means that out of all corrections officers, 10 per cent live in the city that I am privileged to represent along with my colleagues in Point Cook, Tarneit and Laverton. These men and women deserve to know that this government is looking out for them, and that is part of what this bill will work to do, alongside our efforts as a government to ensure community safety for all Victorians. Because after all, community safety is our priority. It does not look like it is for those opposite at the moment.

With a large portion of the state’s corrections officers coming from my community, I hear a lot of the concerns and worries that corrections officers have. As a result, I welcome this bill and its amendments surrounding custodial officers. It is a great privilege to serve in a government which legislates and is working towards practical solutions which protect and support both our community and our corrections officers across Victoria. These officers have a right to feel safe at work, and this bill will mean tougher sentences for people in prison who cause injury to custodial officers. Assaults on custodial officers have a significant impact on their mental and physical health. I have met a few of them out in my community who have been involved in some of the serious rioting we have seen in previous years, and I have seen how it has left them. I really do stand here today because I want to show that their experience matters to this government and we want to make sure that their colleagues who are still in the system get that protection that they deserve.

This has been addressed through this bill. It will ensure that sentencing for violence committed against corrections officers will be classified as prison offences and will attract the presumption of sentence accumulation in the Sentencing Act 1991, particularly in regard to emergency service workers, which I will go to in just a moment. This is part of our efforts to ensure that those who enforce our laws, both on the streets and off the streets, are protected. It will strengthen sentencing outcomes for offenders and help address the concerns of those in my electorate who work as corrections officers. I would also like to thank the CPSU for their advocacy in protecting the rights of these corrections workers in my community and across Victoria.

However, I do want to briefly touch on the thought bubble – sorry, amendments – proposed by those opposite. We have heard the safety concerns of corrections staff and particularly corrections officers. In fact if the opposition had read the regulations already made for corrections – in particular from 2019, regulation 14 – they outline a range of circumstances where restraints should be used. These include:

for the safety of the prisoner or any other person; or

for the security or good order of the prison.

That would be made under an order of the governor in charge of that prison. These are regulations that already exist, and that discretion already exists with the staff in that prison. It is not for politicians here in Spring Street to be making those decisions on their behalf. There is a fine line between safety and extrajudicial consequences, so we will work closely with corrections staff to make sure the option is there for restraint but that it is done with regard to human rights and their safety in mind.

Some may ask why only provisions for corrections officers have been put in place by this bill. It is because they are the most likely to face the sort of harm this bill seeks to address. They manage behaviour inside the facilities and are the first and last line of defence for all corrections staff in those facilities. It also goes to provisions already made in the Sentencing Act to include corrections officers as emergency service workers, as they should be considered. It is not just those officers that are escorting people to and from their cells or to different activities around the prison; it is also those critical response units that exist in our prisons that respond to serious incidents. They are emergency service workers, just like other emergency service workers in our community. This bill makes it clear that there is a deterrent to anyone inside targeting our corrections officers.

I do want to briefly reflect too on some of the changes that we are making in this legislation to serious offenders and the Serious Offenders Act 2018. Our post-sentence scheme, introduced in 2018, provides for the supervision of serious offenders and sexual offenders after their release from prison.

At any one time there are around 150 people subject to these provisions. This arose out of the 2015 Harper review, and it is targeted at the most serious offenders who have completed their court-imposed custodial sentence. That review found that the overall scheme is working well but there is more that we can do.

As I have said before in this place, our laws regarding community safety are not just set-and-forget, and this is the appropriate way to respond to changes in the risk in the community from people who have committed the most heinous of crimes. The thing that we in this government do is that we are out in our community listening to those concerns, responding to the risk by working with our judicial system and the people who work in our emergency services and making sure that those arrangements fit their needs, not just dictating it from Spring Street or from Liberal Party headquarters.

I have met and worked with victims of serious crimes both in my work here and in my previous life as a teacher, and despite knowing that person has completed their sentence, there is still that feeling of concern knowing that person is out in the community. These changes make it easier for victims who are registered to engage with that Post Sentence Authority created by out of those 2018 changes. We will also clarify the direction powers of that authority as well as the powers of Victoria Police to allow for swifter action to implement conditions or respond to possible breaches. In meeting with our local officers out in Werribee I know it is often one of the biggest frustrations that sometimes they feel that they cannot act swiftly on these sorts of things. So having this here is responding to their needs and not just dictating it from Spring Street.

As a former teacher working in some of our most vulnerable communities I have been a strong advocate for reforms to improve community safety – not just yelling and bleating on Facebook but actually doing the work with our community and our judicial service. Unlike those opposite, who splatter social media with their fearmongering and run so-called petitions to harvest frightened people’s data, this government is doing the work with our frontline workers and our judicial system to continue to adapt to a changing risk profile in our community. We do not need to yell about this work. We need to do it, and if there is more that we can do, we will follow the proper processes to get it done.

This bill follows on from several reforms to address serious offending, including our new bail laws and the ban on machetes. I welcome the bringing forward of some of those controls and what we are going to see over the next few months in consultation with those people who will have to enforce them. I also welcome this week’s introduction of new post-and-boast laws. Particularly working in schools, I have seen how some of this can have a real impact on our community. We need to look at this legislation as part of a pipeline of investment into our state’s law and order, from sentencing to parole and everything in between.

Lauren KATHAGE (Yan Yean) (18:13): I think my voice is going to echo around the chamber – echo, echo, echo. Why? Because it is empty. Those opposite have given up and gone home for the day. Actually I did go past and smell some lovely catering coming from their area earlier, so I guess something better is on than keeping Victoria safe. There are no media here, so why would they bother coming? This is the place where we do the detailed hard work of refining legislation. This is actually what we get elected to do, in case they were not aware. How disappointing it is from the party that likes to talk tough – ‘The deputy’s in town. Here’s the sheriff.’ They act like they are tough on crime, but when we get to the part where we have to do our actual jobs, ‘Nah. Couldn’t be bothered’. They could not be bothered: ‘No-one’s here. No-one’s watching. There’s no audience to be impressed by me, so why would I bother coming and doing my job?’ People are out of sight, and here we are anyway doing our job.

Do you know who else does their job, without fanfare, without an audience, without being praised, without the media – without anything like that? Corrections officers do. They put themselves every day between us and people that it has been decided need to be kept away from society for the time being. They are the ones that keep them safe and keep us safe. That is why we are all here doing our job to keep them safe while they do their job. Is that too much to ask? I do not think so – but apparently it is.

I should not dwell on it too long, but I think it is very symbolic. Corrections officers to them – maybe they are not at the top of the pile, are they? Those opposite like to be associated with the highest status people, you know, luncheons –

A member interjected.

Lauren KATHAGE: And lobsters, that is right. There are no lobsters for lunch at our facilities, but anyway, here we are. We will always stand shoulder to shoulder with workers who are just going about their lives looking to provide for their family, doing their job with dignity and keeping our community safe. That is us. What can I say? And you know what, that is reflected in our budget as well, because in our budget we focus on making sure those frontline services are there for our community members. When they need to see someone at the hospital, they can. When they need a good local school, they have got it. When they are fleeing from violence, there is somebody to hold their hand and take them to safety. That is what this government is about.

People deserve to be safe at work, and to me, corrections officers absolutely deserve that. The government, and the opposition also when they were in government, ran ads promoting recruitment for corrections officers. They had some particularly for the Punjabi community, and that has been taken up well and truly. I have got many members of my community who are corrections officers, people who I would consider friends, and they took up the call. It was classic – can I say this, I do not know – like Gallipoli: they were there. During COVID, for people needing food at home, they were there. We put out recruitment for corrections officers, and they are there. They are there serving our community in so many different ways. The least we can do is work to keep them safe. That is why we are here. What this bill does is it makes sure that corrections officers have that safety at work.

Currently, if somebody, God forbid, attacks a corrections officer, the punishment they receive can be served concurrently with their current sentence, so there is not sufficient disincentive there to stop people or sufficient protections and prevention. That is why we are making sure that that time will be added on to the sentence. That is the way that we can keep a deterrent. I think that that is the least that we can do for people who have a dangerous role. They are the front line of our prison system, essentially, and we are always with the people who are on the front line.

There are over 3000 people working as corrections officers in our public prisons right across the state, and we are standing with them. You can see the evidence for that – the receipts, as young people say these days – in the budget papers: over $720 million to support top facilities, top workplaces for our corrections officers. We are even going to employ another 750 corrections officers because we understand the level that is required in relation to the prison population. Just the same as we did with nurse-to-patient ratios, we are making sure that the right level of worker is there for the person that they are in charge of, because it is about keeping everybody safe in that situation and getting the best outcome. We want prisoners to come out and be rehabilitated as well.

These changes have come about because, as I said, we stand with frontline workers. We are connected with the members of our community, with the unions who represent them, and we hear and we take on board what they tell us. We are not too good to show up. We are not too good to listen. Those opposite maybe need some assistance in being willing to sit down with people that do not have the high status like themselves and to hear how life is and how they can make life better for those people, which is what we do.

This is part of the broader work that we are doing to improve safety in our community. The really practical things that come from listening to people include the feelings of those people who are victims of serious offenders, because the fear that a victim can feel with an offender’s impending release or where they are or what they are doing in the community – we have had some incredibly compassionate attorneys-general and other ministers in our government who regularly sit with victims of crime. Even the member for Frankston here, we know he is also very open to listening and meeting with victims of crime and hearing what their experience is.

This bill also seeks to improve the lives of victims by making sure that people who are subject to a supervision order have reporting obligations under the sex offenders register for five years after their supervision orders end, and I hope that will bring some peace of mind to victim-survivors in Victoria. We listen to what people ask for, and we deliver, because we turn up to work. We turn up to work; it is not even 6:30, so yes, shame on those opposite.

But this is the thing: they do not listen, and they do not understand. Here is an example: what they are pushing out in the media today is they have got an idea for how we should handcuff prisoners. How about you ask corrections officers or the people who run prisons? They will say, ‘Oh, awkward. Actually we already do that. Bit awkward, we already can do that. We already do do that. Maybe you should have asked us first,’ but they just want to talk on what looks good in the media. They do not want to listen to what is actually needed. They do not want to be here to do the work of enacting what is needed – a bit too hard – and they do not want to do anything but complain and fire up and mislead the public. That is a shame. I am here in total support of this bill, and I commend it to the house.

Josh BULL (Sunbury) (18:23): I am pleased to have the opportunity to make a contribution on this very important bill and to follow on from the outstanding contribution made by the member for Yan Yean, who very well articulated the government’s position when it comes to these matters but also pointed out the importance of making sure that we are listening to those that work in corrections and listening to those who work in the justice system. There is a re-emerging and a consistent pattern, Acting Speaker Mercurio – very similar to the consistent pattern of you seeming to be in the chair every time I make a contribution. I would like to apologise for you having listen to me wax lyrical. I do not know – maybe you are just racking up an extraordinary amount of hours in the chair. It is a very impressive effort from you, but I digress.

What we have seen, and what I think the member for Yan Yean articulated very well, is the position of the government when it comes to listening to those who do extraordinary work within the justice system and within corrections. As many members have touched on, I have had the opportunity to speak to a number of corrections staff, particularly over the last 10 years of being a member, and listening to the way that they interact with the system but most importantly the way that they interact with individuals is something that I greatly value. I want to put on the record my thanks and appreciation to everyone who works in corrections but also to those members of staff that have taken the time to share those experiences with me.

What I think we need to recognise is the fundamental complexity that comes with both the justice and the corrections system responding to the individual but also making sure that the system is robust and strong and making sure that we are supporting those amazing people that do a phenomenal job in corrections in our state. It is a very tough job, I am sure, but a job that is done with great passion and great care by so many. What the bill before us this evening does is improve and strengthen the system. I again want to thank all of those that are doing terrific work across the system with those complexities within corrections and justice.

Making sure that we are listening and responding is I believe in stark contrast to what we have seen from those opposite. I think the member for Yan Yean articulated really well the policy position of the government but also the sheer difference between this side of the house and what we see served up time and time again from those opposite. They are driven by ideology, divided by difference and constantly all over the place when it comes to supporting many of the most vulnerable within our community.

What I am really pleased to see of course, and I think the member for Yan Yean and others have mentioned these, are the significant investments that have been made. There is $700 million-plus within the budget to ramp up capacity in our prisons and youth justice centres, bringing more prison beds on line to deal with the increasing numbers of alleged offenders that are being denied bail. It forms part of a broader package, which other members have spoken about and which has been highlighted over the past few months by the government and within the budget. It is making sure that we are responding to the needs of those who work within our system, who understand the changes and the complexities that are involved within managing individuals, and of course the many different instances that we know and understand are very, very complex to manage.

What we do not want to see is for it to be far easier to come in to this place or the place next door or to go out and speak to the media and make political points with these matters. What we want to make sure that we are doing is providing the resources and the legislative instruments to be able to deal with these matters and to be able to, first and foremost, keep our community safe and invest in people’s lives and livelihoods. For those that do the wrong thing and continue to do the wrong thing when in a corrections setting, we want to make sure that the state, the individual and, most importantly, the person who has been at the forefront of many of these quite vicious and callous attacks are supported. That is why I am really pleased to see the commitment to a range of reforms that address the priority issues affecting the corrections system.

The bill amends the Corrections Act 1986 to denounce and deter assaults on custodial officers by strengthening sentencing outcomes for people in prison who cause injury to custodial officers on duty, which I have just gone to, and there are changes whereby the bill amends the sex offender registration scheme in the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 to ensure serious sex offenders who are subject to post-sentence orders must report to police for an extended period where appropriate. The amendments to the Serious Offenders Act 2018 are to implement recommendations of the statutory review of the act and to strengthen the operation of Victoria’s post-sentence scheme, and the minor amendments to the Corrections Act are to clarify the application of those provisions whereby that operating method is not intended.

Whether it is the tougher bail laws that have been introduced, whether it is the ban on machetes, whether it is the changes in youth justice or whether it is this bill that is before us this evening and the significant investments that have been made in the budget, we remain committed to keeping Victorians safe and we remain committed to supporting those who do amazing work within our corrections and justice system.

I do take what has been said from the other side. I think that the member for Yan Yean and other members in this house have articulated –

Tim Richardson interjected.

Josh BULL: Well, I am not too sure, member for Mordialloc. Maybe they have called an early day. I am not entirely sure what is happening over there. There is a fairly large event tomorrow night I think that we are gearing up for, but I am not sure. There may be a few distractions over on the other side that have been presented. I am reluctant to take up some of these fantastic interjections, but I dare say, given the circus and the shambles and the absolute mess that we have seen from those opposite, running out and making all sorts of statements, whether it be about complexities contained in this legislation or many, many others that go to supporting people within our state that need support and deserve support, managing really complex issues when you cannot manage yourself, I am just not sure how you put that to the people of this state. I am actually just not sure how you go out and say to people of Victoria, ‘We’re the show, we’re the outfit, we’re ready to roll.’ I am just not sure how those opposite are going to navigate through their current waters, but that is not a matter for us. We on this side of the house are focused on delivery, we are focused on supporting communities, and we are focused on making sure that we are providing for those men and women that do an amazing job in our corrections system each and every day.

Mathew Hilakari interjected.

Josh BULL: They do deserve our support, member for Point Cook, and they deserve our support today and every day through the budget, through the legislative process and in any other way that we can. They deserve a listening ear, and they also deserve a team that is prepared to listen and act and not be driven by ideology, or not be driven by some sort of circus that is going on internally. What we see time and time again, and we have seen it for a long time and they have failed to learn, is that –

Paul Edbrooke interjected.

Josh BULL: These interjections just keep getting better. The member for Frankston is doing his best to throw me in the final 30 seconds, and maybe he is doing a good job at that. We of course are focused on making sure that we are supporting every single Victorian, whether it is through this bill or whether it is through the range of programs and initiatives that have been announced in the budget or over the past three or four months and beyond. We remain committed to supporting everyone, and that is in stark contrast to what we see from the other side.

Tim RICHARDSON (Mordialloc) (18:33): I tell you what, Acting Speaker Mercurio, it is great to see you in the chair. We have had the member for Box Hill and now the member for Hastings just absolutely dominating in the Speaker’s chair. It is great to rise to speak on the Corrections Legislation Amendment Bill 2025. I wondered, where are all the coalition members right now? And I thought, ‘At 6:37 pm, what normally happens around this time?’ And I thought, ‘It is the Herald Sun’s filing time.’ Everyone is backgrounding on that side on who is who in the zoo, because I cannot imagine why, on a law and order corrections bill, we would have no presence in here other than the shadow minister, who carries a big load, and the member for Caulfield, who I will come to on his amendment, which I think is a bit clunky. But I thought, ‘It’s Herald Sun filing time.’ They have all gone on to the phones or on the text messages now. TheHunger Games continue, and that is what we will see tomorrow night down at admin at Liberal HQ as we see another corrections frame come in that is just absolutely extraordinary.

You just wonder why, on such a significant bill, on a corrections bill, on a law and order discussion that those opposite have constantly talked about, constantly politicised and narrated, there is no presence here whatsoever. I cannot understand how they have just exhausted the speaking list. And I know the member for Caulfield’s back is sore because he is carrying that team, like he does a lot in this space. He does a lot of the time, and maybe he is the next big contender, but we just do not see it, because this is a really important bill in a number of frames. I will go to corrections, but I will also talk in this contribution about the changes to the serious offenders and also the discussion around changes to parole, which I think are the clarifications there.

But just on the corrections staff, we are just a little while away from the opening of the new corrections facility, Western Plains Correctional Centre, after which another thousand maximum security beds will be in the corrections system. We have invested heavily in supporting our Victoria Police members – the biggest in the nation in community safety and outreach. We know that there needs to be a crime prevention frame, but there is huge accountability that needs to be had for those that are committing high harms across various categories. I see that in the prevention of family violence and just in recent reporting around the tens of thousands of people who use violence. This is, in the Victoria Police deputy commissioner and assistant commissioner’s own words to us in briefings recently, ‘half of police work’. That is the impact each and every day.

Our corrections facilities are significantly impacted by those using violence. How do we change that over time and the risk to people in our community? The 3000 corrections staff and workers who do an extraordinary job in our facilities are at some of the most high-risk and high-harm settings. They do an extraordinary job under difficult circumstances. People are processing a change in circumstances when they find that they are serving in our early corrections centres all the way through to when they are being prepared to be either released on parole or reintegrated into community. It is a really difficult and challenging environment. The work in this bill to strengthen and clarify the offences to make sure that those that harm our corrections staff are subjected to penalties above their base level sentence and not served concurrently is a recognition to those staff of how seriously we take their safety, health and wellbeing. Every single person in Victoria has the right to go home and be safe when they are undertaking work, particularly on behalf of Victorians in a high-risk setting. They are valued and supported. This is an important amendment and change as well. We want to make sure that we, in all circumstances, do all we can to lower any sort of risk. We do not want to see anyone harmed at all. But we know that this is a setting sometimes with volatile people who have committed the most heinous acts. There is an element of risk, and we need to identify that as well.

The shadow minister has done some work. He has put the effort in. I will give this to him. I do not know where the shadow minister is. I did not get to hear his contribution and his lead-off statement, but I was wondering where he got the handcuff change from, because I wondered if it was speaking to staff. We need an array of different measures and mechanisms. It is important that there is flexibility in that as well. At least he did not come in with another reasoned amendment. He has been around long enough where he comes in with a thought, he articulates that and puts it forward. Most on that side and shadows, when they go, ‘Do you want to do any amendments? Do you want to just go to Department of Premier and Cabinet and do a few amendments?’ They go, ‘No, no, no. A reasoned amendment is enough, legend. That’s enough for me.’ At least he has done the work and he has put it in. But I would reiterate that we need flexibility in how we deploy some of the preventative measures. Being too prescriptive and restrictive in that can have unintended things that might happen as well. So having an array of ways that we support safety and outcomes is recognised through that. It will be acknowledged by the minister in the other place as well. But I just wanted to put that on record as well.

Just in terms of some of the changes too, I want to make reference to the sex offenders register amendments here – a very important tool in protecting the community and keeping people safe. There is a high risk that those that have used sexual violence in our community pose when they have served their sentences and returned into the community. You cannot make that acknowledgement without acknowledging the impact on victim-survivors and those that have been impacted in their lives. I want to put that recognition. In the work that I do in men’s behaviour change and the prevention of family violence space alongside the magnificent Minister for Prevention of Family Violence and Minister for Women, this is a horrific toll on our community. The visceral trauma that people experience who have been subjected to sexual violence, the huge changes that we need to make, the invalidation of victim-survivors through the court processes and the impact that has on their livelihoods, their health and wellbeing are substantial. We have so much more to do. We need to do all we can in education and in primary prevention. We know that attitudes towards women and girls, gendered attitudes and the lack of early intervention have a huge harm and toll and impact. Sexual violence is an absolute crisis and epidemic in community, and we need to do all we can to change those outcomes over time and respond to this horrific harm in our communities.

The sexual offenders register – in the act and amendments here – is at the highest point of crisis. So it is about needing to divert people away from their horrific actions and outcomes and also then the crisis level of how we manage people who are a risk. This is an important frame to that as well. There are small changes in this bill that improve the interaction of the two schemes. There are two schemes around this bill – the Sexual Offenders Registration Act 2004 and the Serious Offenders Act 2018 – but everything that we need to do needs to be victim-survivor centred. So for those with lived experience, those that live with the trauma each and every day, how do we support them in their journey as Victorians as well, in that compassionate and supportive way?

The other important thing in this bill – named as miscellaneous amendments around parole and the clarification of this really important policy position that this government brought forward – is the notion around ‘no body, no parole’. Some of the most horrific crimes that have been committed in this state are by those offenders – or alleged offenders, if their legal process is underway – that have gone through the judiciary who have not then shared the details after committing the most heinous acts. Then there is the absolute ongoing visceral trauma that people experience around not being able to have closure in the circumstances of those that have been lost. I think this is a really important part, and the changes are here to clarify that. The work that has been done by the Adult Parole Board of Victoria is an important element of the work we have done over a number of years in law reform. At its hardest edge of perpetrator accountability, for those that have gone through the judiciary, there are harsher penalties and accountability and then prevention in that space as well.

So this bill has a lot of moving parts that are really significant for our community, from supporting corrections staff to changes around sexual offender registration and parole changes, and it is a really important policy area. If only it was not just the Labor Party driving this and the Labor government. The Greens political party went home at 2 pm. They just took off. I do not know where they are or where they have gone – I mean, how outrageous. We have got a really important narrative in corrections around how we divert people away from crime and how they find themselves in youth justice. Just remember this – for those opposite who do not even rock up and give this bill respect – around 80 per cent of people in youth justice have been subjected to family violence or abuse in their life. If we are to change outcomes and divert people away into the future, we need to respond to the high-harm impacts that they have been subjected to over their time. It is never to excuse accountability – it never does. Violence is a choice, but in every sort of element we need to recognise how people have come to be and lower those instances over time. It is an indictment on those opposite and the Greens political party that they are not in here for this bill speech.

Paul EDBROOKE (Frankston) (18:43): Following on from the member for Mordialloc, I have got to say that I walked in on the other side of the chamber, making sure I did not breach any protocols in Parliament, and looking across there I thought that there had been an evacuation because there is literally no-one sitting there – so it is not a walk out; it is an evacuation. One minute I am in here and they are attacking the budget; the next minute they are attacking the car park button to get out of here. I am not sure about the Greens – is it Woke Wednesday? I am not sure, but certainly I would like to – no, I would not like to see more of them, sorry. It seems like we have a bit of a performance. We have some performative art, some theatrics, and then we have people not willing to actually debate bills, and that is really sad, because as the member for Mordialloc said, this Corrections Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 is a critical reform that advances not only the cause of justice but the very safety and dignity of our community and community members, who are the constituents of those opposite and constituents of the Greens party as well. You know, it is not –

David Southwick: Deputy Speaker, I draw the member’s attention to the state of the house. He is suggesting that there is no-one here from our side; there is no-one here from the government either.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: That is enough, member for Caulfield. The member for Caulfield will resume his seat.

Quorum formed.

Paul EDBROOKE: I can see it now. I can see the Opposition Whip trying to hide AirTags in opposition bags to keep an eye on them, track them down and keep them actually in Parliament.

This bill does as people have said on this side of the house, does not it? It will do it successfully. It answers one simple question, and that is: ‘I need to feel safe. How does the government do that?’ If we are to take our job seriously as legislators, then we must also take seriously our obligation to protect – to not just punish, not just process, but to protect people – and this bill does that clearly, carefully and comprehensively.

Firstly, it protects those who protect us. We have heard quite a bit about some of our corrections workers, around 3000 people that do a monumentally hard job. We listen to them and listen to their representatives in the union movement, and I for one, and I know people on this side of the house, believe that they deserve a safe workplace. Now, it is not saying there is no risk involved in their workplace. They are dealing with supremely difficult people at times, but we want their workplace to be as safe as possible so they can go home without being injured. Too many times we have heard of custodial officers injured in the line of duty. It is unacceptable that men and women are being assaulted while they are performing one of the hardest and, I would say, thankless jobs in our community. They do not carry the tools of power; they carry that burden of keeping order. Yet too often we see people in the news that have been injured on the job. This bill rectifies that. It makes it crystal clear that offences causing injury to custodial staff are prison offences, not administrative oversights, not forgotten footnotes, but serious crimes that must attract cumulative sentences. This bill says unambiguously that if you harm those who keep our system running, there will be consequences. It is not just about deterrence; it is about dignity and is about sending a clear message that we stand with those who hold the keys, and we do so because they are so professional, so compassionate and have a lot of resilience, I believe.

Secondly, this bill strengthens our post-sentence scheme, ensuring serious offenders do not slip through the cracks. The Serious Offenders Act 2018 was indeed a significant step forward in managing high-risk individuals beyond the expiry of their sentence, but the truth is that no legislation ever emerges from the page perfect, and that is why we review, we listen, we refine and we improve legislation where necessary. I think we need to be clear that risk management in this space of these offenders is not a denial of rights, it is a protection of rights, and those rights that I find the most important: the rights of children to grow up safe, the rights of families to remain unharmed and the rights of our community to be safe.

Thirdly, this bill recalibrates the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004, extending reporting obligations to cover that critical transition period after a supervision order ends. One of the most vulnerable times for recidivism is the period immediately after structured oversight is lifted. By extending reporting requirements for at least five years beyond a post-sentence order, we are closing a loophole that never should have existed, and we do so not indiscriminately but with a laser focus on individuals who the courts have already deemed to pose an ongoing risk.

This bill also makes our parole system smarter and more just. The ‘no body, no parole’ provision was introduced to ensure accountability, but when the remains of a victim have been found, continuing to deny parole without cause becomes punitive, not purposeful. This bill corrects that imbalance. It restores the original intent of the law, which was to incentivise truth-telling, not to perpetuate suffering once cooperation has already occurred.

By allowing the adult parole board to reinstate parole that has been automatically cancelled in minor cases, the bill reaffirms our commitment to proportionality. Some may ask if this bill goes too far. I say no, it is exactly where it should be and where it must be. It does not throw away rights; it balances them. It does not trample liberty; it aligns it with safety. Yes, this bill may limit certain freedoms for a tightly defined group of high-risk individuals, but when the court has already determined that someone must pose an unacceptable risk to the community, the community must come first. It is not populist lawmaking; it is principled lawmaking informed by evidence, guided by compassion and grounded in reality.

In closing, let me say this: this bill is not about being tough on crime or soft on crime. It is about being smart on safety. It is about recognising that justice does not stop at the prison gates, nor does responsibility end with sentencing. It is about ensuring that those tasked with protecting us, our officers, our agencies and our communities, have the tools they need to do their jobs and do them safely. Finally, it is about vision – a vision of a correctional system that not just contains risk but manages that risk effectively, that does not just punish wrongs but prevents them, and that respects human dignity.

I really think there have been some great contributions from those on this side of the chamber. I do, however, take up the dialogue on this side of the chamber that it is interesting that we see a performance in a matter of public importance, but when we come to speaking about a bill, we have the seats across the aisle evacuated. It kind of beggars belief that people do not want to talk on a bill like this. Officers who are the subject of this bill are constituents of everyone in this house, and we need to look after them. You know, one minute they are here, one minute they are gone. The MPI is one thing, and I think we can all value the contributions on the MPI, but speaking on a bill, being an MP and having the opportunity to speak on a bill like this, which will become law, is an absolute privilege and a privilege that we should not clock out on, a privilege that should be seen as exactly what it is. Right now there are people working in prisons. They do not have the opportunity to clock off and go home. I commend this bill to the house.

Daniela DE MARTINO (Monbulk) (18:53): I rise in support of the Corrections Legislation Amendment Bill 2025. This is a bill delivering targeted and meaningful reforms to keep Victorians safe, including the hardworking corrections officers who serve on the front line of our justice system every day. I actually had a friend quite a few years ago, back when I lived in Wagga, who was a corrections worker in Junee prison, and she was such a delightful person. She was funny and intelligent and good natured and so softly spoken, and it challenged my thoughts of what it must be like to be a corrections officer. I had thought you might have to be shouty and a bit brash and a bit loud, maybe a little bit like me and my family. But she was actually quite different, and as I say, she was really softly spoken, very considered.

She would often tell me some stories about how tough her job could be, and they are stories that would curl your hair, Deputy Speaker. Sometimes talking about – and as I say, this was in New South Wales, but I am just drawing on her experience as a corrections officer because we had many cups of tea and many discussions about it. There were times when there would be someone who was so drug affected, because drugs had managed to be smuggled in, that it would take a prison officer for each limb to be able to hold that person down and restrain them when they were at their most violent, physical and drug affected – someone literally had to sit on them to hold them down in place. She said the threat to their physical safety was a very real and present danger.

After a while she decided to stop that job, because she had lovely twins and the risk that she was facing going to work was just too much for her to bear.

When I think about this legislation here – once again stating that that was the experience in New South Wales, and that was going back 20 years – all I can say is that everyone has the right to be safe at their work. This is a principle that we have long held here, and back when the West Gate Bridge collapsed, OH&S laws were born out of that horrific tragedy. We have really led the way, not just here but around the world, with our occupational health and safety reforms, predicated on the principle that the way you arrive at work should be the way you leave. You should be able to go home in the same form that you arrived, without being assaulted, without being harmed and without being hurt, or worse, dying and losing your life at work. This bill is so critical, because it addresses that fundamental right to be safe in the workplace.

I do note now, because my colleagues have been speaking on this quite eloquently before me, the dearth of those on the benches opposite. The numbers are starting to swell because we are getting ready for adjournment. I will not have a full 10 minutes on this, which is a shame, because there are several aspects of this bill I really do want to go into depth on. I see the numbers are finally swelling, but we know it is not to contribute to this bill, because they stopped their contributions quite a while ago now. It has been a constant stream of government speakers on this bill, which is astounding when one stops and considers all the postulating and the hot air that comes out of those opposite sometimes when it comes to law and order. We hear a lot of talk, but when it comes to actually speaking and contributing meaningfully on a bill that will make a substantial difference to those who are at the coalface of dealing with convicted criminals, they are not here, not to be seen. I do not know where they have been – I would not want to conjecture – but I just thought I would state for the record that it is pretty disappointing and maybe smacks of some disingenuousness from those opposite when they crow about law and order at other times. We will remember this, those of us here who have sat in the chamber and seen the lack of those opposite. We will remember this.

I want to speak about the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 and the amendment. It is another critical tool in keeping our community safe. Being someone who is actually on the fringes and who has been involved in this aspect of our criminal justice system, I can say to you that what this bill does in strengthening the connection between the register and the post-sentence scheme by requiring individuals who are subject to a supervision order to remain on that register for five years after their order ends is really important. This is really, really critical. It is only going to affect a small number of people, but it ensures that those who may still pose a risk are appropriately monitored. As I say, it might be a small change in the legislation, but that impact on community safety cannot be underestimated. It cannot be underestimated – the feeling of safety it will give to those who have been impacted by those sex offenders, knowing that they will be monitored and be for an extra five years subject to that supervision order. This is a really important piece of legislation.

As I say, I think it is really important that it focuses on the safety of corrections officers, who really do a very difficult task. They are dealing with people that the rest of society have decided they do not want walking about freely in society. Our corrections officers turn up every day to do their part to make sure that those people are in conditions where they are treated with dignity and respect, but also, they as officers deserve for their safety to be protected by us. That is what this legislation does. This bill will deliver real change.

I am incredibly proud of the work. I do commend the minister for his work and the team behind it – all those who have worked on this – because we are here on this side of the chamber in government making sure that when we turn up here we are working for the safety of all Victorians, and we will continue to do that, ensuring that this place is always better than we left it.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! I am required under sessional orders to interrupt business now. The member will have the call when the matter returns to the house.

Business interrupted under sessional orders.