Youth justice staff safety
Dr BACH (Eastern Metropolitan) (12:09): My question today is for the Minister for Workplace Safety. Minister, you previously told the house, just last week, that there were more than, in your words, 195 WorkSafe inspections in response to serious safety concerns between July 2021 and April this year at Victoria’s two—only two—youth justice facilities. That is more than four a week. When experienced youth justice workers take their payout packages and retire this year, leaving inexperienced and agency staff to handle the current violence—and then surely the workplace becomes even more dangerous—how many more WorkSafe inspections will it take before you intervene, as the minister responsible for workplace safety?
Ms STITT (Western Metropolitan—Minister for Workplace Safety, Minister for Early Childhood) (12:09): I thank Dr Bach for his question. I want to just take up a part of your question and correct the record, if I may. I think that question was asked last sitting week, and you were away, unfortunately, unwell. I actually indicated that there were 195 visits between July 2021 and April 2022, but that was in respect of all correctional and detention facilities in the state, including youth justice, so the assertion that you make about the numbers of visits and the numbers of youth justice facilities only being the facilities that the 195 visits relate to is incorrect. That figure represents the figure for that entire sector across all of our facilities in corrections. I think it is important to clear that up.
As I indicated to the house in the last sitting week, this kind of violence and aggression is never okay. I want to reiterate the government’s support for the staff that work in our corrections facilities, including youth justice. They do really challenging work, and we want to continue to try to do whatever we can to support them in their work. WorkSafe have been undertaking significant enforcement and compliance activity in this sector, and I think that bears out in the numbers of visits and inquiries that they have been making.
In relation to the part of your question about the industrial matters in respect of redundancy and the like, I am not able to make any comment about those industrial and operational matters. I guess I would just say that regardless of the outcome of those internal processes the duty holder is still required to provide a safe workplace. I know that WorkSafe in their role as the independent safety regulator will continue to take whatever action is necessary, but that is a matter for them. As I have said on a number of occasions in the house in relation to these questions, they are an independent statutory body and their enforcement and compliance activities are at arm’s length from me, and that is absolutely appropriate, Dr Bach.
Dr BACH (Eastern Metropolitan) (12:12): I do thank the minister for correcting the record and correcting her incorrect statement in this house last week.
Members interjecting.
The PRESIDENT: Order! I think from now on supplementaries should be asked without any comment. I do not believe the minister was doing that.
Ms Stitt: On a point of order, President, I think if you review Hansard from last sitting week, Dr Bach is actually misrepresenting what I said.
The PRESIDENT: Thank you.
Dr BACH: Thank you very much, President. The actions that are currently being taken as a result of WorkSafe investigations are, according to staff, not doing enough. They are not making the workplace safer. Staff are on record saying the workplace is toxic and that it will take somebody dying at work for action to be taken. This is the most dangerous workplace in Victoria right now. Why will you not intervene to ensure the safety of these workers?
Ms STITT (Western Metropolitan—Minister for Workplace Safety, Minister for Early Childhood) (12:13): It is pretty disappointing that the opposition continues to try to make cheap political points about what is a really serious set of circumstances and a really challenging work environment in our state. I have already outlined the extensive compliance activities that WorkSafe have undertaken to date, but it is also important to note that there is a power of cooperative work going on between WorkSafe, the Department of Justice and Community Safety, the public sector union which covers these staff and the health and safety reps that work on the ground. As I have already indicated, it is very unhelpful for the opposition to seek to make cheap political points over what is a really complex workplace.