Women in prison
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (11:56): My question is for the Attorney-General. Back on 7 April 2022 I asked the Attorney a question on the subject of women on remand, and in her reply she stated:
… in relation to remand, there are too many women on remand. I completely agree with that.
As we know, remand numbers are directly related to bail laws. They are two sides of the same coin. Someone is only remanded in custody if they are refused bail. As this state’s first law officer, the fact that there are too many women on remand is an issue that the government can correct via the reform of bail laws. So my question is: will you?
Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education) (11:56): I thank Ms Patten for her question and her ongoing interest in this area, particularly women who are incarcerated. I will refer the matter obviously to the Attorney-General for her response.
Ms PATTEN (Northern Metropolitan) (11:57): Thank you, Minister. I note that we have got section 3A of the Bail Act 1977, which sets out matters the court must take into account for a determination in relation to an Aboriginal person, and similarly section 3B, which sets out considerations for determination in relation to a child. Despite this, Aboriginal women are the fastest growing cohort of people going into our corrections facilities, and certainly many of us who are on the inquiry into this issue note that there are 23 000 children in Victoria affected by incarcerated parents. So by way of supplementary, given the Bail Act already distinguishes between different people in this way, has the Attorney considered new laws that would do the same for women?
Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education) (11:58): Thank you, Ms Patten, for your question. I think that you would appreciate that the Attorney-General does have a keen eye on these issues. I am not in a position to make any further statements at this point in time, but I will refer the supplementary to the Attorney-General.