Wednesday, 31 August 2022

 Mr LIMBRICK (South Eastern Metropolitan) (18:37): (2106) My adjournment debate matter is for the attention of the Minister for Corrections. The Legal and Social Issues Committee report into children of incarcerated parents was recently tabled in this place. This was an important and, I imagine, very challenging inquiry to conduct, and I commend the committee, staff and particularly the young witnesses for their work. The report confirms that the parent-child bond is important for child development and that maintaining contact between incarcerated parents and their children should be promoted if safe to do so. This conforms with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which requires signatory states, including us, to protect the right of children to family. In Victoria, however, the report found significant obstacles exist that prevent children from connecting with parents in prison and that their rights are overlooked.

One of these obstacles was recently pointed out to me by a mother who called my office. Her young daughter was precluded from visiting her incarcerated father because she is unvaccinated. These restrictions are onerous and are resulting in perverse outcomes. Since being denied access to her father, this young person has experienced emotional dysregulation and challenging behaviours. In circumstances where we know that children with incarcerated parents have increased risk of future criminal justice involvement, Victoria has totally lost all proportionality, treating a vaccine which does not stop transmission as paramount over the wellbeing and life course trajectory of a very vulnerable cohort. In fact Victoria’s restrictions are at odds with the recommendations of Communicable Diseases Network Australia, which indicate in their national guidelines for COVID-19 outbreaks in correctional and detention facilities that other control measures for visitors, such as masks and testing, are satisfactory to mitigate risks in prisons. My request for the minister is to review the current vaccination settings for children visiting incarcerated parents in particular but also all vaccine restrictions on visitation rights in correctional facilities in Victoria.