Cherry Creek Youth Justice Centre
Matthew BACH (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:16): (251) My question is now for the Minister for Youth Justice. Minister, how many detainees are in Cherry Creek today?
Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (12:17): I thank Dr Bach for his interest in our youth justice system and for his passion. I know he has a great interest in matters in our youth justice system. Our Cherry Creek facility, as I have discussed in this chamber, is our flagship facility. It is state of the art. It incorporates the best elements from the Armytage–Ogloff review into our youth justice system in 2017. It takes a multidisciplinary approach. It provides intensive intervention, medical support and vocational learning opportunities for the young people in our custodial settings.
As such, as I announced in the last sitting of this chamber, our first cohort of young people that were planned to be transferred over have been transferred over. The goal of the system is to increase the amount of young people in a graduated approach. I think it is important to understand that with any new facility you do take a graduated approach, because then you learn – for the staff there as well – about the use of the facilities. But it is also for the young people so they can acclimatise to their new environment. For the Cherry Creek facility, as I have stated in this chamber before, initially the focus will be on 15- to 18-year-old boys, which is one of the most complex cohorts in our youth justice system, and that work is ongoing.
We are also going through a transformation and a new chapter in our youth justice system. We are going from three premises down to two, so we will have two precincts. That is the plan, with our Parkville precinct and also our state-of-the-art Cherry Creek facility. As part of that, in the medium term our goal is to increase the numbers at Cherry Creek. We will have a relatively even balance between the two facilities.
Matthew BACH (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:18): President, I am sure we could deal with this later on, but the minister did not come close to answering what I am sure is a very straightforward question for him. I do not doubt that the number is in his notes. It was: how many detainees are in Cherry Creek today? I accept the minister’s commentary about the need for a graduated approach, as he says, but my understanding is that there are some detainees in there. I think it is reasonable to ask how many. I will ask a supplementary nonetheless, and we can deal with that matter anon. Of the current Cherry Creek detainees – I understand there are some at least – how many are on remand for murder?
Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (12:19): Thank you, Dr Bach, for your supplementary question. I am not going to get into that level of operational statistics for a number of reasons, including the privacy of those in our facilities. You may know we have relatively low numbers in our youth justice custodial facilities at the moment, so I do not want to compromise the privacy of those young people but also the staff as well. Because the numbers are so low, there is a risk of that happening, so I do not want to get into that operational level of detail. I will say it is a specialist facility with a mental health and vocational skills centre provided. I have also given you an answer about the make-up of our system. The relatively low numbers which I disclosed when I announced the closure of Malmsbury are relatively stable. The medium-term goal is to have a relatively balanced system between Parkville and Cherry Creek. But, like I said, the numbers are very low, and I do not want to provide that level of operational detail.