Thursday, 5 October 2023

Child protection

Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:02): (290) My question is for the newly appointed Minister for Children Minister Blandthorn. However, I have realised that she is not here, so I will direct my question to the Attorney-General. The Framework to Reduce Criminalisation of Young People in Residential Care was launched in February 2022, co-signed by the departments of health and human services and of justice and community safety and Victoria Police, to name a few. Its aim was to find an approach for dealing with non-crisis events in residential care with proportionality and flexibility when dealing with a young person’s behaviour. Many young people in residential care have experienced trauma through abuse and neglect. They can exhibit complex, challenging or offending behaviours, which often result in contact with the police and over-representation in the criminal justice system. The Yoorrook Justice Commission heard evidence that First Peoples children are being criminalised in residential care and the framework is not being implemented and recommended that the framework be applied in all cases, so my question is: what is the progress on the implementation of the Framework to Reduce Criminalisation of Young People in Residential Care?

Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:04): I thank Ms Payne for her really good question and her interest in this matter. I am sure that Minister Blandthorn will be very happy to provide you with a comprehensive response, if not a briefing. It is something that is a high priority to her, and she has conversations with justice ministers regularly in relation to these issues. It remains a high priority that we are all very focused on.

Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:04): I thank the Attorney for passing on my question. By way of supplementary, can the minister commit to a time line in which we will see no more children in care being criminalised for behaviour that would not see them criminalised in an ordinary home environment?

Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:04): A worthy aspiration indeed, and I am sure Minister Blandthorn will be happy to respond to your supplementary. I should have said at the outset that Minister Blandthorn is at her MinCo at the moment in Hobart, so she is having conversations such as this with her state and federal counterparts.