Wednesday, 15 May 2024

 Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (12:24): I rise to update the house on the positive budget initiatives in my portfolios of corrections, youth justice and victim support. This budget is about helping families, and in my portfolios we are doing that by keeping our community safe.

In this year’s budget we have invested a further $41.3 million into programs designed to help people in custody turn their lives around. This includes funding employment and training programs and transitional support for people leaving custody. And we are continuing our efforts to address the issue of Indigenous over-representation. We are investing $28.2 million into Aboriginal-led specialist services and youth diversion services and culturally aware rehabilitation and reintegration programs for Aboriginal people in custody.

This budget also makes important investments in improving community safety through targeted programs in the youth justice system. We are investing $34.8 million into programs that limit re-entry into the system, because we want young people living happy and healthy lives at home and at school, not getting into trouble. We are focused on holding offenders to account while at the same time supporting them to turn their lives around through funding vital early intervention and rehabilitative and support programs. We are investing in additional tools to hold a small cohort of serious and repeat offenders to account, with $34.4 million to trial electronic monitoring and enhance bail supervision. This budget further delivers on our commitment to making transformative reforms to the victim support system so that it better supports victims, and we are investing $71.9 million to support the commencement of the new financial assistance scheme later this year. This reform will be a major step forward in the support system available to victims of crime in Victoria, making it easier for them to get the assistance and support they need. I am proud that this budget is helping families, including through the investments in my corrections, youth justice and victim support portfolios.