Wednesday, 12 November 2025

 Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (12:40): (1116) My question is for the Minister for Corrections. Minister, I am very concerned that reporting last week showed that prisoners in Victoria are spending entire jail terms in police cells. Due to the government's kneejerk changes to bail laws, there are now literally too many people on remand for corrections to cope with. Across October senior police officers were giving evidence to the inquest into the death of Cody Dwyer, who died in custody in Victoria in 2021. Those officers spoke about ‘decanting’ – the shuffling of people across prisons and police cells. This means that people on remand – those who have not been found guilty of any offence or have not been sentenced – can be housed in cells for 23 hours a day, with less access to health care and less chance of being able to be visited or contacted by family and lawyers than those in prisons. Minister, in the last 12 months how many people in Victoria have completed their entire prison sentence in police cells?

 Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice) (12:41): I thank Ms Copsey for that question and her interest in these matters. More broadly, I will note that police cells are the responsibility of the Minister for Police in the other place, but what I can say more broadly about our corrections system and about capacity is that our tough bail laws are working. We said that it would lead to greater numbers of repeat offenders being put into custodial facilities, and we are continuing to scale up the adult corrections system. There was a $727 million announcement in this year's budget, and I want to take this opportunity to thank our Treasurer for that investment. That was about making sure that our system can manage the increase in capacity in the safest way possible. We will continue to do that work to scale up the system. We have hired hundreds of new staff. Our new state-of-the-art Western Plains prison is on track to open fully as expected, and we are ramping that up.

Police cells do play an important role in managing people in custody. It is a critical part of the custodial system. Usually immediately after people are arrested they are required to appear in court. Obviously since the pandemic we have had opportunities for people to appear in court in different ways using virtual means. My view is the rollout of technologies across our corrections facilities has been scaling up across all our sites. Our new Western Plains facility, for example, has that technology available in its built form.

I think it is important to state that more broadly police cells are a matter for the Minister for Police in the other place, but in terms of our corrections system, we are scaling up, and we are not going to make apologies for taking dangerous people off our streets.

Nick McGowan interjected.

Enver ERDOGAN: Mr McGowan, you may want these people on the streets. You might want them on the streets of Ringwood, but I want them off the streets and in custody.

Members interjecting.

The PRESIDENT: Minister, keep going.

Enver ERDOGAN: Thank you, President. Without interruption, please. That technology is being used across our sites to ensure that people –

Nick McGowan: On a point of order, President, the minister has incorrectly stated that it is not a matter for his department – that the sentences served by prisoners are actually a matter for the Minister for Police. It is not a matter for the Minister for Police. It is clearly a matter for the corrections department that any detainee and any person found guilty of a crime has served their sentence. It is clearly a matter for this minister.

The PRESIDENT: There is no point of order. As I have said a number of times, if the minister has directed it to another minister as far as some responsibility goes, that is up to the minister to state. That gives me an opportunity, Mr Gowan, to say you have been very loud today. Maybe tomorrow you will be a bit less.

Enver ERDOGAN: Thank you, President, and I thank Ms Copsey again, because her point was about the conditions in police cells. That is the way I took the question, and what I will say is that police have a responsibility to provide services to people held in police cells. That is why that part of that question is better directed to the Minister for Police.

Katherine Copsey: On a point of order, President, the minister is referring to the preamble but mischaracterising my question, which was about the failure of corrections to have capacity to ensure that people are not serving their entire sentences in police cells. How many people have served their entire sentences in police cells in the last 12 months, Minister?

The PRESIDENT: I believe at the start of the answer the minister was responsive to the capacity in the system.

Enver ERDOGAN: Insofar as the conditions in police cells, that is a matter for the Minister for Police. Insofar as the system pressure in the corrections system, that is a question for me. We are scaling up. We are doing that work. I am expecting that the pressure we have in the police cells will be temporary as we scale up the system. We have significant investments and a significant amount of staff and a new squad starting every other week. So that work has been done. That will take some time to implement of course, but we are not going to make apologies for taking dangerous repeat offenders off our streets.

 Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (12:45): Thank you, Minister, for the extent of your answer. The conditions currently have been described as a bottleneck, and given that bottleneck around custody between police cells and corrections facilities Victoria Police have been seeking to reduce the current arrangement, which would limit prisoners being housed in police cells from the currently allowed 14 days to seven days. Will you give Parliament an undertaking, as the responsible minister, that Corrections will reduce the time in the standing agreement between Victoria Police and Corrections that people can be warehoused in police custody from 14 days down to seven.

 Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice) (12:46): I thank Ms Copsey for an important question. We will work hard to resolve that bottleneck, and that is why I have stated in my answer to your substantive question that this is a temporary measure. We have more prison beds coming online as we speak, and we will continue to work with police to make sure people, based on their risk factors, are transferred across to our corrections system as soon as possible. But obviously we are not going to make apologies. We said our bail laws will mean larger numbers in remand, and we are not going to make apologies for that. I know those opposite did not support those bail reforms, but community safety is a priority of our government.